By William Espy
On Wednesday night, the city of Glendale, Arizona voted to
terminate the Coyotes’ arena deal putting the franchise in a difficult
situation. The most likely resolution to this issue will be a move back to
Phoenix; however this does not appear to be the best solution for the team or
the league. Andrew Barroway has repeatedly emphasized that he has no intentions
to move the Coyotes, however a move is seemingly necessary and now is the
perfect time.
The NHL has been gaining large amounts of interest from
various parties in Las Vegas, Nevada and relocation to this city may be exactly
what is needed to revive the failing Coyotes franchise. The Coyotes have been
in existence for nearly twenty years, and during this time there has been very
little interest toward the sport of hockey in the area. If you asked the average citizen in Arizona about "Duclair", they'd likely think you're talking about a kind of French dessert. Players such as Keith
Tkachuk and Shane Doan would create large amounts of hype in most areas, but
seemingly not in Arizona. Even in long Cup runs in recent history, the Coyotes
never got out of the bottom 5 for attendance (attendance figures shown in the
chart at the bottom). The team continues to lose large sums of money while
failing to grow the sport in a very untraditional area.
The Coyotes stand out from most untraditional market in
various ways; however one seems to stand out above the rest to me. Los Angeles,
Anaheim, San Jose, Tampa Bay and Dallas all have one thing in common; they are
all essentially a metropolis. The Kings and Ducks are a part of Orange County,
San Jose represents the San Francisco Bay Area, etc. Phoenix is a large city;
however it is nowhere near the level of these massive cities. Las Vegas would
provide a metropolitan environment for the team allowing for large amounts of
international tourism while also growing the sport in a more effective way than
the Coyotes ever can. A team placed in Las Vegas would instantly gain media
support largely due to the fact that it would be the only professional team in
the city beside the minor league baseball team the 51s.
Relocating to Las Vegas would not damage current Coyotes
fans for the most part either. Being only a four hour drive from Glendale, fans
would be able to take a trip with little difficulty.
Las Vegas would not only solve financial issues for the
Coyotes organization, it would at the same time help grow the sport in an
extremely untraditional market and instantly boost the attendance numbers. Andrew
Barroway has repeatedly stressed that he is not interested in a relocation, however he needs to highly consider a move to save hockey in the area.
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