Staying in the desert: Coyotes sale finalized
After years of wondering in the desert, the Phoenix Coyotes’ ownership saga appears to be over.
An arena lease out clause could bring into question where they’re playing five years from now, but on Monday the NHL finalized the sale of the Coyotes to the IceArizona group led by Renaissance Sports & Entertainment’s George Gosbee and Anthony LeBlanc. Approval of the $170-million US sale came from the board of governors, which ended the league’s ownership of the beleaguered franchise.
“This was an incredibly complicated deal that didn’t get wrapped up quite liter- ally until 8 o’clock this morning after pretty much a full weekend of working on it going through the night,” LeBlanc said on a conference call. “No rest for the weary, as they say, and we’re jumping right in now.”
LeBlanc, Gosbee and nine other owners — the vast majority of whom are Canadian businessmen with connections to Arizona — are jumping in to a long process that includes adding staff on the business side and trying to sell tickets to grow the Coyotes’ reach. Part of the effort includes a name change to the Arizona Coyotes, likely effective for the 2014-15 season.
The NHL had owned the Coyotes for the past four years, shortly after Jerry Moyes put the team into bankruptcy and through failed attempts by Ice Edge Holdings led by White Sox and Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf and then Chicago investor Matt Hulsizer to buy it. With IceArizona now officially in charge, the next step is strengthening the fan base.
“What this franchise has not had over the past 12 years is they’ve never had that combination that I think you need to be successful in the majority of sports markets,” LeBlanc said. “That is strong, stable ownership combined with at least the understanding that you have the potential of your franchise winning.”
The Coyotes missed the playoffs during the lockoutshortened 2013 season but made it the three previous years under coach Dave Tippett. Before bankruptcy, the team most recently made the playoffs in 2001-02.
LeBlanc tried to purchase the team before as part of IceEdge. He teamed up with Gosbee last year, bringing in Daryl Jones, Avik Dey and others before securing NHL approval and financing.
“I think it’s every Canadian boy’s dream to own a hockey team,” Gosbee said. “I’ve always wanted to. But it had to be the right deal. When I started talking with Anthony and Daryl over the years, I think the right deal was in the making here in January. I wanted to own the team because I thought, at the end of the day, it’s a sound investment.”
Negotiating a five-year out clause as part of a 15-year lease deal with the city of Glendale for Jobing.com Arena was made for business reasons, but it also raised skepticism, especially for a group of men with Canadian roots.
“I’m a solid Canadian like a good number of people in this ownership group and unfortunately it’s very difficult for people to accept that hockey can be successful in a non-traditional market,” LeBlanc said. “But we like to point to markets like San Jose and Dallas, even in the Carolinas, where hockey has really thrived. We feel that the same will happen here. But the reality is it’s an investment and we have to protect ourselves, and hence the reason for the out clause.”