An Open Letter To Alex Meruelo

Dear Mr. Meruelo,

I sat in your original press conference at Gila River Arena and looked at you as a savior.  Finally, this organization had an owner with the financial wherewithal to finance a sports team. 

You sat on the dais and said, “I sure as shit want to win.” But after watching all of your missteps and failures over the next five years, you sure as shit didn’t. Winning is about teamwork and culture… and that is not what we saw from you these last few years.

The loss of these players and the “dormancy” of this franchise lies squarly on your shoulders. How did we get here?

1. Failed business relationships: Running a sports team is not like running a casino or a construction company or a media outlet. When you run a sports team, your appearance in the community is important. The fans want to be proud of the way their owner conducts business. You need to approach the business community as partners, not adversaries. You need to compromise and work together and not see every business deal as a battle that you need to win. And most importantly, pay your bills gladly, and on time.
2. You also failed with the local political community: You will need their support if you intend to complete a deal in this state. Stop approaching them looking for a fight. Instead, have your arms outstretched with an olive branch… and compromise.
3. You failed your staff: Working in sports is difficult, the hours are long and the pay is low, but you can still make it a fun atmosphere where employees feel like they are a part of the team’s success.
4. You failed the players: You gave them substandard facilities, you didn’t give them the tools they needed to feel welcome or give them the opportunity to win.
5. But most importantly, you failed the fans: The people that gave their time and money and invested a part of their lives to you. They were never included. They didn’t have a voice. These are all of the communities that you need to rebuild and that needs to start today.

Meruelo Leadership

Mr. Meruelo: I also need to talk to you about your son. You took your son, Alex Jr., someone with little work experience, little business experience and no sports management experience, and you put him in charge. He was intimidated by outside voices that were there intending to advise and mentor him.

And you had voices in the organization that were there trying to help you. You had Shane Doan giving you advice and telling you how things should be for the fans and the players. But your son didn’t want to hear Shane’s voice because it often conflicted with his own thoughts. So you pushed him out. 

You had an experienced voice in Rich Nairn who has more that 30 years working in the NHL with connections across North America, many of whom he needed to reach out to time and time again for damage control, but his voice was just another pushed aside.

Jr. tried to manage the only way he knew how, with all of his insecurities he managed with intimidation and fear. He was a bully who micromanaged the staff, leaving many of them in tears. If you want to lead, you do it through confidence, compassion and collaboration. Those are the leaders that people will give their all for. 

Junior was more concerned with clicks and social media engagement than becoming a true sports management leader. The organization under his leadership was picking up nickels, taking away office copiers and desk phones, while throwing away hundreds of thousands of dollars on a fashion designer. I will say the idea of trying to build new fans by exploring streetwear in this community is a good idea, but it became more important than the team. It can be a part of what you do, not the driving force. If Junior wants to run a streetwear brand, please buy him one instead of having him run a sports franchise.

Mr. Meruelo, if you truly want to bring the NHL back to Arizona, you need to start today.

The Political Community

Embrace the political community, become partners in the business community. Create a positive work environment for your staff so that they are proud to work for you. Hire experienced, knowledgeable sports professionals to run the organization and have your children learn from them. Show the players you are committed to providing an environment that takes away all of the excuses so they can focus on winning. Create an environment that encourages free agents to put Arizona on the top of their players’ lists.

The Fan Base

But most importantly embrace your fan base. Stop sayin “I” and start saying “we.” Recognize the trust you lost over the last five years and start to rebuild that relationship. And if you are not comfortable being the face and speaking publicly, then hire that face, communicate, make the fan base proud again. Make them want to fight with you, not against you.

If you can do all of those things, then the hockey community will welcome you and the franchise back with open arms  If you are not willing and committed to do those things and correct the missteps of the past, then please, please, please step aside quickly and quietly and allow another ownership group to proceed that will attempt to do things the right way. Do not let this fan base flounder for the next five plus years. 

Either way, those changes need to start today. Do better, or get out of the way.

Sincerely,

Petey