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))

"Disconnect" Between Glendale And NHL Brewing...?

((HT: Winnipeg Free Press- Lawless/Campbell))

Ice Edge Holdings' Daryl Jones tells the Free Press that there is a "disconnect" ((his word)) between the two parties and everyone is waiting on the resolution before anyone can negotiate with the City of Glendale.

"This is coming down to the 11th hour," Jones said. "The NHL needs to basically have the $25 million the city agreed to in an account where they can draw the money down when they need it. The city wants to control the money and what it is dispersed for. There's a real disconnect at this point.

"The NHL is focused solely on trying to get a deal with the city right now. So no one is having negotiations with the NHL as far as purchasing the team goes. I received an email from the NHL this weekend saying they still don't have a deal."

Obviously, Jones' loose-lipped approach can't sit well with the National Hockey League. Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly admitted that there isn't a deal, but he also denied any kind of "disconnect."

Randy Turner of the Free Press also has this revelation on how comical the process has gotten:

"...one of Glendale's lawyers sent out a directive last week to "play with" or "ignore" a lawyer for the watchdog group Goldwater Institute, who was seeking information on the negotiations between the city and the league. Only one problem: The email was accidently sent to the Goldwater lawyer herself."

The HQ is sure Carrie Ann Sitren enjoyed that immensely...

More when we have more...

Goldwater Waiting To Sue Glendale

But waiting not too long, and really surprising no one when this goes down...

David Shoalts, in his piece for the Globe and Mail, caught up with Arizona watchdog Carrie Ann Sitren to get her impression of the deal that the City of Glendale has with the National Hockey League at present...

"By delegating the power and responsibility of [council] to the city manager, the city has violated the law,” Sitren told Shoalts.

In the City Council meeting, mayor Elaine Scruggs gave city manager Ed Beasley the go-ahead to work out the agreement with the National Hockey League to backup any Phoenix Coyotes losses- up to US$25-million.

Sitren and the Goldwater Institute are waiting until the minutes of the meeting from Tuesday are officially published, but this is really a fait accompli...

“The city gave away all its power and responsibility to the city manager to come up with a deal," she added. "That does not fly under the laws here.”

KPNX-TV/News12's Andy Harvey got to do the standard after-the-fact fan reaction piece
Naturally, Harvey was able to find people from both sides of the argument to fit into his 1:30 time frame...
((HT: News12/azcentral.com))

Contingency Schedule For Winnipeg/NHL Posted

((HT: "">CBC Sports))

NHL schedule makers have created an itinerary for the 2010-11 season that includes a team based out of Winnipeg.

The schedule is a contingency plan as the future of the Phoenix Coyotes remains undecided, according to numerous media sources, including CBC Sports national reporter Teddy Katz.

Winnipeg would play in the Northwest Division, forcing the Colorado Avalanche to shift to the Pacific Division.

And it looks like the Goldwater Institute is planning to sue the City of Glendale if tonight's meeting lends itself to the COG backing the NHL's losses...

"Under Arizona's constitution, cities are not allowed to give subsidies to private sports owners, or any private businesses for that matter," said Carrie Ann Sitran, a lawyer with the Goldwater Institute.

"The fact that the city is being so secretive makes us really wonder what the city is trying to hide, especially when we know that taxpayers' dollars may be at stake."

Julie Frisoni, the Marketing Director for the city, speculated the city would try to flip the idea through user fees instead of paying money outright...

Glendale Must Show Coyotes Memos

((HT: Arizona Republic/Sanders))

Glendale must reveal by Friday records of what incentives, if any, it is offering to a new owner of the Phoenix Coyotes, a Maricopa County Superior Court judge ruled Tuesday.

The city is in negotiations with Chicago sports mogul Jerry Reinsdorf, whose investment partners have made an initial offer to buy the bankrupt NHL team and keep it in Glendale. But he wants a new lease from the city to use Jobing.com Arena.

Glendale also has talked with a second group headed by Daryl Jones of Connecticut-based investment-research company Research Edge LLC.

The Valley-based Goldwater Institute, a conservative watchdog opposed to government subsidies for private businesses, sued Glendale for its records of negotiations with potential buyers. The institute warns that Glendale may offer to give back millions of dollars the professional hockey team pays yearly for rent and other fees at the arena, just to keep the team in town.

City officials have maintained they won't sacrifice any revenue. Rather, they will work to help the Coyotes raise money in other ways, such as higher ticket fees or cost-saving measures.

Still, Glendale sought to keep under wraps most of the e-mails, memos and other documents of negotiations that Goldwater requested, fearing they could reveal the city's "bargaining chips" and destroy the possibility of a favorable deal.

After the judge's ruling, both Goldwater and Glendale claimed victory.

Goldwater attorney Carrie Ann Sitren called the ruling a win for Glendale residents.

"All we want to know is exactly what the city has told the potential bidders. And we want to know what the potential bidders have asked of the city," she said. "Certainly, the taxpayer has the right to know."

Glendale, on the other hand, pointed to Judge Edward Burke's conclusion that immediate disclosure of negotiation records could have a "chilling effect" on bidders, possibly forcing some to drop out.

"We are pleased that the city can continue to negotiate vigorously to achieve the best results for Glendale and the taxpayers," the city said in a statement Tuesday.

In his decision, Burke ordered Glendale to release documents detailing negotiations with Coyotes bidders by the earlier of two dates: as soon as the City Council schedules a meeting to vote on a proposed deal or by the time a potential buyer submits a final bid to U.S. Bankruptcy Court. The deadline for final bids is Friday.

In addition, the city is required to release all related documents as they are created until the U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge decides Aug. 5 whether to accept bids for the Glendale team. If those bids fail, the bankruptcy judge would consider selling the Coyotes to buyers like Canadian businessman Jim Balsillie, who would relocate the team. The city's negotiations at that point would be moot.

Burke gave Glendale some leeway, however. For instance, the city does not have to disclose notes taken in meetings, records from negotiations with potential bidders who failed to follow through on a final offer, alternatives the city may be considering in subsequent rounds of negotiations with a bidder, or documents sealed during bankruptcy proceedings.

The city produced some documents last week to Goldwater and The Republic, but they were heavily blacked out.