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Gary Bettman, Coyotes Deny Report Of Team Moving To Vegas For '16-17 Season

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and Coyotes President & CEO Anthony LeBlanc last night both categorically denied a N.Y. Post report that said the team was moving to Las Vegas in a sale to Fidelity National Financial Chair Bill Foley. Bettman in a statement to FoxSportsArizona.com's Craig Morgan said, "The Post was told the story was completely untrue. They ran it anyway. The story is garbage. Team is staying put." LeBlanc added, "The article in the Post is 100% false. No truth to it whatsoever" (TWITTER.com, 6/30). In N.Y., Josh Kosman in the original report cites a source as saying that the NHL "is arranging" the sale to Foley, and that Foley "will move" the team to Vegas for the '16-17 NHL season. A source also said that the NHL is "eyeing expansion franchises in the Toronto and Seattle areas" for the '17-18 season (N.Y. POST, 7/1). In Las Vegas, Steve Carp notes while Bettman was in the city last week for the league's BOG meetings, he "spoke specifically about the Coyotes' situation and said the team was not leaving Arizona." Meanwhile, Foley and his ownership group, which includes the Maloof family, are "preparing the paperwork to formally apply for an expansion team" (LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL, 7/1). 

SEATTLE SLEW OF CONTENDERS: In Seattle, Geoff Baker cites a source as saying that RLB Holdings Founder & Managing Partner Ray Bartoszek will "submit a formal application to the NHL to acquire an expansion team" that would be based in Tukwila, Wash. Bartoszek "heads a group looking to build a multipurpose arena in the municipality just south of Seattle." A rival group headed by hedge fund manager Chris Hansen is "planning an arena for Seattle’s Sodo District but has yet to reach a deal with a potential NHL owner to seek a team for that facility." Las Vegas is "considered a front-runner for expansion," but Seattle could be the "second expansion team if Bartoszek or Hansen can prove he has adequate financing and can get his arena project approved by early next year." A third group, looking at a Bellevue arena, has "yet to declare itself publicly but continues to explore the viability of a project for that city" (SEATTLE TIMES, 7/1). In Tacoma, John McGrath notes an arena suitable for hockey will cost around $500M, and between the arena and the "absurd expansion fee, the ownership group would be required to invest" $1B before a puck is dropped. That is "a lot to fork over to obtain an expansion franchise that poses questions without answers." But a billionaire’s ambition to own a $1B "toy should never be underestimated" (Tacoma NEWS TRIBUNE, 7/1). 

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