Login

Register | Forgot Your Password? | Close
j.jpg
Greg Jamison speaks at the press conference. (Screenshot)

The Coyotes ownership saga looks like it finally is coming to an end.

At a Monday press conference prior to Game 5 of the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs between the Phoenix Coyotes and Nashville Predators, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman announced that a deal had been struck to sell the team to former San Jose Sharks owner Greg Jamison.

"Basically, the status of things is we have an understanding with Greg Jamison that we are going to proceed with he and his group to reach a formal agreement for the purchase and sale of the Coyotes," said Bettman.

Both Bettman and Jamison said they hope to have the deal completed and signed within weeks, compared to months.

In a statement emailed after the press conference, the city of Glendale said they are pleased with the announcement and look forward to working with Jamison.

"Based upon this new development from the NHL, the city will continue working with Mr. Jamison to finalize a lease agreement for Jobing.com Arena and looks forward to bringing that agreement to the Glendale City Council," the release said. "In the meantime, today's decision is a critical step to maintain the long-term presence of hockey in Glendale."

Jamison said he became interested in the Coyotes a while ago and feels like the organization has done a lot of the hard work that was needed to get the team moving forward and attendance up. He also mentioned that his group would like to focus on seat and suite sales along with attracting more sponsors.

"I've been watching [the Coyotes ownership situation], I know it's had some struggles and I would like to find out more about it," said Jamison of his interest. "We came down and visited and we made a decision that we would like to go forward with a group."

When asked if the Goldwater Institute could interfere with the situation, Bettman responded that he did not feel the organization would need to raise any complaints over the new deal, but that they would deal with the situation when necessary.

The Goldwater Institute said it's interested in looking at the deal. It stopped a sale of the Coyotes to Chicago businessman Mathew Hulsizer by threatening to sue because the city of Glendale would have sold bonds to buy parking rights. The Institute claimed that was an illegal subsidy of a private business.

The Coyotes had been without an owner since 2009, when then- owner Jerry Moyes put the team into Chapter 11 in an attempt to sell the team to Jim Balsillie. The NHL blocked that move.

8 Comments   |   Join the conversation »
  • Add A Comment 
  • Abuse
    Lee A. wrote...
    As Dick Motta Once Said
    ...it ain't over until the fat lady sings. Or in this case, until the City of Glendale agrees to a lease deal on the arena and the people at Goldwater either wave their magic wand or at least sit on their hands and do nothing. I hope this comes to a good end for the team and the fans - it's too long overdue.
  • Abuse
    LuvMyDogs12 wrote...
    When oh when
    will the torture be over??? Make the deal or go away.
  • Abuse
    Philosoraptor wrote...
    Maybe I don't have all the info...
    but I think moving the team out to Glendale was stupid. I think if it were closer in to civilization people would attend more games, make more money for everybody, and we (maybe) wouldn't be dealing with this stuff. I for one, used to attend games frequently at the American West Arena, but since they moved to Glendale, I've only been to one.
  • Abuse
    greatbison wrote...
    Glendale was a Bad Choice from Day 1
    The moment they came on the news all those years ago and paraded Glendale out as the new home of both our NHL and NFL teams, I knew it was trouble. In those days, there was nothing out there, and we were constantly browbeaten by the local media into believing that it was going to be the next big thing, but no one ever bought it... literally. The West Valley is one of the foreclosure capitals of the nations. Nothing against people who live in the West Valley, but it has always been and always will be rural/suburban... a poor choice for a major sports franchise.
  • Abuse
    kdizzlefif wrote...
    If only....
    they tried to put the team on the East Valley.. oh wait, they did.. and it was voted down..SOO stop crying and make the drive. You guys all cry about the drive, point is people drive all over the place for their teams. unless you live in NYC it takes an hour to get to any one of the stadiums for their teams, point is driving comes with living in this city. You have to drive far to get anywhere here we have no focal hotspots.. this city is spread out.. deal with it.
  • Abuse
    kdizzlefif wrote...
    is said..point is, too many times
    sorry.
  • Abuse
    p L. wrote...
    It doesn't matter...
    who owns the team. GreatBison is right, the location of the stadiums is a disaster. Glendale will go down as one of the biggest municipal blunders we've seen in a long time. The bet the farm and lost.
  • Abuse
    Philosoraptor wrote...
    Nope
    I'm not going to make that drive to support my team, and I sure as heck am not going to stop crying about it either. I didn't have any say in their move to Glendale...if they want more support, they need to make themselves more accessible to majority of the valley. I can justify paying for a ticket to get in the arena, but I find it harder to justify a large gas expense just to get to and from the arena. I don't care it that's what other teams fans do. Lack of support for the Coyotes isn't my problem, it's the Coyotes problem...so you can go tell them to deal with it!
Standings
Schedule
Team Leaders
close

Share: