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Glendale, Phoenix mayors spar over Arizona Coyotes' future arena location

Paul Giblin, The Republic | azcentral.com 1:43 p.m. MST May 12, 2016

Glendale Mayor Jerry Weiers chides Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton for talks with Arizona Coyotes Coyotes President Anthony LeBlanc says the team intends to leave Glendale as soon as practicable Glendale leaders say the Coyotes' "predicament" was caused by team, not arena Glendale and Phoenix leaders are engaged in a behind-the-scenes tussle about the future of the Arizona Coyotes as the Phoenix-area's largest city seeks to become the home of the hockey team.

Glendale Mayor Jerry Weiers and City Manager Kevin Phelps sent letters to their Phoenix counterparts in late April, criticizing efforts to move the Coyotes to a potential new arena in downtown Phoenix.

"It is unfortunate that no one from the mayor's office took the time to reach out to myself or other members of the Glendale City Council to learn firsthand about the efforts underway to retain the Coyotes here in Glendale," Weiers wrote "... If asked, I would have gladly shared information about our efforts to retain the Coyotes in an arena built for them just over 13 years ago."

The NHL team has played at Gila River Arena in Glendale since 2003.

Furthermore, Weiers, a Republican, rebuked Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton, a Democrat, for what he said was a lack of regional leadership.

Weiers wrote, "I do support your belief that as mayor of the largest city in the greater metropolitan area, your office plays a significant regional role. However, to be an effective regional leader requires engagement and communication with all of the Valley partners. In this case, I feel that has not been accomplished."

Stanton responded that he supported the idea of the Coyotes staying in Glendale — until the team's owners said they wanted out.

"Coyotes representatives approached the City of Phoenix, declaring the team's relationship with Glendale irrevocably broken and expressing a strong desire to permanently relocate to downtown Phoenix," Stanton wrote in a letter to Weiers on Tuesday, hours after The Republic requested an interview with Stanton about the matter.

Stanton spoke in broad terms during his State of the City speech on April 19, outlining a concept for shared pro-sports facility. "I, as mayor, will do everything I can to pursue a course that makes a new facility home to the Suns, the Mercury and the Coyotes," he said.

Weiers sent his letter to Stanton on April 28, two days after the Glendale City Council agreed to hire arena-management company AEG Facilities to run its city-owned arena. Phelps sent a similar letter to Phoenix City Manager Ed Zuercher on April 26.

The Arizona Republic obtained the letters through a public records request.

Weiers' and Phelps' letters were similar, though Weiers' letter was more blunt. The main points:

AEG Facilities is well-positioned to assist the Coyotes to become a successful NHL franchise. The Coyotes' true challenges involve their lack of fan and corporate support, rather than the location of their facility. Glendale awarded AEG Facilities a $28 million, five-year contract to operate Gila River Arena and to repair the city's battered relationship with the Coyotes.

Letters surprise Coyotes

A timeline of the Arizona Coyotes in Glendale The back and forth between the city leaders happened without input from two key players: the Coyotes and the NHL.

Coyotes President Anthony LeBlanc told The Republic on Wednesday that he was surprised to learn about the Glendale letters. He also disputed the letters' characterization of negotiations with the team.

"What? Wow. I'm flabbergasted," LeBlanc said. "Let me be emphatic: There are not discussions ongoing, nor have there been, for the Coyotes to stay in Glendale long term. There's absolutely none."

“Let me be emphatic: There are not discussions ongoing, nor have there been, for the Coyotes to stay in Glendale long term. There's absolutely none.” Coyotes President & CEO Anthony LeBlanc The only talks between the Coyotes executives and Glendale or AEG Facilities representatives are about finalizing terms for a lease for the 2016-17 season, he said, though the team has left open the possibility of later discussions on a short-term extension.

LeBlanc sent a letter to Phelps on Thursday, hours after an article about the matter was posted online by The Republic. LeBlanc wrote that his letter was intended to address some of the "inaccuracies" in Phelps' letter to Zuercher.

LeBlanc wrote, "Your letter to Mr. Zuercher framed the Coyotes' impending departure as 'less about the arena and more about the economics of the situation.' To borrow another quote from your letter — 'nothing could be further from the truth.'"

