The city of Glendale has hired former Ducks and Angels President Tony Tavares "to help with its long-overdue audit" of the Coyotes' financial records, according to Peter Corbett of the ARIZONA REPUBLIC. Tavares "will be paid $45,000" for an audit that will include "reviewing ticket-surcharge and parking revenue for Gila River Arena and determining whether the organization lost money in the first year" of a 15-year, $225M agreement with the city. Glendale Dir of Finance & Technology Tom Duensing said, "We want to review all the revenue sources to make sure we are getting the revenue we should be getting." Corbett reported the scope of the audit "includes ticket and parking revenue for hockey and concerts and whether the team exceeded its 1,000-seat limit on free tickets." Glendale also "will review the Coyotes' reported operating loss" for the '13-14 season "in connection with an early-termination provision in the contract." Coyotes President & CEO Anthony LeBlanc last Tuesday said that the team's ownership group "expected to lose money for its first two years but is on target to become profitable in its third year." He "would not say how much the team lost last season" (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 2/14).
