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Former Phoenix Coyotes owner Jerry Moyes is keeping an eye on his former team's efforts to stay in the Valley.

The Glendale City Council is looking to vote on a proposal that would bring the franchise one step closer to being bought by former San Jose Sharks owner Greg Jamison, which sounds all well and good.

Until, of course, you realize the city itself would be paying Jamison and his group to buy the team and run Jobing.com Arena.

There may be a few problems with that, but as Moyes told News-Talk 92.3 KTAR's Karie and Chuck Friday, there is one simple fact that should stop this from happening.

"I don't think it's going to work," he said of hockey in Arizona. "You just look at the economics, it just won't work. We have so many other sports activities to take not only the advertising dollar, but the consumer dollar."

Moyes owned the team from September 2006 to May 2009, so he would have a pretty good idea of the viability of hockey in the desert.

And the numbers tend to agree with his assertion, as the Coyotes have consistently ranked last in the National Hockey League in attendance, failing to really draw much of a crowd or attention. But the idea of seeing them move now, after the team reached the Western Conference Final, is one that a lot of people are not a fan of.

But that is what's on the table right now should the deal with Jamison not go through, as the Coyotes would likely be out of options if the goal is to stay in Arizona. At that point there's a chance the next step would be for the league to just find an owner, regardless of whether or not he would want to relocate the team. Incidentally, that's where Moyes had the team heading three years ago.

"At that point we had a very good buyer to relocate the team, and if the city would have supported that and if the team would have moved, they would have been given $50 million," Moyes said, referring to an opportunity to sell the franchise to Canadian billionaire Jim Balsillie, who would have moved the team. "If they would have put that $50 million in an annuity, that would have made the payment for the facility for I think the rest of the 18 years.

"The City of Glendale would have come out with a facility all paid for."

Instead, the NHL took over the team and has been looking for a buyer ever since, with the caveat that the next owner would need to keep the Coyotes in Arizona.

It's a task that has been incredibly arduous and difficult, but could be nearing completion.

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  • Abuse
    RhesusViews wrote...
    Moyes fleeced the Coyotes
    He is an unrealiable person for any factual info about the Coyotes.
  • Abuse
    Dreamsbvw wrote...
    Moyes if full of his own BS (1)
    Attendance figures (from 2000 forward) show that the team was at the bottom of attendance from the start. A move to Glendale improved the team’s attendance all the way to 19Th in the NHL, not great mind you, but in the middle of the pack.
  • Abuse
    Dreamsbvw wrote...
    Moyes full of his own BS - (2)
    Then Moyes took controlling ownership. Under his ownership the team's attendance dropped. Maybe from mismanagement, or paying too much for Great hockey player that turned out to be not a great coach. If you take a look back at the teams attendance to 03/04 (first year in Glendale I believe) the year before the lockout...the Coyotes were #19 in attendance, ahead of teams like Boston (20Th) and Pittsburgh (30Th) and Chicago (22ND).
  • Abuse
    Dreamsbvw wrote...
    (3)
    Then the lock out came. In 05/06 22ND in the league. In 06/07 saw them sitting at 24Th in the league, 07/08 29Th, and since then we have been sitting at the bottom of the league in attendance. Again, maybe it was mismanagement, maybe lack of advertising, maybe...who knows I don't have a crystal ball that will show me the answers.
  • Abuse
    Dreamsbvw wrote...
    (4)
    I will say that to believe almost anything that comes from Mr Moyes is foolish. He was accepting money from The NHL to keep the team afloat during the 08/09 season, the NHL commissioner was on a plane flying out to meet with Moyes to go over a purchase agreement options that would keep the city of Glendale whole.
  • Abuse
    Dreamsbvw wrote...
    (5)
    all the while Moyes had been making back office deals with Balsillie, a man who had been turned down twice as an owner by the BoG (board of Governors) of the NHL. Since the deal wasn't going to be easily sold to Balsillie because of the previous votes, Moyes took the team into BK, in an attempt to force the NHL to sell to the highest bidder, Balsillie.
  • Abuse
    Dreamsbvw wrote...
    6
    So if you want to believe a lying cheat, please do. Also, let's not forget, at a time when the Coyotes had one of the lowest payrolls (maybe another reason for low attendance - poor product on the ice) they had some of the highest operating expenses. Moyes AKA Swift Transportation, was being payed VERY well for transporting the Coyotes all over. He was also charging premium for office space in his own buildings, even though there was office space at the arena for free to him and the Coyotes organization.
  • Abuse
    Jarrod P. wrote...
    It is Proven..It Won't Work
    I am not a Yotes fan- I am a hockey fan. I can't seem to shake my hometown Islanders-who btw are in a similar situation. I am not a Yotes hater, though either.. Bottom line is this- it won;t work- there is not a large enough fan base-that equals revenue shortfall. When potential owners can step in and demand they are to be paid millions of dollars there is a problem. @Dreamsbvw- middle of the pack does not cut it...face it, the fan base is weak. most nights, the arena is filled with transplants rooting for the visitor.
  • Abuse
    Jarrod P. wrote...
    Part 2
    The lockout did not hurt the Yotes attendance- the fact that they moved the team to the middle of nowhere hurt the Yotes- also, remember, population stopped exploding on the west side. The day Los Arcos fell apart the fate of this franchise was sealed. It has just been a slow painful process. The fact that they are a decent team now makes it even harder to digest.
  • Abuse
    Jarrod P. wrote...
    Part 3
    I agree that Moyes is not the person to ask about this situation. But they have tried owners, coaches, talent... nothing works. I LOVE the rabid (no pun intended) mentality of the Yotes diehards. It is just a shame that there are 5000, not 50000 like them in the city. It is simply too far away from the population that will spend the money to see them play. To get to a 700 game, means leaving work at 5, driving 45 minutes home to get family, drive 75 minutes back to arena...no way... it is over- or should be..
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