What a long four years it’s been for the Phoenix Coyotes franchise. It seems as though the team, which has been under the NHL’s control since 2009, has finally found new, stable ownership. After a revolving door of potential owners and intrigue, the team is finally in control of two investment bankers from Canada named George Gosbee and Anthony LeBlanc, who completed the deal with the NHL on Monday.
Though many numbers were thrown around from various corners of the hockey world, the deal was ultimately for $170 million dollars. Included with this is a previously agreed upon 15 year lease agreement with Jobing.com, as well as a five year “out clause” should the team lose more than $50 million cumulatively during that time. Overall the ownership group includes 11 members, of which Gosbee will serve as chairman and governor for the club while LeBlanc will serve as alternate governor and chief executive
For fans of the Coyotes, it almost seems like a pipe dream which is too good to be true. They’ve heard this story countless times before, but every time new ownership finally seemed to be in place there were political or financial hurdles that ultimately shot a deal down. Now though, it looks like people can finally rest easy and focus on hockey.
In a released statement, Gosbee and Leblanc made it clear that they intend to focus on making the team a perennial winner with a bright future. “This is an exciting franchise. Of course, now that we’re the owners, we think we’ve got the Stanley Cup contender for the next 10 years. But we truly feel that fans are going to look at this club and say, ‘This has a real strong potential of winning,’ “ said Gosbee. They also added that they intend to let the hockey operations department run with little to no interference from ownership, apparently content with the work that GM Don Maloney, head coach Dave Tippett and others have done to keep the team competitive, despite the massive distractions that the team has been forced to endure for the last four years.
Tippett is very excited that the sale has been completed, saying that “It’s closure on one era of the franchise and a great new beginning with new ownership and hopefully a long future with Arizona.”
In addition to clarifying the direction of the club on the ice, Gosbee and Leblanc also laid out some of their marketing plans. Leblanc, a former marketing executive at Blackberry, said they intend to take a more “boots on the ground” approach with a new staff in an attempt to improve ticket sales, suite leasing and sponsorship deals. While the new owners won’t disturb the on ice product very much, they intend to be very hands on when it comes to the business side of things.
“Our view is that this is a franchise that has not had the opportunity to really show its potential,” said Leblanc. “Unfortunately, it’s very difficult for people to accept that hockey can be successful in a non-traditional market. But we like to point to markets like San Jose and Dallas, even in the Carolinas, where hockey has really thrived and we feel that the same will happen here.”
For many Coyotes fans, one of the most exciting bits of news to note was their intention to increase payroll. Under the NHL’s control, the Coyotes were consistently near the bottom of the league in terms of payroll every season. Despite this, the team was able to remain competitive, making the playoffs three of the last four years, including a Western Conference Final appearance in 2012. Now it can be debated whether a higher payroll means a more successful hockey team, but Maloney, the inaugural GM of The Year award winner in 2009, has a sharp mind and should benefit from the purse strings being loosened a bit.
It honestly is hard to believe that it’s all finally over, but the franchise appears to have turned the corner and to be entering a new era. Certainly this is fantastic news for all involved, the players, the fans, and especially the NHL, who can now focus on other matters such as rumored expansion. The NHL isn’t out of the woods yet on that front, as there are still some other teams on shaky financial ground and fighting debt. However, having achieved financial stability in it’s most unstable market will be great for the future of the league overall.
So makes way for the rebranded Arizona Coyotes, who may have their name changed as early as the 2014-15 season, and hopefully will remain as such for many years after that.
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