Glendale won't renew Coyotes' arena lease (Tempe: casinos, salaries, live in)

[wase4711]

"appreciating" world class athletes in your sports of choice is all good...


but, being an "avid" fan of a team, is something you either feel or you dont...


trust me, being a life long Cubs fan, I know the drill


either way its all good, but, if I dont have a favorite "team" in a certain sport, then I am not likely to be very interested in that sport..
And, rarely does "logic" enter into my thought process while watching my favorite team/sport..

[Bondurant]

Originally Posted by MN-Born-n-Raised

Personally, I LOVED watching MN high school hockey. Especially when our son played. His HS went won State.

Did your kid have good flow? Did he make the All Hockey Hair team for a righteous salad?

[MN-Born-n-Raised]

Originally Posted by Bondurant

Did your kid have good flow? Did he make the All Hockey Hair team for a righteous salad?

If you are asking if he had hockey hair. Answer: Of course! Lol For those who are confused. Google “hockey hair”. It’s a thing.

[Valley Native]

Originally Posted by ElleTea

I am in several Las Vegas groups on Facebook and a LOT of people do plan their trip around pro sports. They are often planning to see their hometown team play the LV teams and not there to see the LV teams specifically, but it's still a draw.

It's still not the primary attraction in Vegas. Compared to the casinos, nightlife, and the multitude of shows a person can see in one trip, pro sports is pretty low on the list for visitors. I will say that for the visitors who DO happen to take in some games during their stays, they don't have far to venture because the Golden Knights play in an arena right off the Strip, and the NFL stadium is right off I15 near Mandalay Bay and other attractions. Compare that to the location of the Cards & Coyotes: both are too far out of the way for many people.

[FlurryCat]

Originally Posted by Valley Native

Suns Arena (Footprint Center) would be the best option by far. It was recently renovated, and it was the home of the Coyotes until they moved to Glendale. It's right downtown and has plenty of bars, restaurants, and other things close by, plus it's right on the light rail. The Tempe location is better than Westgate, but there would have to be better access to the above mentioned items in order for it to be successful.

Originally Posted by Valley Native

I guess I should award an "E" for effort on the attempt to find a better location, but the main problems with this site are: the lack of walkability, and there are no eateries, bars, or entertainment within close proximity. Patrons should have these things within a short walking distance, and not have to drive around to get these things. I agree about the decent freeway access, but not everybody wants to drive to a venue and fight the traffic.

Short term, they might share an arena just to have a home. Long term they'll get their own place. Way better financially. The days of a city having a single arena shared by hockey and basketball (and sometimes WNBA, arena football, indoor lacrosse, etc.) are going away.

At the Suns' arena they'd get ticket money, game day concessions and merchandise sales, minus a decent percentage of all that to the arena owners.
Their own arena they'd either have a management contract for, or own outright. They'd keep all (or close to it) gate receipts, concessions, merchandise, private luxury suite sales/rental, parking, naming rights, in-arena advertising, etc. They would also get a hefty cut of all that for any other tenants of the building, as well as concerts, monster truck rallies, dog shows, whatever. And they'll probably build a Westgate-type complex around the arena for which they will likely have an ownership or management stake.

The NHL's CBA with the players union says 50% of "Hockey Related Revenues" goes to the players as salary. That's 50% of everything they would make sharing the Suns' arena. In their own place, most of the additional revenue would not be "Hockey Related" and wouldn't have to be shared.
There's also a bunch of other advantages with the building being purpose-built for hockey, rather than trying to squeeze new stuff into existing space.

Access by public transit would be great, but they don't have that now in Glendale and the proposed location for the new place is a shorter drive for most people. Of course, while a move to Tempe would be good for the team, it won't be good for me. It's more convenient for most of the fan base, but not all. I'll likely give up my season tickets and just go to a few games a year.

Originally Posted by marinezac

Does anyone one think this is gonna cause any issues or declines in business for shops and restaurants in the area of Westgate?

Glendale based their decision on a study that showed people spend more at the arena and at Westgate for concerts and other events than they do for hockey. Obviously if you go to 20, 30, 40 games a season you aren't going to buy a team jersey and a big dinner every time. A concert is more of a one-time event and you're gonna want that t-shirt and have a few drinks before and maybe after.

The issue is that based on the per-event spending differential they need to book at least an additional 35 events a year to make up for the loss of the 41 hockey games and I don't think they can. They have to compete with every other venue for those bookings and the promoters probably see the same drawbacks to Glendale as the hockey fans did. Why not have the show downtown? Or in the brand new arena in Tempe? I suspect that there are a lot of bull riding shows, pro wrestling, and monster truck rallies in the future for the old Glendale barn.

[MN-Born-n-Raised]

Originally Posted by wase4711

"appreciating" world class athletes in your sports of choice is all good...


but, being an "avid" fan of a team, is something you either feel or you dont...


trust me, being a life long Cubs fan, I know the drill


either way its all good, but, if I dont have a favorite "team" in a certain sport, then I am not likely to be very interested in that sport..
And, rarely does "logic" enter into my thought process while watching my favorite team/sport..

I suppose you are right. When I am getting engulfed in a movie, I become emotional (fear or sadness or happy). I realize it's not real. Yet, I let myself get sucked into it for enjoyment.

