Coyotes get lease agreement to stay in Glendale

Matthew Hulsizer/Courtesy: David Kadlubowski/The Arizona Republic

But we hope that we are reading the story about it wrong. Because according to the report we read, the city of Glendale is essentially paying Chicago businessman Matthew Hulsizer to be the owner of the team.

The agreement between the City Council and Hulsizer essentially says that the city has to wire Hulsizer $100 million in the next few weeks to help him make the purchase of the Coyotes from the NHL for what is reported to be $170 million. That, makes absolutely no sense.

Read the story yourself, from AZCentral.com RIGHT HERE

If this is correct, it makes absolutely no sense. Sure, we get that the NHL wants to keep the team in Phoenix and sure, they want someone to take it off their hands. But, at least according to this report essentially, the city of Glendale is buying the team, not Hulsizer.

Heck, maybe we aren't totally understanding the financials. We don't claim to be finance savvy. But reading the details...as published in the story, it sounds awfully fishy.

While we get the whole it's important to keep your team thing and we get that it helps generate money we have questions. Like if you are paying the guy to buy the team, why not buy it yourself? If Hulsizer needs the city's money to complete the purchase, how stable an owner is he? Most importantly, if your city is struggling financially, where are you coming up with this money and ultimately, who really is paying for it?

I don't know, maybe I'm reading this wrong. Brother Jon and FOSG Gil Tyree have been strong advocates for keeping the team in Phoenix, me, yeah, sure it would be great but at what cost. I know if I lived in Glendale and had to put up with tax increases so the city could pay someone to take out a loan to buy the team...I'd be kind of pissed off. But maybe I'm missing something here. I don't think so...but you never know.

((ed. note- Tyree has been a proponent of keeping the team there... Jon has wanted the team to have a good home. If that translates into "Winnipeg," then so be it...))

Since nobody in Phoenix has a video story on this posted to their website this early in the morning, we'll give you the Coyotes open. It runs before the games.



So, obviously, there are three words we all need to be paying attention to in the near future... "Carrie Ann Sitren"

Sitren and the Goldwater Institute have never been afraid to challenge every step the City of Glendale has been taking in trying to keep the Coyotes in a business district that desperately needs an anchor tenant in a boondoggle of an arena deal.

Also from Sanders:
"In addition, the city will pay Hulsizer $97 million in annual installments ranging from $10 million to $20 million over the next 5 ½ years to manage events at the arena, including games and concerts. After that time, Glendale can renegotiate further payments to Hulsizer for arena management, sell the arena to Hulsizer or find another buyer to purchase the facility. Glendale expects at least some arena-related revenue to help offset that cost."

The amount of the investment in sports in Glendale by the city, with interest, now is cose to US$1-billion.

The HQ thinks this is a boondoggle of the highest order, and we wait for the Goldwater Institute to raise about nine different degrees of hell over this...

More when we know more...
But, in the meantime, here's a preview piece our friends at MyFoxPhoenix laid out for all of us...
((HT: KSAZ-TV/KUTP-TV Phoenix))