Alex Meruelo as recently as March indicated that the NHL told him he “couldn't stay in Tempe's Mullett Arena"Getty Images
Coyotes owner Alex Meruelo has reacted to being "
forced to sell the franchise he has owned since 2019 by the league by insisting he hadn’t lost it at all,” according to Katie Strang of THE ATHLETIC. Meruelo in an appearance on Phoenix-based KMVP-FM last week insisted that he was “still the owner of the team, which was now simply ‘inactive.’” He said that he "merely sent 'players and hockey operations to Utah.'" But Strang writes the NHL has “finally pulled the plug on its Arizona dream -- at least for now," and at the “center of that failure is Meruelo.” He was “viewed as a potential savior of the franchise when he bought the team five years ago but became the final nail in its coffin, failing and defiant to the end.” Finding a long-term home for the Coyotes under Meruelo’s ownership “quickly developed into his most vexing problem.” The "clock on relocation began ticking" once the
proposal for a $2B development in Tempe was voted down in May 2023, yet Meruelo "remained undeterred." Meruelo's effort to
bring a team back to the market "begins with the state land auction on June 27." It is a “path back into the NHL for Meruelo,” but "few people believe the league would allow that to happen.” Employees within the franchise’s business side have been told their jobs are "safe until the June 27 land auction.” Those who remain behind have been told to “focus efforts on the Tucson Roadrunners,” the Coyote’s AHL affiliate that Meruelo still owns (
THE ATHLETIC, 4/24).
SUPPORT ISSUES: In Phoenix, Craig Morgan wrote Meruelo “struck the right tone in his opening remarks” at a news conference on Friday, but what followed was the “same sort of train derailment that we witnessed in his 57 months as steward of NHL hockey in Arizona.” Morgan wrote he “never doubted" Merulo’s "resolve to get this arena deal done.” However, the problem he faces when seeking support from the city of Phoenix and others is that he has "not built many bridges with local politicians, community leaders or business leaders through his mode of operation.” Morgan: “In truth, he has burned far more.” Meruelo had an arena deal -- albeit in an “imperfect location” -- when he took over, but he “mishandled that situation.” He “walked away from a potential deal with Arizona State University,” and then he lost the Tempe vote in “resounding fashion.” The franchise “ended up playing at a 4,600-seat college arena.” Meruelo “alienated his staff and players," and then he "lost the team.” Public opinion of Meruelo in Arizona is “at an all-time low.” The “prevailing local hope is that Meruelo will fail in his quest -- and do so in short order so that the NHL can open this market to another group that might offer better leadership” (PHNX SPORTS, 4/23).
