NHL Insider reveals how much money the Arizona Coyotes spent to try and win the vote, and of course it's embarrassing
The National Hockey League has long shared their desire to keep a team in the desert. Commissioner Gary Bettman has always remained committed to the market, even going as far as to promise a 30-year non-relocation clause in his agreement to keep the team. Ultimately none of it mattered.
Yesterday the Coyotes found out they were on the wrong side of the conversation and lost the vote by a margin of 10-12%. This marked just the latest blow to the franchise who has struggled for nearly 30 years.
So what went wrong this time?
Well according to Frank Seravalli of The Daily Faceoff, it came down to money. Despite claiming their committment the NHL and Coyotes only put a minimal amount into funding their attempt to keep the bid while their adversaries put forth nearly 8x as much.
than $250,000 to activate the vote, opting for a bootstrap campaign, while the opposition has spent upwards of $2 million, backed by high-power labor unions who have not received a guarantee that they will be the ones building the project.
So for a league that was so committed to the market, why is this the case? Well it seems that the team who has consistently cheaper out on contracts, and once couldn't pay their staff or players on time, just wasn't that committed to keeping the team.
The NHL is expected to make an announcement in the next couple of days as they regroup and figure out what's next.
| POLL | ||
What should the NHL do next? | ||
| Look for other options in Arizona | 42 | 7.7 % |
| Move the team | 456 | 83.1 % |
| Just stay at Mullet Arena | 20 | 3.6 % |
| See results | 31 | 5.6 % |
| List of polls | ||
