Coyotes owner predicts arena announcement “in next couple of weeks,” keeps straight face

Arizona Coyotes CEO Anthony LeBlanc now says that an announcement on a proposed new arena site, which he’d previously indicated could come in May or June, may happen as soon as later this month, maybe:

“I know people feel that I’m kind of nuts on this one,” LeBlanc said at a news conference where he announced the firing of General Manager Don Maloney. “The reality is we do anticipate there will be an announcement on this front in the next couple of weeks.”

Given that all indications are that arena discussions are hitting all sorts of snags β€” a Phoenix city source told KPNX-TV that the team’s unwillingness to open its books to negotiators “makes it nearly impossible to engage in serious negotiations for a new dual-purpose arena,” while proposals for a tax-increment financing district to kick back sales taxes to the team are stalled in the state legislature, at least for the moment β€” that timetable does seem kind of nuts, but who knows, maybe talks with one particular prospective host are going really well? We have not much to go on at this point but LeBlanc’s public statements, and since he seems to be following the time-honored approach of changing your numbers every time and giving the media something new to report on, expect a moving target for the foreseeable future.

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6 comments on “Coyotes owner predicts arena announcement “in next couple of weeks,” keeps straight face

  1. Did he limit the arena site to the Phoenix area? It would be cool if he said it was in Seattle, or Quebec, or Portland, or Saskatoon.

  2. He was VERY clear its a Phx area location. Who suggested Vegas? Yea right, and the NHL will give up the $500M expansion fee.

    How do you keep a straight face writing the stuff you do? You dont lie, you just leave out the important facts. Heck of a way to make a living.

  3. James Jerome — as a regular reader of this blog and someone who doesn’t have a dog in this hunt, I don’t care about what you think nor do I believe a single thing you have ever written. Actually, the latter point isn’t entirely true — rather than be agnostic, I assume that what you write is entirely false.

  4. Mr. Jerome: If you actually read the posts you leap in to attack, you would have understood that the post you criticized was not written by the site owner, but a commenter.

    I’m guessing actually reading the posts you criticize would be too difficult or time consuming?

    Sort of like the math of the Coyotes business escapes so many of the people advocating for yet another city to leap into a sea of red ink in order to provide them with a place to play… and no doubt ultimately pay them to play in it in exchange for no net rent….

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