While South Florida is rightfully celebrating the clinching of the Stanley Cup and former Coyote Oliver Ekman-Larsson is lifting the it, Alex Meruelo has called it. According to former Coyotes beat writer Craig Morgan, Meruelo is out as owner of the Arizona Coyotes. This is something some fans have wished for since the troubles at Gila River Arena (now Desert Diamond Arena), and to some have wished for it from the very beginning.
Meruelo’s incompetence has been on display since he bought the team in June of 2019, and since then, it’s been a complete disaster. From leaving Shane Doan’s banner at Desert Diamond Arena when they moved out to failing to hire a zoning attorney, the list goes on and on and it’s a shame what he’s done to Arizona hockey. It’s a shame he ultimately is the reason why the team relocated to Salt Lake City, Utah, and why the passionate fans of Arizona no longer have a team in State 48.
Here is a recap of his time as owner of the Coyotes and the countless missteps that Meruelo and company took throughout the years.
Glendale Was An Issue From the Get-Go
As mentioned, Meruelo bought the team in the summer of 2019 and there was lots of promise entering the Meruelo era. Maybe promise isn’t the right word, but there was a lot of optimism, at least for Coyotes fans, who have had a handful of dreadful ownership groups in the past. The first red flag was, of course, the relationship with the city of Glendale, which ultimately caused the team to move to the undersized Mullett Arena for the 2022-23 season.
The Coyotes’ time in Glendale was never pretty, not just when Meruelo took over as owner. That certainly didn’t help Meruelo, but he had a handful of missteps: a major one was not paying his bills on time, which made headlines across the NHL. Typically, when the owner is in headlines frequently, it’s not a good thing, as most people can’t name their favorite team’s owner.
“As first reported by The Athletic, FOX 10 confirmed through the city of Glendale documents that the team owed more than $1.3 million in unpaid state and city taxes. The unpaid taxes reportedly go as far back as June 2020.” This was quite a big deal and stirred the pot between the Coyotes and the City of Glendale.
That then brings us to the lease with Glendale, which was being renewed on a year-to-year basis. The City of Glendale decided that the Coyotes and Meruelo could either sign a long-term lease or leave. Meruelo opted for the second option and left Desert Diamond Arena after the 2021-22 season.
Failed Tempe Vote Final Straw for Many
After leaving Glendale, where the team had been since 2003, a new era dawned upon the Kachina. The biggest question was now: where will the Coyotes play? They couldn’t play in downtown Phoenix at Footprint Center because it would require mass renovations since it’s not built for hockey. Simply put, Meruelo didn’t have much flexibility with where he could place his hockey team, and ultimately, he decided for the team to play out of Mullett Arena.
Mullett Arena is an amazing arena. The only issue is that it only houses 4,600 people and is meant for the NCAA’s Arizona State Sun Devils, not the NHL. Of course, this was a temporary solution and the bigger plan was to find a permanent piece of land in the City of Tempe to eventually build an arena. While this, in hindsight, was a great idea, they had to get through a referendum.
The team repeatedly stated they were confident in the public vote and hopeful of building a state-of-the-art arena in Tempe. However, that was far from the truth, as the team soundly lost the May, 2023 vote, and the hopes of creating an arena were shot. To many, this was their last straw with Meruelo, who just threw away a vote that should’ve been won. Instead, they were outcampaigned by the opposition and lost.
They then had to look elsewhere and placed letters of intent on lands in Mesa and north Phoenix. During this time, they still planned on playing at Mullett Arena until the 2026-27 season, but that was far too long for commissioner Gary Bettman, as he pulled the plug to end the saga. The team was ultimately sold to Ryan Smith and the Utah Hockey Club, and Arizona no longer had a team mainly due to Meruelo’s incompetence.
Unable to Secure Land in North Phoenix
This brings us to last Friday, June 21 when the Arizona State Land Department canceled the highly-anticipated land auction. All eyes were on the auction as Meruelo was attempting to purchase a parcel of land in north Phoenix that would ultimately house the new Coyotes arena. The renderings of the new arena were spectacular, to say the least, but you have to win the land to build the arena first, and he failed to do that.
Under the current zoning, previously used for a planned youth-hockey facility, the Coyotes would not be allowed to build an arena. That would mean Meruelo would need to obtain a special permit through a rezoning process. That process could take up to seven or eight months, which was likely far too long for Meruelo given the timeline. As one of the stipulations, Meruelo had until Dec. 31, 2027, to have at least 50% of the arena built before he could notify the league.
Failing to reach the auction is pretty indicative of Meruelo’s time as Arizona’s owner and shows the lack of effort and commitment to the state of Arizona and Coyote fans. Now, it begs the question, what is next for the Coyotes in Arizona? Arizona, along with Atlanta, Houston, and Quebec, are like any other city in the expansion process. While there was doubt in Meruelo from the get-go, Arizona is now going back to square one and will enter a new era whether they get a hockey team soon or not.
Meruelo Finally Out as Owner as New Era Dawns Hockey in Arizona
The saga is finally over, and as you can tell, there were just too many issues that arose with Meruelo in the captain’s seat. Now, the next chapter begins in the Grand Canyon state with much unknown. According to PHNX Sports, at least two groups are interested in bringing back the Coyotes via expansion. Of course, it’s hard to judge how interested the said groups are, as there is little to no information. While the Panthers are celebrating winning the greatest trophy in sports, the Stanley Cup, Coyote fans will be celebrating the outing of Meruelo, who cost them their team.
