((HT: Arizona Republic/Sanders))
Coyotes owner Jerry Moyes is blasting the latest bid for his bankrupt team as illegitimate.
Chicago sports mogul Jerry Reinsdorf and Valley attorney John Kaites together recently offered $148 million to keep the NHL team playing in Glendale.
Moyes says it appears to be a no-cash bid that would assume $118.5 million in secured debt but would fail to pay creditors.
Moyes prefers a deal he helped cobble together from Canadian tech-executive Jim Balsillie for $212.5 million that would require the team to move to Ontario.
Glendale, which rents Jobing.com Arena to the Coyotes, and other groups that would lose money from a team relocation oppose the deal and threaten millions in damages.
But Moyes points out that the new Reinsdorf bid requires renegotiation of contracts with Glendale and the other vendors, an arm-twisting approach Moyes was unable to accomplish before turning to bankruptcy.
"The current structure of our agreements with Glendale and other parties is a money loser no matter how well the team plays," Moyes said in a statement. "Simply put, the Reinsdorf bid wants to only assume the team's debt and then restructure all agreements, which is what I have been trying to do for the last year."
Moyes questioned why Glendale would make concessions for another owner but not him.
Glendale officials maintain they would tell a new owner what they told Moyes: The city can raise ticket charges to help the team make money, for example, but will not lower the city's revenue-generating fees.
Earl Scudder, a consultant to the Coyotes' for-sale efforts, said Moyes tried working out an arrangement with Reinsdorf but couldn't close on it.
"That effort failed when no offer involving cash to creditors was forthcoming," Scudder added to the statement.
Reinsdorf's recent offer does not mention setting aside any money to satisfy the $104 million that Moyes, as an unsecured creditor, claims he loaned to the team and lost.
The deadline has passed for any other parties to bid. The NHL had told a U.S. Bankruptcy judge that three other groups, including Coyotes minority owner John Breslow, were interested, but none stepped forward with official offers.
The court will decide Aug. 5 whether to accept Reinsdorf's offer or hold an auction for Balsillie and any other party wishing to move the team.
ALERT: The NHL's Bill Daly joins XTRA 910AM's Bickley and MJ at 7:00 eastern time
Watch it here...if it's not up, then you're watching their live show...
Segment One From the Daly interview is found in black...
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