Tucson remains home market for AHL Roadrunners for foreseeable future

Tucson will remain the primary home market for the American Hockey League’s Roadrunners for the 2024-25 season and “foreseeable future,” the team announced Tuesday.

The Roadrunners will play 30 of their 36 home games at Tucson Arena located in the Tucson Convention Center. The other six home games will be played at Arizona State University’s Mullett Arena.

Tucson has housed the AHL affiliate for the inactive Arizona Coyotes for eight seasons. The Coyotes’ hockey operations were sold by owner Alex Meruelo amid arena uncertainty and relocated to Utah.

But Meruelo kept the Roadrunners while he seeks to buy land for a new NHL arena.

Meruelo mentioned the possibility of moving the Roadrunners north to Mullett Arena for half of next season during a press conference with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman.

A vote from the Rio Nuevo District’s board unanimously (9-0) decided to keep the team in Tucson.

“The Roadrunners staying here is a win for the region and great news for Arizona hockey,” Fletcher McCusker, chairman of the Rio Nuevo District, said in a press release. “Tucson is to Phoenix as Austin is to Dallas, a professional sports super region. We want Tucson to be the AHL piece of that kind of partnership.”

PHNX hockey insider Craig Morgan reported the board planned to vote Thursday on the organization’s hopes to play 14 games at Mullett Arena. Tuesday’s vote was on an alternate proposal.

“We are thrilled to know that the Roadrunners will continue to play in front of our loyal Tucson fans for the foreseeable future,” Roadrunners president Bob Hoffman said. “We look forward to an exciting 2024-25 season where we build on last year’s success with the support of the best fans in the AHL.”

The AHL scheduled releases in July.

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