GLENDALE, Ariz. – The long-awaited meetings between the NHL’s top two executives, Renaissance Sport & Entertainment (RSE) and the City of Glendale finally took place Tuesday at Glendale City Hall.
So what came of those meetings? Not much, but that was expected.
These were not do-or-die meetings. These were preliminary talks to establish a framework for further negotiations on a Jobing.com Arena lease agreement.
"It's a step in the right direction,” Glendale Mayor Jerry Weiers said. “Is it a step far enough? I don't know."
When the meetings had concluded, both the NHL and the city issued bland statements.
From Glendale: “The City Council will not be making a decision regarding the Coyotes until all pertinent information has been collected and reviewed and all the available options have been thoroughly studied. This includes several bids the city is expected to receive this Friday (May 31) from qualified venue managers interested in operating the city owned Jobing.com Arena. Glendale is committed to moving forward on a plan that is in the best interests of our city and our citizens.”
From NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly: "We had a number of constructive meetings today with the Mayor, various members of the City Council and the acting City Manager. Everyone involved in today's discussions shares the desire and ultimate objective of transitioning the ownership of the Coyotes and safeguarding the franchise's long-term future in Glendale. We expect that representatives from the Renaissance group will begin meeting with the City to see if a mutually agreeable lease arrangement can be forged expeditiously. We will have no further comment pending completion of that process."
The real work will commence on the lease in the coming days, and it will start with a meeting between acting city manager Dick Bowers and RSE (the ownership group headed by George Gosbee and Anthony LeBlanc that has a Coyotes purchase agreement with the NHL) as soon as it can be scheduled.
That meeting will help form the structure of what an arena lease would look like, and it will be up to the city and RSE to reach such an agreement. The NHL essentially handed off responsibilities after Tuesday’s meetings and has no scheduled plans to be further involved in the negotiations, other than in a support role.
At issue still is the cost of managing the arena. Earlier this spring, the city sought bids from management firms interested in operating the arena. The deadline for submission of those bids is Friday for both Coyotes owners and non-Coyotes owners. The city has $6 million budgeted annually, while RSE is believed to be seeking between $13 and $15 million annually.
Glendale councilmember Gary Sherwood said recently be believes there are ways to bridge that gap, and if Sherwood’s recent pulse-taking is an indication, other council members may be coming to the realization that the $6 million figure is both inaccurate and unworkable if the city hopes to keep the team and not face the prospect of an empty arena and a number of surrounding businesses that are dependent on the Coyotes as an anchor tenant for business.
However, bridging the gap between $6 million and RSE’s stated numbers may require concessions on both sides. The coming days will provide clarity on whether that is possible.
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