Arizona Coyotes may be locked from Home Arena as of December 20, 2021
The news has taken a turn for the worse when it comes to the Arizona Coyotes and their team’s future playing games at the Gila River Arena. Athletic have learned that due to unpaid tax bills and unpaid arena fees, the team may be denied entry to their home ground starting December 20 of this year.
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Katie Strang’s The Athletic wrote:
According to a notice sent to ASM and the team, The Coyotes will have until 5pm MST on December 20th to pay unpaid arena bills from the 2020-21 season, as well as outstanding tax bills. payment. If they do not settle the remaining debt by that time, the City of Glendale has directed ASM to deny team personnel access to the arena and its offices to be used as administrative space. Arena vendors will also be locked.
As reported by Strang, on December 3, the Arizona Department of Revenue filed a tax lien notice in Maricopa County for IceA Arizona Hockey LLC. This is the company that owns the Arizona Coyotes. The mortgage notice alleges that the company owes more than $1.3 million in unpaid city and state taxes. The City of Glendale owes approximately $250,000 in unpaid city taxes and the remainder is owed to the state.
If the Coyotes don’t make another deal or return the taxes, the December 23 game against the Tampa Bay Lightning could be in jeopardy. Honestly, every game after that is a question mark if the team or NHL doesn’t find an alternative.
Kevin Phelps, the manager of the City of Glendale, called NHL commissioner Gary Bettman this Wednesday to inform him of what was to come. There has been no comment or response to comment from the tournament so far.
It is already known that, as of June 30 next year, the Coyotes will no longer be able to play games in their current arena and will need to find other venues to host home matches. The team and the city have engaged in lengthy negotiations over their lease. Apparently, this is the city of Glendale saying that they’re not just severing ties, but they’ll take what’s owed them ASAP.
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