Coyotes Buy Land for Arena in Phoenix, Announce Intention to Stay in Arizona

Paul KasabianFeatured Columnist IIFebruary 3, 2024

Josh Lavallee/NHLI via Getty Images

The Arizona Coyotes confirmed a report from Taylor Rocha of ABC15 Arizona that the team is moving forward on a plan to purchase land in north Phoenix to build a new arena.

Arizona Coyotes @ArizonaCoyotesConfirmed. We have every intention of staying in the desert. We owe it to the best fans in the world to make it happen. #YotesForever https://t.co/wp3hVN0UHe

Earlier in the day, the Coyotes stated that they were “fully committed to Arizona,” calling the state “home” in response to commissioner Gary Bettman’s public hope that majority owner Alex Meruelo would deliver on his promise to bring an NHL-quality arena to the state.

Arizona Coyotes @ArizonaCoyotesWe are fully committed to Arizona & hope to share exciting news with all of you soon. Arizona is home & the future is incredibly bright here. https://t.co/aGemICtfxG

The Coyotes currently call Arizona State’s 5,000-seat Mullett Arena home.

Obviously, that’s not a long-term solution for the franchise, which moved there after the city of Glendale ceased its operating agreement with the team to play at its old home, Gila River Arena.

Needless to say, it’s been a long and arduous arena path for the Coyotes since the then-Jets moved from Winnipeg in 1996, to the point where the Arizona Republic coined the period “25 years of arena drama.”

But now it appears that the Coyotes could finally have some stability in Arizona without going through more concerns about their long-term future.