Massive development in the NHL's return to Arizona: They finally gave up

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Cooper Godin
June 25, 2024 (10:16)

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The 2023-24 season has officially ended, and last night, in the middle of the Stanley Cup celebrations, some major news broke regarding the Arizona Coyotes and their ownership.

In a social media post, Craig Morgan of PHNX Sports revealed that Alex Meruelo is walking away from ownership of the Arizona Coyotes. This leaves the organization's future in limbo, and it's uncertain if they'll ever return.

"Alex Meruelo is calling it quits. Multiple sources told PHNX Sports that ownership addressed Coyotes staff on Monday, telling them they have no plans to pursue further arena options." Morgan said.

Earlier this week, a land auction that Meruelo was set to participate in was cancelled by the Arizona State Land Department, and one of the big reasons was the type of facility that was going to be built. Reports say that the land in North Phoenix wasn't zoned for an NHL arena, which left the former Coyotes owner back to square one and now, he'll no longer pursue other arena options.

Just over two months ago, the National Hockey League announced that the Coyotes would be inactive, with their players and hockey operations staff heading to Salt Lake City, Utah, via a non-traditional relocation. Meruelo and his business staff stayed behind in Arizona, working to get an arena deal done, as the NHL gave him a five-year window to bring a team back to the state through expansion. It's unclear if that five-year revival window can be transferred to a new ownership group.

Meruelo probably wasn't the right owner for the organization. After failed attempts at building a new permanent arena in other locations, including Tempe, where a vote went against his plan, it seemed inevitable that this day would come. Now, it's up to other investors inside and outside of Arizona to step up if they want to bring a team back to the desert. Morgan added in his article that PHNX Sports knows at least two groups interested in bringing a team to Arizona via expansion.

"PHNX is aware of at least two groups with interest in bringing an expansion team back to Arizona, but it will be hard to gauge their level of interest and ability until they can formally enter the fray and the process begins." Morgan said.

With how busy the coming week is off the ice with the awards, draft, free agency, etc., we may not hear from the National Hockey League regarding this news for a little bit. Still, it's safe to say that they're probably very disappointed in Alex Meruelo right now.