End to NHL lockout is double-edged sword for Glendale, Coyotes
Jan 7, 2013, 3:13 PM | Updated: 3:20 pm
When the National Hockey League and National Hockey League Players’ Association reached a tentative agreement to end a lockout on Sunday morning, some in Glendale breathed a sigh of relief and others may have begun to worry.
“It depends on your perspective,” said Mike Sunnucks of the Phoenix Business Journal. “From the team’s bottom line — they lost $20 [million] or $25 million per year in recent years — the less they actually play, the better … Now the restaurants, the bars, the sales tax and all of them around the arena in Glendale have certainly been hurt by the games not being there.”
Sunnucks said prospective buyer Greg Jamison could be prepared to finalized a deal for the team soon, as the lockout comes to a close.
“He basically has until the end of the month [January] to sign his part of the deal with Glendale and get that arena money.”
If Jamison fails to purchase the team, Sunnucks said the NHL will likely maintain it’s ownership of the team, but the future after that is uncertain.
“If he can’t come through by the end of the month, we go back to looking at things like Seattle, Quebec City and other markets.”