LeBlanc took exception to the notion of an ongoing dialog to keep the Coyotes in Glendale for the long term. He wrote, "The Coyotes have every intention of leaving Glendale as soon as practicable."

He stated that the Glendale council's decision to undo its contract with the team to manage Gila River Arena created significant turbulence.

"For our business to continue to rely on the whims of a majority of seven elected Council members would be irresponsible of me to the point of risking financial ruin and the alienation of our most important assets — Arizona Coyotes fans and our sponsors," LeBlanc wrote.

For months, he has said the team was a few weeks away from announcing plans for a new arena somewhere in metropolitan Phoenix. He reiterated that stance during an interview with the newspaper Wednesday.

"We've had very good discussions with the city of Phoenix, which was a bit of change, because we have had talks in the past, but not at the level we have in the past couple of weeks," LeBlanc said. "We think we're inching towards some form of clarity, probably a month or so away."

Why do the Coyotes struggle?

He wrote that the Coyotes play in an arena with excellent amenities and outstanding fan experiences in the heart of Glendale's Westgate Entertainment District. "The fundamental issue that we should all understand is that the Coyotes' predicament stems from a lack of corporate and fan support — not playing in an inadequate facility," he wrote.

While the Coyotes play in the 11th largest metropolitan market of the 30 NHL teams, fan support ranks a "very dismal" 29th, Weiers wrote. Corporate support and local television revenue also rank near the bottom of the NHL's teams, he added.

Published reports appear to support Weiers' observations.

“The issues facing the Coyotes in the end are far less about the arena and more about addressing the financial challenges that plague the franchise.”

Glendale Mayor Jerry Weiers

The Coyotes ranked 29th in attendance with an average crowd of 13,433, ahead of only the Carolina Hurricanes, during the 2015-16 regular season, according to ESPN.

The team ranked third from the bottom in local TV ratings with an average rating of 0.38, ahead of only the New Jersey Devils and Florida Panthers, according to the SportsBusiness Journal. The Coyotes' ratings dropped 25 percent from the previous season.

"The issues facing the Coyotes in the end are far less about the arena and more about addressing the financial challenges that plague the franchise," Weiers wrote to Stanton.

Phelps, Glendale's city manager, also discussed the hockey team's business challenges in his letter to Zuercher, Phoenix's city manager.

"Team ownership has acknowledged to me that the team needs to improve the quality of their product. I believe they are working hard to do so," Glendale's city manager wrote.

The Coyotes finished with a record of 35 wins, 39 regulation losses and eight overtime losses, tied for 10th in the NHL's 14-team Western Conference.

Coyotes, NHL blame Glendale

During an interview, LeBlanc said Glendale is the largest source of the team's problems.

"I find it amusing that the mayor of Glendale, who has no experience whatsoever, has decided to opine on what he thinks the financial viability of the franchise is. At the end of the day, the biggest issue this franchise has faced in the last number of years has been uncertainty," LeBlanc said.

“The Coyotes' issues stem principally right now from a situation where there is uncertainty and where there is a lack of trust between the club and the city of Glendale. And it is the city of Glendale that has caused that situation.” NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman

The team's ownership group was turning around the troubled franchise last year when Glendale voided a 15-year arena-management deal with the team, LeBlanc said.

Glendale cancelled the contract claiming conflicts of interest by former City Attorney Craig Tindall and former Assistant City Manager Julie Frisoni, who both left the city's employment and went to work for the Coyotes.

The contract had paid the Coyotes $15 million a year and required the team to make partial reimbursements to the city based on revenue generated at the arena. The reimbursements failed to meet projections.

After the council ripped up the deal, the sides put together a new two-year management agreement.

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman also blamed Glendale for the team's financial stress in a telephone interview with The Republic.

"The Coyotes' issues stem principally right now from a situation where there is uncertainty and where there is a lack of trust between the club and the city of Glendale. And it is the city of Glendale that has caused that situation by reneging on a deal that had been struck between the city and the club," Bettman said.

Metro Phoenix is a viable hockey market, as evidenced by the likely top pick in the upcoming NHL draft, Scottsdale resident and franchise-caliber center Auston Matthews, who currently plays in Switzerland, Bettman said.

"It seems clear that the city of Glendale has miscalculated both as to the damage that they caused and the options the Coyotes now have," Bettman said.