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The Phoenix Coyotes have reportedly been purchased by Greg Jamison. He also plans to keep the team in Arizona.
The Phoenix Coyotes have been up for sale or have been rumored to move for quite some time over the past few years. Now, they may have finally found a suitor to buy the team and keep them in Phoenix. Nothing is official, but there is a tentative agreement in place between the NHL and an ownership group led by Greg Jamison according to the Phoenix Business Journal report.
Commissioner Gary Bettman is expected to be in Glendale, Ariz., for meetings and possibly a press conference announcing the deal on Monday prior to the Phoenix Coyotes-Nashville Predators playoff game. Any agreement to sell the team would be contingent on approval from the NHL owners and the City of Glendale.
Deal terms have yet to be reported and there's no word yet on what, if any, opposition this deal might garner from the infamous Goldwater Institute who effectively tanked a prior deal with Matthew Hulsizer.
Even though the Coyotes have been losing money, Jamison plans on keeping the team in town and finding out a way to make the team profitable.
For more news and notes on the Coyotes, head over to Five for Howling and SB Nation's NHL page.
San Jose Sharks CEO Greg Jamison and his group of investors may have finally come through and saved hockey in Glendale.
After the NHL originally denied a report that Jamison's group had purchased the Phoenix Coyotes over the weekend, a report by Mick Sunnucks of Phoenix Business Journal, who broke the news of the Jamison negotiations in August 2011, says that the deal is almost complete.
"The deal still has to go through final approvals and due diligence as well as through the city of Glendale which owns Jobing.com Arena. But Jamison, the NHL and Glendale are close to a final deal, according to sources familiar with the hockey team.
Sunnucks also had this to say.
"Sources familiar with the deal say the deal is not 100 percent complete but said the league is looking to close a deal soon with Jamison. A Coyotes sale would end a three year ownership saga."
If the deal falls through, there is another ownership group lying in the wings waiting for an opportunity, led by Chicago Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf and Phoenix attorney John Kaites. Seattle is also a city prime for a team.
As close as this is to being over, there is still plenty to do. Stay tuned...
According to a report from the Associated Press, the Phoenix Coyotes reportedly have three possible buyers for the NHL owned franchise that are willing to leave the team in Glendale, music to the hears of Coyotes fans everywhere.
NHL commissioner Gary Betteman discussed the possible sale during his weekly radio show:
"There are probably three different groups that are taking a serious look at buying the Coyotes to keep them where they’re located," Bettman said.
Betteman noted that Glendale is "very much part of the equation," after dishing $25 million each of the past two seasons to keep them in Glendale while the NHL operates the team. The NHL purchased the franchise back in 2009 out of bankruptcy.
Two of the three groups interested include former San Jose Sharks president and CEO Greg Jamison, and the another led by Chicago sports icon Jerry Reinsdorf.
"We’re going to try to avoid a move of the Coyotes, but if we don’t sell the club, I’m not sure that this won’t be the last season here," he said.
The NHL’s Board of Governors meeting will be held in Ottawa this Saturday, where the Coyotes future is planned to be discussed further.
For more news and notes on the Coyotes, head over to Five for Howling.
Yes, you've heard all this before and many times over. The Phoenix Coyotes are once again on the clock to find an owner or face moving out of Glendale and back to somewhere, likely Canada. According to a report in the Toronto Star, the NHL who has owned the team for two full seasons, is out of patience.
Cox: NHL set to unload or move Coyotes - thestar.com
"The clock runs out this year," said a source on condition of anonymity.
According to the report in the Star and others that have been floating around for some time, there are two potential ownership groups exploring a deal to keep the team in Glendale. Chicago White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf is and has been a name associated with the team. More recently former San Jose Sharks exec Greg Jamison has allegedly gotten involved.
As we know from the Matthew Hulsizer bid that was completed only to be sunk by the meddling of the Goldwater Institute, it will take a lot more than an interested buyer, a willing seller and a deal with the City to keep the team in town. Exactly what a deal has to look like is anyone's guess at this point.
The NHL has set these deadlines before as a way to force some kind of resolution. It's entirely possible that this unnamed source is either wrong of simply bluffing. But at this point with attendance and sponsorships suffering under the weight of the uncertainty, it's in everyone's best interests to have the ownership situation resolved as soon as possible.
Hopefully, one of the potential owners will clear all the hurdles and be able to bail out the City of Glendale from their huge investment in Jobing.com Arena. Circle early March on your calendar as the latest deadline.
Potential Owner Jamison: "This Is A Product That We Believe In"
Before the Phoenix Coyotes played Game 5 of their NHL Western Conference semifinal playoff series against the Nashville Predators, they may have already won a historic victory.
Win or lose Monday -- a win sends the Coyotes to the conference finals for the first time in Phoenix team history -- it's looking more and more like the team will be around for the long term. NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, sounding a bit terse in addressing the media, announced that the league will proceed with former San Jose Sharks minority owner and CEO Greg Jamison's bid to purchase the team.
The two men were at Jobing.com Arena in Glendale Monday for the game.
"Greg and his group will be working on a (lease) agreement that the city of Glendale can vote on," Bettman said when asked what happens next.
After that, the sale of the team must be approved by the NHL Board of Governors.
We who feed off of sports in this area are thrilled that the franchise is on its way out of ownership limbo, having been operated by the league in recent years. But we also know that the dreaded Goldwater Institute is lying in the weeds waiting to deconstruct the deal to sell the team to Jamison to see how it affects local taxpayers.
So while hockey fans here might think this is just a matter of time, they also know not to get too excited about new ownership.
Bettman said Jamison and his group give the franchise "stability it needs and deserves." Jamison said he looks forward to selling tickets, suites and sponsorships for the Phoenix Coyotes -- he intends to keep the team around.
"It's exciting," he said. "This is a product that we believe in."
May 07 6:46p by Jose Romero