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Coyotes, Suns Reportedly Discussed Sharing New Arena In Downtown Phoenix

Preliminary discussions "have already taken place about the possibility that the Coyotes will become one of the anchor tenants," along with the Suns, "in a new arena in downtown Phoenix," according to Scott Burnside of ESPN.com. A source said that there is also "preliminary interest in building a new facility for the two professional teams in Scottsdale that would be part of an existing gaming resort" and MLB Spring Training facility. Coyotes President & CEO Anthony LeBlanc said that he hopes the city of Glendale and the team "can work on a longer-term lease arrangement in the future." But LeBlanc also noted that the "short term of the new lease agreement that was voted on Friday leaves the team little option but to start considering other options for the team." Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton "immediately reached out to the Coyotes and the Suns when the city of Glendale first announced in June that it wanted to strike down" the 15-year, $225M lease "signed by the municipality with the NHL team two years ago." He was "hoping to broker a deal" for the Coyotes to move into Talking Stick Resort Arena "rather than relocate out of the region." The short term of the new lease agreement in Glendale "means such a partnership is still very much on the table even if the urgency has been lessened with the new arrangement." Phoenix City Council member Michael Nowakowski said that the Suns "have been looking for a new building in Phoenix for some time, and having a facility that could accommodate both an NHL and NBA franchise would be ideal from the city's perspective" (ESPN.com, 7/24).

TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE? In Phoenix, Dan Bickley wrote the idea of "Downtown Sports Mecca 2.0 is both romantic and exhilarating, a bustling blueprint where the Coyotes and Suns perform over 80 nights a year, supplemented by rockers, rappers and circus elephants." But the logistics of such an arrangement are "much more difficult." If the Coyotes "can't afford to fight Glendale in the short term, how can they afford to split costs at US Airways Center for a few years until a new arena is built?" Bickley: "How can they afford to be partners in a much bigger enterprise?" There is also the question of whether the Coyotes can get Suns Owner Robert Sarver "fully on board" (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 7/26).

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