The Arizona Coyotes’ proposal to build a new arena and entertainment district in Tempe worth $2.1 billion was rejected by voters on Tuesday. The future of the team remains uncertain, and “will be evaluated by our owners and the National Hockey League” over the coming weeks, according to the Coyotes. The team had planned to build a 16,000-seat arena and entertainment district on a 46-acre tract of city-owned land at Rio Salado Parkway and Priest Drive, near Tempe Town Lake. The project cost was estimated at $2.1 billion, with at least $1.9 billion privately funded and including two hotels, a 3,500-person theater, up to 1,995 residential units, and a gambling component.
The team’s rallying cry for the project was “Landfill to Landmark,” as 1.5 million tons of trash would have been removed from the site at an estimated cost of $75 million. However, voters needed to approve Propositions 301, 302, and 303 on a special election ballot, which was rejected by 56% of the voters.
The Tempe arena bid had some significant supporters, including the Tempe City Council, four former Tempe mayors, current Mayor Corey Woods, and the NHL. The league’s commissioner, Gary Bettman, said, “It’s a private-funded project, and the club’s prepared to execute a 30-year, non-relocation agreement. All the things that say this club wants to be here, and frankly, the NHL wants the club to be here.”
Those who opposed the project cited everything from public funds to traffic congestion to the desire to develop the land in other ways. Coyotes’ owner Alex Meruelo owns the Grand Sierra Resort in Reno, Nevada, and the Sahara Las Vegas, but there were questions about him and the bitter split between the Coyotes and Glendale.
The Tempe vote is another twist in the Coyotes’ journey in Arizona, where the franchise relocated from Winnipeg in 1996. There have been several ownership changes, including one bankruptcy in 2009 that led to the NHL owning the team for some time.
The team originally played in Phoenix but called Glendale home from 2003 through last season when the city council did not renew their arena lease. The Coyotes turned their attention to Tempe, which was much closer to where most of the team’s fans lived. While waiting on approval and construction of a permanent home in Tempe, the Coyotes relocated to Mullett Arena on the campus of Arizona State, sharing it with the Sun Devils’ men’s hockey program. The NHL team committed to play at Mullett Arena for three seasons with an option for a fourth.
The rejection of the Tempe arena plan leaves the franchise without any concrete options for a new NHL-sized facility in the state. There has been speculation about the Coyotes potentially relocating if the Tempe project failed, with Houston the most speculated-about potential destination. The fourth-largest marketing area in the U.S., Houston has a hockey-ready arena in Toyota Center.
Atlanta, Quebec City, Kansas City, and Salt Lake City have also been mentioned as potential destinations for future NHL teams.
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