Coyotes Moving From Glendale: Advanced talks with Phoenix or ASU (Mesa: sales, homes)

[observer53]

Originally Posted by azriverfan.

I still remember attending Cardinals games on a Sunday no less and the parking and access to Tempe was a nightmare. And this was in 2005 when the Cardinals were unpopular and they had all the major freeway access they do now. It was still hard to get to the games and parking was inadequate. Hockey is a fringe sport in the Valley and people including East Valley residents are not going to wade through 30 minutes of traffic as they approach Tempe just to park and attend the game. With downtown Phoenix, it is extremely convenient. Once you reach downtown, parking is plentiful and with multiple access points to downtown Phoenix, it makes getting in and out much easier. And for a fringe sport like hockey, your casual fan needs convenient access to make it worth their while. And a lot of the fanbase will need to be converts from casual fan to diehard. That's just the reality here so convenience has to be the priority.

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The light rail would help noticeably with the Tempe issue compared to the old Cardinals days, but it would also be useful to a downtown location, just as it is to the arena (and the ballpark) there now. I still think downtown is the best choice, but I'm not going to bet money yet that that is where it ends up.

[Pink Jazz]

Originally Posted by cjseliga

Riverview/Mesa would be a distant 4th option. Like observer53 said, it comes down to money and Mesa just spent what $99 million on the Sloan Park Complex for the Cubs? The third option would be the Salt River Reservation (101/Indian Bend), not the best location, but they have the money and the land, plus all those players that live in Scottsdale would love that.

Ideally the best spot, like pretty much everybody has been saying, is downtown. I know they have thrown around tearing down the South Building in the Convention Center Complex, but what somewhere just south of the arena now, between Jackson and Lincoln? It would be a shame if the Suns and Coyotes couldn't work something out to share a new arena downtown, but when you have two different owners, it's not always easy.

101/Indian Bend may be better in cost, but not in terms of convenience since it is less centrally located and would be a bit of a drive for the fans in Chandler, Gilbert, and Queen Creek, and would only be convenient for the fans living in Scottsdale, Tempe, and northwest Mesa. I would think that a Riverview location would have greater attendance due to its more central location for the whole East Valley and the entire Valley in general.

[MN-Born-n-Raised]

Originally Posted by BIG CATS

I hope Im on the right track with my response here. If not, I apologize.

Here's the thing... AZ is growing. People from all over Canada, the Upper Midwest, East Coast, PacNW are moving here in droves. Several ice rinks have popped up all over the Valley, and all those people relocating here from hockey-crazy states and/or provinces, are bringing their talent with them. It wont be too long before there will be some decent home-grown talent here in PHX. It just takes time, and you need to give it time before the Yotes will have signed some natives to their roster.

And in all honesty, I cant really think of a single professional sports team in the world that is comprised solely/mostly of natives. The only time you really see that is during the Olympics, World Cup, etc. So basically, all the teams in the NFL, MLS, MLB, NHL, etc, are not really any one specific cities' team.

We agree. It's just that the NHL is even father away from an "Arizona" team (foreign players, foreign owner and playing in a desert). As you might guess, I don't follow any professional teams (but I do watch the Olympics). So unless my son or daughter played for the team, you won't see me as a crazed fan. I have NO problem with big-time pro sports fans. I just don't appreciate subsidizing them.

To your initial point. Certainly northern transplants and snowbirds attend games and is the reason the franchise came to this fine state in the 1st place. I played hockey myself and I have watched my son play hockey several thousand hours. But like others, I just don't see the reason why cities and states need to build bigger and bigger stadium shrines for wealthy people (more-often-than-not they are losing propositions).

With that said, the "Yotes" won't have any local pro players anytime soon. They don't have the infrastructure (youth hockey is extremely weak as compared to powerhouse states like MN). Even in MN, only 31 players are from MN and play in the NHL today. Life-to-date, we have two from AZ. See NHL Players Born in Arizona, United States | Hockey-Reference.com . Couturier only was in AZ while his Dad was a local coach. Jim Brown was born in PHX but grew-up in NY. So really, zero NHL players ever. I don't see that changing.

[observer53]

Originally Posted by Pink Jazz

101/Indian Bend may be better in cost, but not in terms of convenience since it is less centrally located and would be a bit of a drive for the fans in Chandler, Gilbert, and Queen Creek, and would only be convenient for the fans living in Scottsdale, Tempe, and northwest Mesa. I would think that a Riverview location would have greater attendance due to its more central location for the whole East Valley and the entire Valley in general.

You can keep hammering for Riverview all you want, but Mesa is not going to spend that much money now. They get a lot more return on the spring training than they would ever see on an arena; as noted by many above, arenas/stadiums are not the good investment some still think they are.

[azriverfan.]

Originally Posted by observer53

The light rail would help noticeably with the Tempe issue compared to the old Cardinals days, but it would also be useful to a downtown location, just as it is to the arena (and the ballpark) there now. I still think downtown is the best choice, but I'm not going to bet money yet that that is where it ends up.

