PHOENIX — After five years and a seemingly never-ending search for a home for the Arizona Coyotes, team owner Alex Meruelo is stepping down, according to a new report from PHNX Sports Coyotes insider Craig Morgan.
This comes just days after the Arizona Land Department canceled a planned auction for a plot of land at the intersection of the Loop 101 and Scottsdale Road in north Phoenix where Meruelo hoped to build a new arena and entertainment district and just more than two months after the team's players and front officer personnel were sold to Smith Entertainment Group and relocated to Salt Lake City.
The auction for the 95-acre piece of land in north Phoenix was planned for June 27 but was canceled on June 21 as the Land Department said the applicant, Miracle Development, LLC, needed to get a special use permit to build the arena and entertainment district.
The Land Department said they canceled the auction to allow them to have more certainty that "the applicant can build what it intends to for its anchor tenant."
The Land Department said they would move forward with the auction when the permit was obtained, but Morgan reports that the cancelation of the auction was the end of the line for Meruelo.
"With that delayed indefinitely, and considerable political opposition in his path, (Meruelo) sees no viable options that would allow him to reactivate the franchise within the parameters set forth in the $1.2 billion sale of the team to Jazz owners Ryan and Ashley Smith," Morgan wrote in his report.
12News can confirm that ownership met with the remaining Coyotes staff on Monday and told them they will likely cease operations within the next 30 days. There is no word on what that means for the staff of the Tucson Roadrunners, the Utah Hockey Club's AHL affiliate.
Morgan also reports that Meruelo had been "exploring other options" since learning of the zoning issue.
Meruelo agreed to sell the Coyotes in April after the NHL granted him the rights to keep the name, logo and history of the Coyotes in Arizona, along with the rights to reactivate the franchise within five years as an expansion franchise.
Reactivating the Coyotes would have meant Meruelo would have to pay back the $1 billion he earned in the sale of the team. The other $200 million was distributed to the other NHL owners as a relocation fee.
This comes hours after it was announced that the plan for the Roadrunners to play six games at Arizona State University's Mullett Arena was abandoned and that the team would play all of their home games in Tucson next season.
It also comes just more than a year after the Coyotes' plan to build an arena and entertainment district in Tempe was struck down by the city's voters.
The Coyotes had previously been linked to a plot of land in Mesa and Meruelo had executed a letter of intent to buy the land, but nothing ever came of that.
The team had also explored a plot of land on the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community, according to Morgan's report, but "the inability to own the land, the inability to build residences on tribal lands, and the inability to build a sportsbook made the revenue model untenable."
12News is working to learn more about Meruelo stepping down as owner and what that means in terms of the future of the Coyotes and their possible reactivation.
This is a developing story and more details will be added as they are made available.
Arizona sports
The city of Phoenix is home to four major professional sports league teams; The NFL's Arizona Cardinals, NBA's Phoenix Suns, WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury and MLB's Arizona Diamondbacks.
The Cardinals have made State Farm Stadium in Glendale their home turf and the Footprint Center in downtown Phoenix is home to both the Suns and the Mercury. The Indoor Football League’s Arizona Rattlers play at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale.
Phoenix also has a soccer team with the USL's Phoenix Rising FC, who play at Phoenix Rising FC Stadium in Phoenix.
The Valley hosts multiple major sporting events every year, including college football's Fiesta Bowl and Guaranteed Rate Bowl; the PGA Tour’s highest-attended event, the WM Phoenix Open; NASCAR events each spring and fall, including Championship Weekend in November; and Cactus League Spring Training for 15 Major League Baseball franchises.
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