Burns & Gambo sit down exclusively with Alex Meruelo to discuss the team’s move to Utah and the land auction he will attempt to win on June 27.
Video: Felisa Cárdenas and Jeremy Schnell/Arizona Sports
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49 Comments
Too bad Arizona only has 2 stadiums total and there was no where else capable of hosting nhl hockey…
Oh wait…
In Edmonton, there is a user and local business tax (mostly bars and restaurants that benefit from the traffic) – no taxes for residents. It's worked very well and spurred on huge developed. Good news for youth hockey in Phoenix. A team has to be financially viable to compete. Period.
I'm a heart broken, local Coyotes fan. Losing the team has been extremely tough… I understand why all of this has to be done at this point and I can get behind this as the best decision for the team and its future, but I need AM and XG to own their mistakes for Tempe not working out. They weren't as aggressive with campaigning as they needed to be and assumed they had it in the bag when they didn't. They need to acknowledge they messed that up and that it cost this city its team for the next several years.
AM is saying the right things in regards to the new team and I CAN buy in but I won't want to buy in until I know they recognize they didn't do enough in Tempe and learned from it.
Also, I wish AM expressed his Fandom more if he truly was/is a fan.
why NBA Phoenix Suns owner buy Arizona Coyotes
All we can do is wait and see with tears
Tempe voters chose to keep a toxic swampland over a nearly free NHL arena (Coyotes were paying for almost all of the cost). Stop blaming Alex for losing the team. Make no mistake Tempe voters lost us NHL here in arizona! I thank Alex for his efforts as I live nearby in Mesa
I don't believe this guy. He wants a casino and needs a team. This guy doesn't even know that you can't spend beyond the cap. It's a hard cap
Should have asked why he continued to take payments for next years season tickets and refused to refund them. I’m exited to follow the team to Utah at this point. Have no interest in a new team in az. They ruined it for the fans here
So, the business was more healthy than it has ever been in a 4,000 seat arena, but we couldn't compete and enhance payroll because of lack of ticket revenue. Nailed it.
Meruelo is definitely going down as one of the worst owners in NHL history.
Gambo asking good questions.
This sucks, I enjoyed going to Roadrunner games. Also really enjoyed preseason hockey between my Ducks and the Coyotes.
Guy didn't even have the decency to show up to their last game.
I say the property at Indian school and Central would make a great spot for a arena/ entertainment center. It would boost growth in midtown Phoenix
Great interview questions. The whole thing was just a mess. I want to trust Murello, but I don't know. I guess I'll believe it when I see it. I'm gonna miss seeing the Roadrunners in Tucson. Tucson was so lucky to have AHL hockey.
The new arena better have the same boat horn
These two gentlemen did a really great job conducting the interview!
How can such a fumbling mess of a man have so much money and success? He sounds like that dumb and clueless liar we've all met.
Lol the amount of crap he spiiled in the beginning and he says hockey belongs in the desert. haha. What a load of shit. And do you think it is fair to uproot the existing players, player operations, all the insider and completely moving them to Utah? Is that ok? Lol
Well……….. I buy it………….Time will give me the answer……… HOOOOOOOOWL!!!
Gambadingdong claims to be such a tough guy but all he ever does is gargle the guests nuts.
This ownership group is the same as the others – Land speculaters looking to capitalize on a entertainment district & then an arena . They never had a owner who wanted to own a hockey team . He's not going to win the land auction. Every commercial delevloper & major home builder is drooling to get their hands on that 100 acres .
as an outsider I used to come down from Vegas to see the yotes play downtown at American West arena, then I saw them play at Jobing Arena against the VGK, then they move to a college arena? Like WTF???? Then the fans cried last night after the game like they loved this team, where were you for 28 years, now they leave and it's like you just lost your favorite dog. Good riddance to this team, hopefully Utah will support them and I think they will. Hopefully we don't see hockey in Phoenix again.
"I still own the team" oh good god. Loser
Why would Alex move the roadrunners to a smaller arena. What about the fans in Tucson
He's not a deep pocket billionaire like some around professional sports or in this case the NHL. He's hoping to become one through this project.
If he was committed like he said he was he would've explored more options. There is tons of land in Arizona to build an arena. He's a joke
In alex we trust
Alex I'm ready for you to prove us all wrong.
can’t trust this guy!!!
Do Not Trust This MAN !
he'll sell the naming rights of the yotes next .
the word is IF in 5 years they can put up an arena.
He sold the team for 1b. to reactivate the club will be 1 bil. it's a cash grab. no matter what he says. Banking 5 years no one cares about hockey
This dude didn't deserve a platform to discuss a damn thing.
pathological liar/con man. If you think this guy really cared about the fans/nhl then you are fkn nuts. at least he played bettman and got him to rid nhl of az. so some good came out of this. Merulo couldn't even show his face at mullett finale.
Give the guy a break. He’s only human and he’s trying.
Can anyone explain how he sold the team for 1.2 billion but he’s saying he didn’t sell the team? So he just gets a new team?? Confused per usual
He looks like an even more worn out version of the already worn out Davis Hasselhoff
Why didn't this just boil down to the owner asking the people who works for him what they would be most comfortable with?
Alex better fix this.
I am sure no home builders are interested in a prime piece of land in phoenix scottsdale so after he does not win the auction he will take his money and run.
Some may think I'm foolish but I have hope that he'll follow through, and we'll get a team back.
Meruelo strikes me as not the sharpest skate on the rink.
As an outsider, it’s not a good look when you don’t even go to the final game. Your presence would’ve shown that you cared
This Guy Blows Goats.
The way he talks reminds me of Trump….. Scary
I think it’s sad when any fanbase loses their home team, really hoping hockey can come back somehow
I’m sorry but this guy gives me total “weasel” vibes. He can pretend he still owns an NHL team all he likes… but he sold them already. All he “owns” is a logo and delusion. I’m thinking “team meetings”, (out in a plot of dirt he doesn’t own yet, not setting up meetings with all the myriad a government officials to determine if they will actually cooperate, et al…) is gonna be a very lonely exercise. I live in Canada and the Coyotes were my favourite team. My heart really goes out to the home fans!
Can’t trust him.
Liar. Didn't address the glendale non payments saying 'i have 40 years of wealth' yet he didn't make payments due saying 'he didn't think they would evict him' yet they did for non payment. He just contradicted himself. classic narcissist liar. All merulo owns is the name and rights to block any expansion group attempting to come to phx. next five years or could just sell the rights to az. down the line. And they didn't ask merulo the big question-the legal action he was ready to take against nhl if they tried to a force a sale and they basically gave him a $ billion and rights to az. not to pursue legal action. Now just wait and see what happens on 6-27. Maybe he doesn't show up for auction or just lets someone out bid him for land. He could go away and still keep nhl out of az. And no show for last game because he was too busy wrapping things up? Maybe he just didn't want to hear the boos and see the f u merulo signs. And whines about mullett being too small to compete? His fault for getting 'kicked out' of glendale to go an arena that was never up to nhl standards. And he never once mentioned smith or wished them well in slc. What a dooshbag. Play this interview back in 5 years and see what happened. And no tax $$$ for tempe project to a billionaire? no just huge tax breaks to build tempe project to a billionaire. Thats why voters voted NO.
He insists he owns an NHL team. Hilarious really. He owns the name and branding of sports franchise. Thats it.