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Glendale Votes To Nix Agreement With Coyotes, Leading To Relocation Speculation

The Glendale City Council last night voted 5-2 to void the 15-year management and arena lease agreement with the Coyotes "just less than two years" after the city approved the $225M deal, according to a front-page piece by Corbett & Mitchell of the ARIZONA REPUBLIC. The decision "creates uncertainty for the Coyotes' upcoming season and likely will trigger a legal challenge by the team's attorneys." Snell & Wilner Partener Nick Wood, who reps the team, said that litigators for the Coyotes "will start work" on claims seeking $200M from Glendale. City Attorney Michael Bailey explained that a conflict-of-interest statute "allows a city to terminate a contract within three years of it being signed if a person who was significantly involved in drafting or creating the contract for the city later becomes an agent or employee of the other party of the contract." In this case, the city "reached a separation agreement" with former City Attorney Craig Tindall in April '13, but "continued to pay him his salary for six months and relied on him as a consultant." The Coyotes hired Tindall as their General Counsel on Aug. 20, "about seven weeks after Glendale approved the Coyotes deal." Council member Jamie Aldama tried yesterday to "delay the vote for two weeks to make another effort to renegotiate the deal, but his only supporter on that idea" was fellow council member Samuel Chavira. Close to two dozen hockey fans "chastised the council and urged them to honor their agreement with the Coyotes" (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 6/11).

WHAT'S NEXT? In Phoenix, Mike Sunnucks noted the city and team "could either work out a new deal or head to court over the council’s action." The latter "seems like a more probable path." Coyotes President & CEO Anthony LeBlanc said after the meeting that he was "disappointed and left a wide door open to suing" (BIZJOURNALS.com, 6/10). TSN.ca's Rick Westhead noted without the revenue from the arena contract, a team that is "already widely believed to lose" more than $30M a season "will see its losses further widen." Speculation has "already started about how soon it might be until the team leaves the Phoenix market." Meanwhile, Coyotes Majority Owner & Chair Andrew Barroway was "oddly nowhere to be seen" during last night's meeting (TSN.ca, 6/10).

MORE SPECULATION COMING: THE HOCKEY NEWS' Adam Proteau noted the cancellation of the agreement "renewed speculation" that the Coyotes may relocate. Should the Coyotes and Glendale officials "fail to come to terms on a new long-term lease deal in the coming weeks and months ... the central question in the minds of many hockey insiders is where the franchise winds up." There are a "few prominent suitors making no bones about their willingness to welcome an NHL team to their city, with the most prominent being focused on situating a franchise in Quebec City, Las Vegas, Seattle, and, a little further behind the pack, Southern Ontario." Quebec City and Las Vegas "have or will soon have a world-class hockey facility that can host a big-league team." However, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman has "made it clear the league looks at factors other than arenas when deciding which markets are properly prepared to enter into a partnership with the NHL" (THEHOCKEYNEWS.com, 6/10).

SAME AS IT EVER WAS: The CP's Stephen Whyno noted it remains "business as usual" in the Coyotes' hockey operations department despite the lease uncertainty. Coyotes Exec VP & GM Don Maloney said, "This isn't our first time at the dance, so to speak. We've been through this now for such a long time we're sort of numb to it. It's just a little white noise in the background for us. We're quite confident that it'll get settled and worked out the best way possible for us." Coyotes coach Dave Tippett also said he has become "immune" to arena controversies. Tippett: "The business part of it and the legal wrangling and all that stuff that's happened here, you're aware of it, but it's not something that comes into your day-to-day thought process" (CP, 6/10).

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