Embarrassing information surfaces about Coyotes owner

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Josh Tupper
June 22, 2024 (9:59)

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With the announcement on Friday that the property auction scheduled for next week has been canceled, the Arizona Coyotes' hopes of making a run at the NHL in the near future were severely damaged.

Owner of the Coyotes, Alex Meruelo, reportedly expressed his dissatisfaction with the ruling on Friday and plans to investigate his legal options against the state of Arizona. After the Arizona State Land Department's pronouncement, he issued a statement via the Coyotes' social media pages, which you can see below.

Some fresh information surrounding the cancellation of the land auction has surfaced in the hours that have followed the news, and it's stunning to even hear.

One of the main concerns with the land auction, according to ESPN's Greg Whyshynski, was the kind of arena that, should Alex Meruelo win, he intended to construct there. That was zoned for an indoor hockey arena, but for YOUTH hockey, not an NHL arena with 17,000 seats, sources said Whyshynski.

"Multiple sources tell ESPN that the Arizona land auction issue is related to the kind of hockey arena that Alex Meruelo could build there.

Coyotes said the land was already zoned for an indoor hockey arena, except that was for youth hockey -- not a 17,000-seat NHL arena." Whyshynski said.

Further to that, according to Phoenix councilman Jim Waring, who's district was where Meruelo was going to build the arena, the Coyotes didn't have a zoning attorney and that they should get one, which should've been done well in advance.

This news came as a shock to many, including Craig Morgan, who has covered the Arizona Coyotes for quite a while. Morgan was really surprised that this wasn't locked down beforehand, especially given the size of the project.

"Telling info from this story:

Phx Councilman Jim Waring, whose district the proposed arena would be in, said the Coyotes should "get a zoning attorney. They don't have one."

How on earth do you not lock down the zoning requirements before embarking on a project of this scale?" Morgan said.

Much like they were in May 2023 after the failed vote in Tempe, the Coyotes are back to square one and it's going to be increasingly difficult for Alex Meruelo to bring back a team within the five-year window he was given by the National Hockey League.

Source: Blade of Steel
Arizona property at center of land auction reportedly wasn't zoned for NHL arena