Tempe voters decide future of Coyotes franchise in Arizona on Tuesday

It’s not hyperbole to say that Tuesday is the biggest day is Arizona Coyotes franchise history. Granted, there haven’t been many to write home about in 27 years in the desert – with more bankruptcies than playoff series wins and nearly as many postseason appearances (nine) as ownership changes (seven). The Coyotes have been the NHL’s definition of ‘also ran,’ propped up by commissioner Gary Bettman’s steadfast commitment to keeping hockey in the fifth-biggest city in the United States. Without it, we wouldn’t have Auston Matthews.

And after Tuesday’s vote, it’s possible the Valley of the Sun won’t have the Coyotes much longer. Because the fate of the franchise in Arizona rests in the hands of voters by way of a special election on Tuesday that will determine whether to keep alive or kill the team’s plans for a long-desired new home in Tempe.

If you haven’t been following along, here’s a quick refresh of what’s happening:

What is being voted on?

Let the people decide. Last November, Tempe City Council voted 7-0 to conduct a special election referendum on May 16 to allow citizens to decide on the viability of a $2.1 billion Tempe Entertainment District.

The Tempe Entertainment District is slated to include a palatial new, 16,000-seat arena, along with a 3,000-seat music venue, a 1,900-unit residential complex and luxury retail shops, restaurants and hotels.

The plan calls for 46 acres bordering the Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, which is currently hazardous wasteland, to be developed. Specifically, voters are being asked to vote YES or NO on three questions:

Proposition 301: Amends the city’s general plan for use of the property.
Proposition 302: Permission to rezone the property.
Proposition 303: Provides the Arizona Coyotes the right to develop the 46-acre site for a new arena, an entertainment district, two boutique-style hotels and nearly 2,000 residential units.

How is this vote being conducted?

The interesting thing about this special election is that is being conducted by mail-in vote. And those mail-in ballots were due to be submitted last week on May 9. If ballots were not mailed on-time, residents can drop off their mail-in ballot before 8 o’clock local time. There is an option to vote in-person but only if the mail-in ballot was lost, destroyed, spoiled or not received.

Since ballots were due May 9, what do we know about turnout?

According to Craig Morgan of PHNX Sports, Tempe voters are turning out in record numbers. Morgan cited the Maricopa County recorder who reported last week that of the 89,575 registered voters in Tempe, more than 30 percent had already turned in a ballot by May 9.

Does record turnout indicate a potential result?

No. Like everything political in 2023, this has been a hot-button issue in Tempe, with vehement disagreement on both sides of the argument. However, the increased participation has left the Coyotes’ side feeling confident.

“I’ve been really encouraged by the high voter turnout,” Tempe Wins committee chairman Nick Bastian told PHNX Sports. “I really do feel like the high voter turnout is to our advantage. To me, that says that people are really looking at it and paying attention to the facts of the deal and how it affects all of us.”

The Coyotes have attempted to influence the vote in as many ways as possible, including having their hockey operations management team and executives conduct a grassroots-style campaign by quite literally going door-to-door in recent weeks and months to solicit a ‘yes’ vote. Yes, seriously, Coyotes GM Bill Armstrong has been knocking on doors.

However, NHL sources indicated there has been a significant disparity in spending by Political Action Committees tied to both sides. The belief is the Coyotes side has spent less than $250,000 to activate the vote, opting for a bootstrap campaign, while the opposition has spent upwards of $2 million, backed by high-power labor unions who have not received a guarantee that they will be the ones building the project.

What are the cases for and against?

The slogan for the Coyotes’ side is simple: Landfill to Landmark. The “Tempe Wins” team says that 6,900 permanent jobs will be created as a result of the Tempe Entertainment District, along with a tax benefit of $215 billion over 30 years. The Coyotes say that all funding will be private, with “no risk to taxpayers or the city.”

“We want to be able to maximize our opportunities within our city, and obviously this piece of ground where the Coyotes are planning to put this entertainment district is the best possible use of this property. It is a trash site. It is a dump right now,” Tempe City Councilman Joel Navarro told KJZZ.

