Report: Gary Bettman meets with committee intent on bringing NHL back to Arizona
Just when you thought the story was over, the wheels are in motion to bring the NHL back to a place it had just left.
According to Arizona Insider Craig Morgan, Tom Galvin, the newly elected chairman of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, stated at a board meeting on Monday that he is forming a committee of business and political leaders with the end goal of bringing the league back to the state of Arizona.
BREAKING: Newly elected Maricopa County Board of Supervisors Chair Tom Galvin announces the formation of a committee of political & business leaders to bring the NHL back to Arizona.
NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman confirmed that he met with Galvin before Christmas via Zoom.
NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman has confirmed that he met with Galvin to discuss the topic prior to Christmas.
The state had just lost an NHL franchise, as the Arizona Coyotes were sold to the Smith Entertainment Group and moved to Salt Lake City, becoming the Utah Hockey Club.
Maricopa County features the city of Phoenix, the city where the Coyotes began their tenure when they relocated from Winnipeg. In comments found on X, Morgan confirmed that any future plans for an NHL team to return to the area would not include moving into the Footprint Center, home of the NBA’s Phoenix Suns and WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury.
In essence, a new franchise would need to build its own rink.
Maricopa also includes Scottsdale, a city that former Coyotes owner Alex Mereulo eyed as a place to build a new arena. Even after the sale of the Coyotes, in which the NHL granted Mereulo a five-year win down to potentially revitalize the franchise, he and his ownership group hoped they could win an auction of a parcel of land between Phoenix and Scottsdale. However, the auction scheduled for June 27, 2024 was canceled.
Mereulo walked away from ownership shortly thereafter.
The last few years of the Coyotes were tumultuous, to put it nicely. Due to many behind-the-scenes issues, alleging that Mereulo wasn’t paying bills, among other poor business practices. It led to the team getting pushed out of Glendale, the city it called home for almost two decades, with the team playing its final two years at Mullett Arena on the campus of Arizona State University in Tempe.
After the sale of the team, Bettman assured that the NHL wants to return to Arizona, particularly in the Phoenix market.
“The League hasn’t abandoned this market or the fans,” Bettman said back in April.