As the deadline nears for management groups to bid on running Glendale’s Gila River Arena, the Coyotes and NFL Cardinals "are staying on the sidelines," according to Paul Giblin of the ARIZONA REPUBLIC. Coyotes President & CEO Anthony LeBlanc and Cardinals President Michael Bidwill said that their organizations "have no intention to submit bids." Giblin notes the Cardinals "submitted a proposal" to manage the hockey arena when the city "last solicited bids" in '13. But Bidwill said that the team "had no interest this time around." Glendale Vice Mayor Ian Hugh said that he "doesn't know why the Coyotes and Cardinals are opting out of the bidding process." Most members of the City Council "assumed the Coyotes, at least, would be part of the process." But LeBlanc said that he "can't understand why city officials decided to issue a request for proposals in the first place." He added that Coyotes execs "believed they would negotiate a new long-term arena-management deal immediately after agreeing to the two-year deal." However, acting City Manager Dick Bowers two weeks later told LeBlanc that city officials "planned to invite other management companies to submit proposals." LeBlanc said that the city's process "ignores important questions about revenue splits between the team and city" (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 12/3).