The opposition has railed against the notion that Tempe taxpayers will not be opening up their wallets. For one, the city is slated to bear the $40 million cost of hazardous waste removal and cleanup, plus another $200 million in infrastructure costs to lay the literal groundwork for the project. The usual complaints of increased traffic, proximity of a new in-arena sportsbook to Arizona State University’s campus, and impact on local residents and businesses have also been documented.

Plus, there has been a clear ‘anti-billionaire’ pushback among citizens, highlighted by recent vandalism of a site where Bettman was slated to hold a press conference.

“They’re maliciously misrepresenting the truth, shall we say,” former Tempe City Councilwoman Lauren Kuby told KJZZ. “They’re saying it’s privately financed–they’re referring to the actual arena itself. But within and underneath the arena, you need all that infrastructure, right? And so, there are going to be taxes, hotel taxes, bed taxes, sales taxes going to pay for the infrastructure. City taxpayers, the public, are going to be responsible for $740 million. A big chunk of that is that once the buildings are built, then they have relief of property taxes for up to 30 years, so that’s $500 million in itself. The other $240 million is the infrastructure to build the district.”

If the referendum passes, will the Coyotes get their arena?

Not so fast. On the surface, if the answer is ‘yes,’ then the Coyotes will have cleared a major hurdle and the Tempe Entertainment District will be green lit by the city. However, that doesn’t mean bulldozers and move in and shovels can hit the ground just yet. For one, it might take upwards of an entire year to clean up the site and current landfill.

And perhaps more importantly, the Coyotes may still face legal challenges. On March 28, the City of Phoenix filed a suit against the City of Tempe in Maricopa County Superior Court seeking to kill the project. The City of Phoenix alleged that the location violates an agreement on proximity of housing to Sky Harbor Airport. The Coyotes filed a $2.3 billion counterclaim in response.

If the Coyotes can finally build their new arena in Tempe, Bettman has vowed that the franchise will stay in Arizona forever.

“Once the project is approved, the Coyotes will never go elsewhere,” Bettman said at a City Council meeting. “They will be here forever.”

What if the referendum doesn’t pass?

Gulp. Ah, yes, the multi-hundred million dollar question to which hockey fans want an answer. A resounding ‘no’ vote will likely kill the Coyotes’ arena plan in Tempe, leaving them to start from scratch again. In reality, a ‘no’ vote will also likely kill the Coyotes’ run in the Valley of the Sun. For almost 18 months, Bettman and Coyotes ownership led by Alex Meruelo have been laser-focused on a permanent solution since they were unceremoniously kicked out of their arena in nearby Glendale.

Even if the vote passes, it will be at least another three years before the Coyotes could drop the puck in Tempe. It would be tolerable then to continue playing in the 4,500-seat Mullett Arena on Arizona State’s campus knowing that a palatial and proper new home is being erected.

But if there isn’t a new permanent home in Arizona on the horizon and the Coyotes have to go back to the drawing board? The NHL and its Board of Governors, having exhausted all possible efforts, will likely have no choice but to pull up stakes and relocate the franchise. There is a reason the NHL has continued to take meetings with prospective owners in Houston, Salt Lake City, Kansas City and elsewhere – all of which would fit well as locations for a Central Division franchise. Because other owners are fed up with the Coyotes’ relative suck on revenue compared to other generating clubs and players are not happy playing in an NCAA arena. Really, it seems more like a question of ‘when’ and ‘where,’ not ‘if’ the Coyotes would relocate, if the project were to be killed. There is zero doubt that Bettman and the NHL have mapped out a game plan behind the scenes, even though they’re cautiously optimistic and hoping for the best for a franchise they have backed at every turn – some would say against all logic. Is it possible that the Coyotes could be playing somewhere else as soon as next season? That seems far fetched. But if the vote is indeed ‘no,’ it cannot be completely ruled out. On a factual basis, there is still time to pull it off. Bettman didn’t announce until May 31, 2011 that the Atlanta Thrashers had been sold to Winnipeg-based True North Sports and Entertainment and the team would relocate for the very next season. Of course, Winnipeg was originally supposed to receive the Coyotes.

When will we know the results?

Voters may turn in ballots up until 7 p.m. local time on Tuesday. The results could be announced as early as 8 p.m. Arizona time, or 11 p.m. ET.

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