Coyotes Auction Open To Everyone

((HT: Arizona Republic/Watters))

The September auction of the Phoenix Coyotes will be open to any and all bidders, according to a U.S. Bankruptcy Court decision Wednesday afternoon.

Judge Redfield T. Baum spent a couple of days deliberating whether the auction would be limited to bidders who would keep the NHL team in Glendale or expanded to those such as Canadian business mogul Jim Balsillie ((pictured, thanks Reuters file)), who wants to relocate the hockey franchise.

"Recognizing that this decision probably expands the issues for the auction," Baum set a further hearing for 1:30 p.m. next Tuesday.

GlobeSports David Shoalts continues:

Judge Redfield T. Baum of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court overruled the NHL on Wednesday to keep Jim Balsillie’s bid for the Phoenix Coyotes alive.

The judge ordered that Balsillie’s $212.5-million (all currency U.S.) offer for the Coyotes must be included in a Sept. 10 auction for the team. The NHL is against Balsillie because his bid is conditional on moving the team to Hamilton.

Balsillie’s bid will now be considered along with two bids that pledge to keep the Coyotes in suburban Glendale. However, the bids from Chicago White Sox and Chicago Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf and a group of Canadian and American businessmen known as Ice Edge Holdings LLC, are conditional on negotiating a new arena lease with the City of Glendale and new terms with the team’s creditors, and have not been officially filed with the court.

If Balsillie’s bid is successful it will present more problems for the NHL, whose governors rejected Balsillie as a prospective owner last week.

“As the only bidder with a firm offer before the bankruptcy court to purchase the Phoenix Coyotes, we obviously agree that Jim Balsillie belongs in the Sept. 10 auction,” Balsillie’s spokesman Bill Walker said following the ruling. “From the time his bid was launched, Jim Balsillie has said that all he is asking for is a chance to bid for the Coyotes at auction through the bankruptcy court process on a level playing field and let the best bid win. That’s fair and transparent.”

“It’s the best outcome for creditors and for the future of the franchise.”

In his decision, Judge Baum recognized this will raise a lot of legal issues. He called for a hearing on Aug. 11 to hear arguments from lawyers from all sides – Coyotes owner Jerry Moyes, the NHL, Glendale, Balsillie and the creditors – about the ramifications of allowing a bid from someone who was rejected by the league.

Earlier in the day, Judge Baum postponed a hearing to find if Moyes and his lawyers would be found in contempt of court. Lawyers for the City of Glendale demanded that Moyes and his lawyers be found in contempt for revealing information about arena-lease negotiations with Reinsdorf that were subject to a confidentiality agreement. Moyes’ lawyers said it was an “inadvertent” mistake. No reason was given for the postponement.

NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly could not be immediately reached for comment.