There are reports that the 4 year ownership drama in Phoenix may soon becoming to an end. Greg Jamison has been attempting to purchase the Coyotes but has so far failed to find financing. That's understandable since the team has never made a profit since it moved to Arizona in 1996. There has been some reports that Jamison has now landed enough investors. Personally I won't believe until it actually happens. The sad Coyotes saga has been dragging on for some time now. Here is a summary of the history of the nightmare in the desert.
Move from Winnipeg
As the second smallest market in the NHL, the Winnipeg Jets ran into financial trouble when player salaries began spiraling up in the 1990s. In addition, the club's home arena, Winnipeg Arena, was one of the smallest in the league. Despite strong fan support, several attempts to keep the team in Winnipeg ultimately fell through. In December 1995, Jerry Colangelo, owner of the NBA's Phoenix Suns, along with Phoenix businessmen Steven Gluckstern and Richard Burke and a local investor group, bought the team with plans to move it to Phoenix for the 1996–97 season.
The Coyotes' home during their first eight years in Phoenix, America West Arena, was completely inadequate for hockey. Although considered a state-of-the-art arena when it was built for the Phoenix Suns basketball team, unlike most modern arenas it was not designed with a hockey rink in mind. In addition, an unfavorable lease with the city of Phoenix (owner of America West Arena) had the team suffering massive losses (as much as $40 million a year at one point); the Coyotes have never really recovered from the resulting financial problems.
Burke bought out Gluckstern in 1998, but was unable to attract more investors to alleviate the team's financial woes. Finally, in 2001, Burke sold the team to Phoenix-area developer Steve Ellman, with Wayne Gretzky as a part-owner and head of hockey operations.
In 2003, the team opened Glendale Arena, now known as Jobing.com Arena, and moved there.
Jerry Moyes buys the Coyotes
In 2005, Ellman sold the Coyotes, the National Lacrosse League's Arizona Sting and the lease to Jobing.com Arena to trucking magnate Jerry Moyes, who is also a part-owner of the Arizona Diamondbacks.
In December 2008, the media became aware that the Coyotes were suffering massive losses, and the NHL was paying the team's bills. Moyes had secretly given operational control of the team to the league. In May 2009, Moyes put the team into bankruptcy hours before Bettman was to present him an offer to sell the team to Chicago Bulls and Chicago White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf. Moyes intended to sell the team to Canadian billionaire Jim Balsillie who intended to purchase the team out of bankruptcy and move it to Hamilton, Ontario. The NHL responded by stripping Moyes of his remaining ownership authority.
NHL owns the Coyotes
Hearings were held in Phoenix bankruptcy court to determine the fate of the Coyotes and the holding company. Two potential bidders for the team surfaced, Reinsdorf and Ice Edge Holdings. but they did not submit a bid for the team at the bankruptcy hearing. Instead, the NHL put in the only rival bid to Balsillie for the team, while it contended the Moyes-Balsillie deal violated NHL rules. Ultimately, the bankruptcy court voided the planned sale to Balsillie, accepting the league's argument that bankruptcy could not be used to circumvent league rules.
The NHL then proceeded to work with the Reinsdorf and Ice Edge to work out a deal with Glendale. The Reinsdorf bid fell apart and the Ice Edge bid collapsed, as it did not satisfy Glendale's financial conditions.
A consortium of investors led by Chicago investor Matt Hulsizer then reached a deal to purchase the Coyotes from the NHL along with a lease agreement with Glendale. However, the Hulsizer deal collapsed in late June 2011 at least in part due to a threatened suit by the Goldwater Institute over the legality of payments Glendale would make to Hulsizer prior to the consortium buying the team.
A deal to former San Jose Sharks owner Greg Jamison has been drafted and is nearly finalized. When the deal is complete and has been approved by the NHL Board of Governors the Coyotes will stay in Phoenix for the next 20 years according to the agreement. A provision of the deal is that the team be renamed the more inclusive Arizona Coyotes "as soon as is commercially feasible." Legal challenges from the Goldwater Institute have been defended but now it seems Jamison may not have the money to finalize the purchase.
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