I think they are going to end up with the Phoenix Suns wherever they end up. If the Suns get their own facility near the Talking Stick resort in Scottsdale (101, Indian Bend area), I think the Coyotes go there as well. However, I know Phoenix doesn't want to lose the Suns. They realize that professional sports is a huge draw to downtown so I think they will build a new multipurpose facility that will accomodate the Suns and Coyotes in downtown Phoenix. I don't think the Coyotes can realistically obtain their own designated facility. I think the ASU talks are just that talk. When it comes to the bottom line, they will ultimately renege as the Coyotes are too much of a risk to have their own facility seeing what happened in Glendale.

[azriverfan.]

Originally Posted by observer53

You can keep hammering for Riverview all you want, but Mesa is not going to spend that much money now. They get a lot more return on the spring training than they would ever see on an arena; as noted by many above, arenas/stadiums are not the good investment some still think they are.

I agree plus Riverview is not that far from Indian Bend/101. They are literally in the same region with one being more north on the 101.

[observer53]

Originally Posted by azriverfan.

I agree plus Riverview is not that far from Indian Bend/101. They are literally in the same region with one being more north on the 101.

True. Having made many trips up and down the 101 in the last month, they are really just minutes apart. Would make a bit of difference in rush hour traffic, but not any other time.

[asufan]

Originally Posted by azriverfan.

I still remember attending Cardinals games on a Sunday no less and the parking and access to Tempe was a nightmare. And this was in 2005 when the Cardinals were unpopular and they had all the major freeway access they do now. It was still hard to get to the games and parking was inadequate. Hockey is a fringe sport in the Valley and people including East Valley residents are not going to wade through 30 minutes of traffic as they approach Tempe just to park and attend the game. With downtown Phoenix, it is extremely convenient. Once you reach downtown, parking is plentiful and with multiple access points to downtown Phoenix, it makes getting in and out much easier. And for a fringe sport like hockey, your casual fan needs convenient access to make it worth their while. And a lot of the fanbase will need to be converts from casual fan to diehard. That's just the reality here so convenience has to be the priority.
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I've gone to every home ASU game minus 1-2 in the past 20 years (larger crowds than the Cardinals ever had there) and I almost never have an issue with parking. One recent time that I did, it was because Kanye West had a concert at Tempe Beach Park and there was a show at Gammage, plus a sold out home game, but I still found a parking lot with spots after 20 minutes next to the Old Chili's at University/Mill. Sometimes I tailgate and park in the North lot, but usually I park off of Mill and pregame there (also be aware the ASU structures can be used for event parking - less than a mile walk to the stadium). I don't know why your experience on a Sunday was so much different than my past 200 or so experiences on busier college football Saturdays, but handling event parking for maybe 60-70% LESS people should not be an issue in the least. I'm usually looking for parking for less than 5 minutes on much busier event days. Phoenix is less convenient IMO, and also further from the freeway than DT Tempe.

[asufan]

Originally Posted by azriverfan.

Plus a lot of professional sports involves the business community. Luxury boxes, suites etc involve corporations. A lot of the Valley's corporate executives, lawyers etc reside in the central Valley. It will be much easier to entice a a group of executives from the various companies to lease a box if they can immediately attend games after work. That's usually how it works in many cities.

Also remember, if it is in Tempe, it is right in the middle of many of the corporate headquarters in the valley - the center of the wheel if you will, or at least near the center. There are many regional or corporate headquarters located in Tempe, Scottsdale, Chandler and Phoenix, this is why I say being near the East 101 corridor is an idea to explore, because it is near the lions share of employers. You don't necessarily need someone driving from their homes in the West Valley on a Thursday night if their job is in the Price Corridor, for example. I still agree that Downtown Phoenix is the #1 choice, but I am fine with Downtown Tempe as well (1A?) due to the location near the major employment areas and population centers and along major freeways. I love those luxury boxes, been to the Suns suite many times and it is a great experience, got invited to one again for the Cactus Bowl. Crappy bowl but this will make it worth it.

[cjseliga]

Originally Posted by Pink Jazz

101/Indian Bend may be better in cost, but not in terms of convenience since it is less centrally located and would be a bit of a drive for the fans in Chandler, Gilbert, and Queen Creek, and would only be convenient for the fans living in Scottsdale, Tempe, and northwest Mesa. I would think that a Riverview location would have greater attendance due to its more central location for the whole East Valley and the entire Valley in general.

Of course Riverview would be more convenient than the 101/Indian Bend, I think most can agree on that, it comes down to money and what is Mesa willing or not willing to spend. Heck, like we all have been saying, downtown Phoenix would be the most convenient for the entire valley. You like Riverview so much, how about this, just build at the 101/McKellips which would still be on the Reservation and a stones throw from your Shangri-La of Riverview in Mesa and it can overlook the Salt River Materials Group and all of their sand and gravel!