Friday's bid deadline for the Coyotes included one bid and a near-bid.
A group of Canadian and American investors who came forward earlier this month with interest in the bankrupt franchise filed a letter of intent to bid up to $150 million, according to those close to the deal.
As expected, sports mogul Jerry Reinsdorf waded in with a bid worth up to $148 million.NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly said he was pleased to see that offers to purchase the team were filed with U.S. Bankruptcy Court.
"We look forward to continuing the review and approval process," he said
At stake is whether the Coyotes, who moved to the Valley in 1996, will remain at Jobing.com Arena in Glendale.
The city and league have spent three months battling to keep the team in place.
The court could decide neither bid satisfies creditors and launch a second auction Sept. 10 for buyers interested in relocating the team.
The judge will review bids at an auction Aug. 5.
Daryl Jones, leading the Canadian-American investment group, said they should have a detailed bid to the judge by that date.
The group missed the court's June 26 deadline to submit term sheets outlining offers and now Friday's bid deadline.
Jones said the missed deadlines are because the group began reviewing the team's finances just three weeks ago.
"As excited as we are about this, we can't make major decisions in this time frame," he said.
Friday's filing attempted to show the judge the group is serious, he said.
Judge Redfield T. Baum has made it clear he would seek the best possible deal, and if Bill Gates walked in with an offer he couldn't refuse, he wouldn't.
"The only person that can determine the viability of a bid is Judge Baum," said Steve Roman, a spokesman for team owner Jerry Moyes.
Bid highlights
• Reinsdorf group: Glendale Hockey LLC would include Reinsdorf, Valley attorney John Kaites and former sports executive Tony Tavares.
The group was negotiating to buy the team before Moyes filed put the team for bankruptcy May 5.
Their offer reportedly followed the term sheet submitted last month which included negotiating new agreements with secured creditors such as the NHL and an affiliate of computer entrepreneur Michael Dell's MSD Capital, as well as unsecured creditors such as arena vendors.
Not included in the bid is money for Moyes, who wants paid at least a portion of the $104 million in loans he says he made to the team.
Those loans are just a portion of the investment Moyes made during his eight-year stint with the club. He estimates losing more than $300 million.
• Jones group: Ice Edge Holdings LLC should include about six investors. Among them are Jones and Keith McCullough, both from Research Edge, a Connecticut-based firm.
Jones declined to name other investors, although he said at least one was from the Phoenix area. The group also wants to keep Coyotes coach and minority owner Wayne Gretzky.
Said Jones: "He's been underutilized, and we have some plans and ideas."
He said he's talked to Gretzky about maintaining his head-coaching spot as well as taking a larger ownership stake and involvement in operations.
"He hasn't agreed, but we hope he will be a partner," Jones said.
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