Coyotes

Sources: Jamison Struggling To Raise Money For Coyotes Purchase, Investors Skeptical

Published June 7, 2012

Prospective Coyotes Owner Greg Jamison “still has not raised enough money” to purchase the team, according to sources cited by Mike Ozanian of FORBES.com. The Glendale City Council is expected to vote tomorrow on a new 20-year lease at Jobing.com Arena for Jamison to purchase the Coyotes. But sources said that Jamison is “having trouble raising the money to make the $170 million purchase because investors believe that even with a $15 million a year taxpayer subsidy over the course of the new lease the Coyotes will have difficulty turning a profit.” Investors are “skeptical that Jamison can boost ticket sales and revenue from non-NHL events enough to make the Coyotes profitable.” The Coyotes are “not likely to get a new, rich cable deal.” They are “locked in the league’s new national television deal with Comcast through the 2020-21 season, so there is no upside there.” Ozanian wrote, “Don’t be shocked if the NHL lowers its asking price well below $170 million or the deal with Jamison falls through” (FORBES.com, 6/6). An ARIZONA REPUBLIC editorial states Glendale has been “struggling with the Coyotes situation for three years,” but the details of Jamison’s “particular agreement are new.” Residents of the city “deserve the opportunity to fully review this complicated arrangement and offer thoughtful, well-grounded feedback,” as they “own the arena and should have a say in how their money is spent.” The editorial states, “The NHL may have set a deadline for three weeks from now, but it can be extended. The city, which has thrown so much money at the arena and hockey team, needs to get this right with the support of a fully informed community” (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 6/7).

BREAKING GROUND: In Phoenix, Halverstadt & Harris note Glendale's proposed $17M taxpayer-funded arena-management deal with the Coyotes for next year "would be the only one like it among the Valley's major sports teams and may be one of the most lucrative” in the NHL. Sports execs and local government officials said that none of the other pro sports teams in the Valley -- the Cardinals, Suns and D'Backs -- "receives a tax-funded subsidy to run its stadium or arena.” Still, Halverstadt & Harris note a “4-3 majority of the Glendale City Council appears poised to approve the lease agreement” with Jamison to operate the city-owned Jobing.com Arena (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 6/7).