When I was in my teens, our family was a huge Vikings fan. As in, our eyes were peeled to the TV. And when they (rarely) lost, it literally ruined my Monday and Tuesday. And considering they went to the Superbowl several times and always came up short, I was bothered often. lol So I get the emotion. I knew every player on the team. Now, I could not tell you who a single player for the Twins, Vikings, or Timberwolves. And only one Wild player who is from MN.

All that said, I've been to a few Wild games and they are a blast. I also went to a couple Coyotes' games and we enjoyed ourselves. The stadium needs to be to a certain caliber of I won't go! We had the HHH Metro Dome which was an ugly concrete POS. I went to one Viking game and two world series games (free tickets and I fell asleep in that Twins game in the stands) with my "homer hanky". Yawn. I was offered more free tickets multiple times. I didn't go for free even with the boxed seats. I'm patiently waiting for some free Viking tickets in their new Stadium which I helped pay for. Ziggy Wilf who owns the Vikings (and from New Jersey?!?) needed a new stadium so he could pick up some net worth. He paid $600 million. According to Forbes, the estimated value of the franchise is now at $3B. Like he needed the subsidy. Stupid people "demanding" subsidizing a guy from NJ. He played several cities to get his way. All wasting their time so he could extract more $$'s out of the state and taxes.

Back on topic. Now that I live on the East side of town, WTH were they thinking by putting that stadium in Glendale?! I'll "never" go to Coyotes game waaaaaaaay over there. Sound familiar? I had to!

[wase4711]

Originally Posted by MN-Born-n-Raised

Now that I live on the East side of town, WTH were they thinking by putting that stadium in Glendale?! I'll "never" go to Coyotes game waaaaaaaay over there. Sound familiar? I had to!

I hear there are some cheap rentals out in Surprise you might want to look into for hockey season...


we're having dinner in Surprise tonight; I'll look into that for you!

[Valley Native]

Originally Posted by MN-Born-n-Raised

Back on topic. Now that I live on the East side of town, WTH were they thinking by putting that stadium in Glendale?! I'll "never" go to Coyotes game waaaaaaaay over there. Sound familiar? I had to!

I don't think you understand the importance of location for these venues. In most metro areas, sports, entertainment, cultural events, and professional jobs are in centralized locations ... not on the fringes where commuting is a breeze for a minority of the population, but a headache for most. Even in Phoenix, a lot of these things are in centralized areas. The main exception to this is pro sports where two of our teams are in a part of the Valley that was farm land less than 20 years ago (and still is to a certain extent).

The one big piece which has always been missing from the Westgate location is adequate, established infrastructure. This includes not only places to eat & drink close by, but reliable transportation options other than driving. Walkability is important, and Westgate is not. The proposed Tempe site has some advantages, being that it's close to major freeways and Tempe's Mill Avenue district, but it's still mostly a benefit for those who drive and don't mind dealing with the hassles of traffic & parking. Some of us prefer to leave our cars at home & not have to sit in congested traffic, or park in open lots.

This is why most concerts or sporting events I care to attend are located downtown. The majority of the big name acts perform in the downtown venues. It's not exactly close to where I live, but it's easily accessible. Now again, we're talking about location of large scale venues that belong in the heart of a large metro area. Another poster mentioned events like monster truck rallies and bull riding. Those things usually attract more of a rural type of crowd, and therefore, belong on the fringes.

[cjseliga]

Originally Posted by Valley Native

The proposed Tempe site has some advantages, being that it's close to major freeways and Tempe's Mill Avenue district, but it's still mostly a benefit for those who drive and don't mind dealing with the hassles of traffic & parking. Some of us prefer to leave our cars at home & not have to sit in congested traffic, or park in open lots.

I thought at one point (maybe 5+ years ago) they were talking about building a new arena for the Coyotes on the northwest corner of Rio Salado and McClintock?

[Ponderosa]

Originally Posted by Valley Native

I don't think you understand the importance of location for these venues. In most metro areas, sports, entertainment, cultural events, and professional jobs are in centralized locations ... not on the fringes where commuting is a breeze for a minority of the population, but a headache for most. Even in Phoenix, a lot of these things are in centralized areas. The main exception to this is pro sports where two of our teams are in a part of the Valley that was farm land less than 20 years ago (and still is to a certain extent).

The one big piece which has always been missing from the Westgate location is adequate, established infrastructure. This includes not only places to eat & drink close by, but reliable transportation options other than driving. Walkability is important, and Westgate is not. The proposed Tempe site has some advantages, being that it's close to major freeways and Tempe's Mill Avenue district, but it's still mostly a benefit for those who drive and don't mind dealing with the hassles of traffic & parking. Some of us prefer to leave our cars at home & not have to sit in congested traffic, or park in open lots.

This is why most concerts or sporting events I care to attend are located downtown. The majority of the big name acts perform in the downtown venues. It's not exactly close to where I live, but it's easily accessible. Now again, we're talking about location of large scale venues that belong in the heart of a large metro area. Another poster mentioned events like monster truck rallies and bull riding. Those things usually attract more of a rural type of crowd, and therefore, belong on the fringes.

There are 34 restaurants/bar at Westgate. One can walk from one to the next. Then there is the 75,000 square foot Desert Diamond casino, and at least 3 hotels, and the outlet mall. There is a free shuttle to take people around the various points of interest. I sometimes wonder while reading your posts on Westgate if you have been there in the last 15 years - or ever.

https://westgateaz.com/food-fun/dining-directory/
https://westgateaz.com/explore/map/