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Old 08-26-2021, 08:18 AM
 
9,480 posts, read 12,318,244 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Valley Native View Post
I completely agree, but it's all part of the warped mentality which caused the Coyotes to move to Glendale in the first place. In the early 2000s, people on the west side were whining that the sports & entertainment venues were confined to central Phoenix & the east Valley, and the west Valley was being left out. The Cards Stadium was originally planned to be built near the 202 & Priest in Tempe, which would have been a much more sensible location than where it is now. But for various reasons, the Tempe location was scrapped, and a deal was reached with Glendale to build Westgate. At that time, it was literally in the middle of nowhere (and still is considered too far away for many people).

Getting to Gila River Arena is a nightmare for somebody in my location: crosstown surface streets with numerous stoplights, and still no reliable mass transit over there if you don't want to drive & fight the traffic. I remember going there in 2004 to see Mannheim Steamroller. Great concert, but horrible parking, and absolutely nothing around there for dining out. The last time I was there was in 2010 to see the legendary Paul McCartney, but I haven't had any need go to Westgate since. Most concerts or games that I care to see are in downtown Phoenix, and I can just take the light rail instead of having to deal with traffic & pay for parking.
It's not the distance as much as the traffic, IMO. It's far for me but I don't have an issue travelling to see a hockey game. What I do have an issue with is the nightmare that is a westbound drive during the evening commute. I think that is an issue for a lot of people as well, they just don't want to fool with it. For NFL games it's an issue as well, but considering there are far far fewer home Cardinals games in a season than Coyotes, NFL fans don't have to deal with it as much. I always wonder if the Coyotes would do better if they were more accessible and could fill the seats.

Saying all NHL fans are on the east side isn't really accurate, though. It's not all east vs west, there is a whole lot of people in the middle (remember Phoenix proper? it's not all about the suburbs) that are fans as well. Moving it to the east valley is going to alienate the opposite side of town's fans. Central is best, and the Tempe proposed site is as close as we are going to get even if it is leaning toward the east.
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Old 08-26-2021, 11:25 PM
 
Location: The Disputed Lands
843 posts, read 569,949 times
Reputation: 1649
Quote:
Originally Posted by ElleTea View Post
It's not the distance as much as the traffic, IMO. It's far for me but I don't have an issue travelling to see a hockey game. What I do have an issue with is the nightmare that is a westbound drive during the evening commute. I think that is an issue for a lot of people as well, they just don't want to fool with it. For NFL games it's an issue as well, but considering there are far far fewer home Cardinals games in a season than Coyotes, NFL fans don't have to deal with it as much. I always wonder if the Coyotes would do better if they were more accessible and could fill the seats.

Saying all NHL fans are on the east side isn't really accurate, though. It's not all east vs west, there is a whole lot of people in the middle (remember Phoenix proper? it's not all about the suburbs) that are fans as well. Moving it to the east valley is going to alienate the opposite side of town's fans. Central is best, and the Tempe proposed site is as close as we are going to get even if it is leaning toward the east.
Most NFL games are on Sunday so rush hour traffic isn't a big issue, except for the occasional night game on Thursday or Monday. I'm a hockey fan, really all sports, and agree that a central location would be best, not Glendale. I wouldn't be surprised if the team moved to another city, though.
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Old 08-27-2021, 06:49 AM
 
Location: Sonoran Desert
39,109 posts, read 51,335,349 times
Reputation: 28356
The coyotes know where their fans are from ticket sales. That they are asking Glendale to reconsider should tell us something about the fan base and the development patterns in the metro area. Or maybe they realize that no valley city is going to pay a nickel of taxpayer money to build an arena for a tier two sport and a lousy team. Who knows? They may end up staying there. Glendale though seems to have some bargaining power here and that is a big change from the fights of years past.
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Old 08-27-2021, 08:37 AM
 
Location: Phoenix, AZ
6,407 posts, read 9,007,507 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ponderosa View Post
The coyotes know where their fans are from ticket sales. That they are asking Glendale to reconsider should tell us something about the fan base and the development patterns in the metro area. Or maybe they realize that no valley city is going to pay a nickel of taxpayer money to build an arena for a tier two sport and a lousy team. Who knows? They may end up staying there. Glendale though seems to have some bargaining power here and that is a big change from the fights of years past.
Meruelo is in negotiations with Tempe right now.
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Old 08-27-2021, 10:18 AM
 
Location: East Central Phoenix
8,046 posts, read 12,295,458 times
Reputation: 9844
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ponderosa View Post
The coyotes know where their fans are from ticket sales. That they are asking Glendale to reconsider should tell us something about the fan base and the development patterns in the metro area. Or maybe they realize that no valley city is going to pay a nickel of taxpayer money to build an arena for a tier two sport and a lousy team. Who knows? They may end up staying there. Glendale though seems to have some bargaining power here and that is a big change from the fights of years past.
Point being that the location was horrible to begin with. A major sports & entertainment venue needs existing infrastructure in place. Even after nearly 20 years, the availability of amenities around Westgate is still pretty limited, and the majority of the metro's population still resides in Phoenix and the east Valley. Many people find it very difficult to commute to the existing location. Why would somebody who lives in central Phoenix, Tempe, or Mesa want to spend time driving all the way over to a distant location when they could easily take the light rail to a downtown venue? Most sports & entertainment should be in a centralized location, and many of the posters here seem to agree.
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Old 08-27-2021, 04:34 PM
 
536 posts, read 486,156 times
Reputation: 793
It seems like a missed opportunity that when they refurbished the basketball arena recently, it wasn't made viable for hockey too. Tempe would be an improvement over the current location though.
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Old 08-27-2021, 04:44 PM
YAZ
 
Location: Phoenix,AZ
7,706 posts, read 14,110,246 times
Reputation: 7045
Reality check:

Comparing apples to hand grenades....maybe....

Folks in Michigan will drive 50 miles to see the Red Wings vs. whomever....

Pay top dollar for SRO even during the bad times.

The "Commute to the Hockey Game" bucket doesn't hold much water.

We shall not speak about the Lions' tenure in Pontiac. Shhh.
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Old 08-27-2021, 06:25 PM
 
Location: Phoenix, AZ
6,407 posts, read 9,007,507 times
Reputation: 8507
Quote:
Originally Posted by YAZ View Post
Reality check:

Comparing apples to hand grenades....maybe....

Folks in Michigan will drive 50 miles to see the Red Wings vs. whomever....

Pay top dollar for SRO even during the bad times.

The "Commute to the Hockey Game" bucket doesn't hold much water.

We shall not speak about the Lions' tenure in Pontiac. Shhh.
It holds water for Phoenix as it's true for more than just hockey but in actual time and distance the fans in other markets drive just as far if not further. I was 2 hours from Detroit and if I had tickets to sell they would be snapped up. I cannot give away my extras here which stinks.
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Old 08-28-2021, 05:54 AM
 
1,485 posts, read 1,442,055 times
Reputation: 1697
I went to see a fight and a hockey game broke out...
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Old 08-28-2021, 09:04 AM
 
2,338 posts, read 4,725,875 times
Reputation: 2023
To Coyotes defense...they tried to get a Salt River deal but it fell through many years ago.Yes...most NHL fans as myself are East Valley. The motivation of driving out to Glendale during work week to watch an inferior product has never been there.

I believe there are more Blackhawks and Red Wings fans here too.

I am a VGK fan myself these days. Can always climb aboard the other desert team.
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