The Arizona Coyotes’ future in the Phoenix area was dealt a possibly lethal blow Tuesday.
Three propositions regarding the mostly privately funded $2.1 million arena and entertainment complex for the Coyotes were soundly defeated in a Tempe, Ariz. mail-in ballot-only special election. At 8 pm MST, Maricopa County officials revealed that among the 29,153 votes counted, propositions 301, 302 and 303 fell short by roughly 3,500 votes each with NO registering 57% to 43% on two of the initiatives and 56% to 44% on the other.
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There didn’t seem to be enough same day or provisional votes left to count to significantly alter the results. Out of the 4.5 million people living in Maricopa County, there are only 90,000 registered voters in Tempe.
“We are very disappointed,” Coyotes president Xavier Gutierrez said in a short statement given at a local brew pub after the results came out. “What is next for the franchise will be evaluated by the owners and the National Hockey League over the next few weeks.”
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman echoed those sentiments in his own statement, saying he was also “terribly disappointed” in the results.
“We’re going to review with the Coyotes what the options might be going forward,” he said.
The plans for the Tempe Entertainment District include a 16,000-seat state-of-the-art NHL arena, a hockey practice facility, a 3,000-seat music amphitheater and thousands of square feet of retail, housing and office space.
With the loss, the NHL’s presence in Phoenix is, at best, murky. The Coyotes and owner Alex Meruelo have no plan B at the moment for a new arena, so the entire development process will have to begin again—if at all.
The opposition rejected public subsidies for the project, a distribution of sales tax and user fees generated by entities of the project to pay down bonds for cleanup of a landfill, and an abeyance of property taxes—for 30 years on the arena phase, and eight years on the remaining hotels, offices, restaurants and condos built during the course of the project.
“The Coyotes wish to thank everyone who supported our efforts and voted yes,” Gutierrez said. “So many community leaders stepped up and became our advocates and for that we are truly grateful.”
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