Yes, Arizona is a hockey market

Eleven days ago, I published a story on the Coyotes’ proposed Tempe arena and entertainment district. It wasn’t a definitive prediction of the fate of the proposal. It was simply a snapshot of the state of things at that point in time, based on what credible sources were telling me.

I won’t say that I am surprised by the reaction that it drew on social media and across the North American hockey landscape. I have covered this franchise long enough to know that any information that casts the Coyotes in a potentially bad light will be used as fodder for the relocationists and the trolls. 

People love to opine on topics about which they possess too little information.

Since that story appeared, a group of fans has mobilized to support the team. Through a combination of emails and letters to Tempe City Council members, community outreach, an online petition and more, organizers hope to make it clear to the City of Tempe that there is widespread support for the project, and that Coyotes fans will turn out en masse once the project is complete to attend games and spend their money at the sprawling entertainment district on the south bank of Rio Salado. 

The Coyotes are also expected to deliver an economic benefit analysis to the City of Tempe by the end of the month. Armed with that information, the council will debate a number of topics including: traffic impact, airport issues, Glendale’s experience with the Coyotes, the best use of the land, sports betting, and competition with other Valley entertainment complexes. No date for a vote on the proposal has been set yet because the council simply does not have enough information to make an informed vote.

Keep that in mind when you read the naysayers. My understanding is that the Coyotes have three solid supporters in council. That means they need one more vote for the proposal to pass. If you think back to their negotiations with Glendale on an arena lease in 2013, they were a couple of votes short before two council members opted to support the deal.

Could more Tempe council members be swayed? Of course they could. It will depend on the information that they are presented, and their assessment/analysis of that information. It will also depend on their sense of community support. If you think the latter is insignificant, you are naïve about the way the political world works. 

Remember, there are also forces working against this project, and if you don’t count the City of Glendale and the City of Phoenix among those you are again naïve. Of course neither city wants to see the project completed. It would create direct competition and arguably a better venue/location than either of them can offer at Gila River Arena or Footprint Center. That doesn’t mean that those cities are filled with bad people. It just means that they are looking out for their own economic interests. And if you think the political battlefield can get ugly, it pales in comparison to what happens on the business world’s field of play.

Remember that when you see a constant litany of reports and tweets about how the project would adversely affect Sky Harbor International Airport’s safety concerns and growth potential. Remember that when Glendale city council members retweet such reports even if such issues would only tangentially impact Glendale.

I don’t know how this debate will play out, but it bears noting that the Coyotes are very confident that their proposal will be welcomed once all of the information has been disseminated. Which leads to my greatest annoyance from the past week and a half: the tired, uninformed and lazy narrative that Phoenix is not a hockey market and it never will be.

Critics point to the past decade-plus as proof. The Coyotes have been seeking financial stability at least since former owner Jerry Moyes elected to put the team in bankruptcy in 2009, and probably since they moved to Glendale in 2003. The latter is not the fault of the current Glendale City Council. Only one of the current council members was seated when the city made that foolish financial decision back in 2003. And the team owner at the time, Steve Ellman, made the move because he got a sweetheart deal from the city, allowing him to pursue his real dollar-driven desire: Westgate Entertainment District.

Critics contend that location won’t matter for the hapless Coyotes, but location mattered when the Coyotes played at America West Arena and were regularly drawing between 14,000 and 15,000 fans. I was there. The place was loud and full of energy. 

Whenever I hear the location debate, I come back to this unfiltered quote from Hall of Famer and well connected Tampa Bay Lightning co-founder Phil Espositio, who knows a thing or two about developing hockey in a non-traditional market.

“The Coyotes need to get going on something because (commissioner Gary) Bettman doesn’t want them to leave and neither does ownership; all of the owners,” Esposito said. “I think the Phoenix area is a hell of a market. They just put the fucking building in the wrong spot.”

Tempe is the right spot. Would it mean sellout crowds? No, it would not, at least until the Coyotes start winning again, but it would increase crowds because that location is closer to the massive majority of the Coyotes’ premium season ticket holders. It would also create a hockey hub alongside ASU’s almost-complete arena that could spark untold synergy. The Tempe location might increase the potential for meaningful corporate partnerships, too, including one with ASU and uber influential president Michael Crow.

All you have to do to remember that Phoenix and greater Arizona are hockey markets is to think back on the events of the past year.

Arizona was once again among the top states in youth hockey growth, per USA Hockey data.

ASU broke ground on a spectacular, state-of-the-art, 5,000-seat arena for its Division I college hockey team.

The University of Arizona announced plans for the three-sheet Mosaic Quarter Iceplex in Tucson.

The Roadrunners began upgrades on Tucson Arena which houses the Coyotes’ AHL affiliate.

The Coyotes honored the late Matt Shott, whose efforts as their senior director of hockey development sparked the growth of hockey in all corners of the Valley, across gender, race, ethnicity and ability.

The girls program that Shott championed achieved a milestone that he and Arizona product and Olympian Lyndsey Fry worked feverishly to achieve.

Arizona product Auston Matthews returned home and scored a dazzling goal against the Coyotes in the midst of a 10-game, road scoring streak that fell one game short of the NHL record when he went scoreless at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday. 

Arizona product Matthew Knies was selected to the United State’s Olympic hockey team that will compete in Beijing in February.

I know the Arizona hockey community is vibrant and growing. I know that the Arizona hockey community is proud and I know that it is committed. I’m here on the ground, immersed in that community every day. I’m not a national reporter who parachutes in for a story or two and believes that they have the lay of the land. They don’t. It’s not their fault, but they shouldn’t pretend that they understand this market because they couldn’t possibly understand all of its nuance and history and complexity. You can only do that by being here, embedded in it for years, building countless relationships with the countless good people who make up that community.

Arizona is a hockey market. I know this with certainty because I have seen it on multiple levels. No matter how much has happened in the past, that is a big reason why the NHL remains committed to this market. And it is one reason why I am convinced that the Coyotes aren’t going anywhere.

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