Arizona Coyotes already forced to lower ticket price after announcing final seating capacity

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Liam
May 5, 2022 (3:57 PM)

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The Arizona Coyotes are officially locked into their deal that will move the team from Gila River Arena to Arizona State University, and the official arena capacity has now been revealed.

The exact capacity of the new arena has been speculated to great lengths. Insiders, players, owners, and fans have long known this would be the smallest arena in NHL history, but hope remained the Coyotes' current renovation plans could add some seats to the new rink. Of course however, that won't be the case.

The Coyotes will play in front of only 4,700 fans, if their games ever sell out this season. Everyone around the NHL had wondered about the financial viability of this move for an already destitute franchise, to which the Coyotes responded by releasing their ticket prices a few weeks ago - which are well above league average.

With one of the more expensive tickets in the league, in one of the worst buildings, in front of one of the worst teams, the longevity of this move and franchise is seriously questionable.

An interesting caveat to this move is the backdrop of a potential student-driven fan base. With ticket prices revealed to be so high, the interest plummeted immediately amongst these students. In response, it seems the Coyotes will block off a fraction of their 4,700 fan capacity for student ticket pricing. Again, being in the smallest arena already, having to lower ticket prices for the primary demographic is less than ideal for the budget of the Coyotes, yet it's a necessary move.

Personally, while following along and writing extensively about the club's move to ASU, I do not see how this franchise can survive financially past the upcoming season. Even ignoring players and owners concerns about the image of the NHL in a minor-league arena, which does carry significant weight, this move to ASU is just not viable. The end of the Coyotes is at Gary Bettman's doorstep, and it will only be a matter of time until the team is relocated.