So much news! Let’s get right to it:
- Arizona Coyotes owner Andrew Barroway is looking for more investors in his team, and if I owned the Coyotes I’d be trying to find someone to take chunks of it off my hands, too. Barroway also said that the Coyotes won’t remain in Glendale long-term, but that he “wouldn’t focus on Arizona moving right now or any time soon, or maybe ever,” so apparently his plan is to stand around the Phoenix area holding his breath until he turns blue if no one else will give him a new arena.
- The owners of the Golden State Warriors say they shouldn’t have to pay off the remaining debt on their Oakland arena when they move to San Francisco, as their lease requires, because their lease expires after 20 years while the debt goes on for 30. Just thinking about this makes my head hurt, so good luck to whatever judge ends up with the case.
- The Rochester Rhinos aren’t getting evicted from their stadium after all! They’re still not fielding a team in 2018, though, and I’m not clear on whether it’s been decided who owns their office furniture.
- Michigan’s Wayne County has agreed to give its unfinished jail site to Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert, meaning Gilbert’s plan to build a new MLS stadium there and a new jail on city land while getting $300 million in county subsidies may not be dead after all. Though the state still needs to approve the tax kickbacks, and the county commission and the Detroit city council both need to approve the land swap, so … reply hazy, ask again later.
- An appeals court in Arizona has ruled that the state’s car-rental tax to pay for building sports venues isn’t unconstitutional after all, overturning a lower-court ruling from 2014 that it was illegal because money from car taxes needs to be used to pay for highways, and stadiums aren’t highways. Next up: state supreme court!
- Arlington, Texas is offering to spend $10 million on an e-sports arena, because that’s just what Arlington does. At least the city claims the money would be repaid by lease and event revenue, but I’d like to see the actual lease, please, to be sure of that.
- Inglewood residents spoke out against a planned Los Angeles Clippers arena and fears that it would displace businesses and residents at a public meeting this week, to which Inglewood Mayor James Butts responded: “I don’t know of any residents that live in the state of California that are upset.” Oh no, it’s outside agitators!
- Phoenix Rising F.C. has released renderings of its proposed MLS stadium on Salt River reservation land in Tempe. Do they have fireworks? You bet they have fireworks!
New soccer stadium no longer part of Gilbert’s plans in Detroit. Plan is that the new team would play at Ford Field. Since Ford Field is an indoor stadium, this bid is effectively dead.
Source to confirm that? I know that Gilbert shifted his plans to use Ford Field, but I’m not seeing anything that he can’t switch gears again.
(If it’s just a giant subsidy for something other than a soccer stadium, of course, it’s not much better.)
The $300 million from the county is directly to go for the cost of new jail/justice complex with Gilbert covering anything beyond that with some classes for how much money the county could get back if the project comes in under budget. I wouldn’t consider that a subsidy. In addition, this puts a cap on the cost to the county, which was not an option with the bid recieved to complete the “fail jail.”
I’ve adjusted the headline to acknowledge that we don’t know exactly what’s up with the Detroit land swap, FYI.
I do have to say, at least the Phoenix Rising’s stadium is all privately financed, unlike all of the other major sports teams in Arizona.
Richard Burke
Steve Ellman
Jerry Moyes
the National Hockey League
Ice Edge (eventually, Gosbee/LeBlanc)
Leblanc/Barroway
Barroway (more or less alone as near as I can tell)….
Am I missing anyone? Everyone on this list lost money owning the Coyotes… and not small money either.
The original owner, Burke, said he would have lost less money if he had kept the team in Winnipeg (where it lost about $20m in 1996 dollars in it’s last season)
Moyes claimed to have lost more than $100m on the team (though some doubt this figure).
The NHL ridiculed Moyes’ claims of $40m+ annual operating losses…. then proceeded to lose $76m over two seasons operating the club (arena subsidies and revenue sharing included!)
Ice Edge were guaranteed $15m annually from the city and a full revenue share from the league (essentially the qualification rules were eliminated for the Coyotes, meaning they qualified for $18m+ automatically) and STILL lost money on operations.
The total operating loss this franchise has accrued in it’s two decades in the desert is approaching $250m… and that doesn’t count the cost of the arena the city built for them or court costs associated with it’s ongoing failure.
Man, that is some business… Barroway was lucky to pry it away from it’s former owners…
I see Bettman also noted that the Coyotes “cannot remain” at the current arena.
So, all potential arena funding/building/non-revenue earning municipal partners, remember this: the team you are being asked to lure to your Burgh has declared it’s (still state of the art, btw) 14yr old arena to be unsuitable.
The line for potential subsidizing communities forms to the left….
So is there a reason why Arlington can’t use College Park Center as its go to venue for e-sport events?