Arizona Coyotes: one NHL team’s bitter divorce from its own home city

Divorces are often messy and almost always emotional. When Major League Soccer’s Columbus Crew tried to leave for Austin a few years ago claiming business problems, a lawsuit stopped them in their tracks. The Los Angeles Rams recently won the Super Bowl, and this past December St Louis – their former home city – received $790m as part of a settlement related to their relocation.

Relations sour quickly when a pro sports team up and leaves. Or threatens to. Or the numbers don’t add up. And things between Glendale and the Arizona Coyotes had been on the skids for years when a missed rental payment brought the disorder to national attention at the end of last year. Still, beyond the headlines, the Coyotes and Glendale divorce provides a grim and vivid tale about how things can go south for taxpayer subsidized sports ventures.

And often a parting of the ways is best for both sides.

First, a brief timeline of the Arizona Coyotes, who just may be cursed:

1996 – the Winnipeg Jets relocate to Phoenix, Arizona.

2003 – the Phoenix Coyotes relocate to nearby Glendale and the Gila River Arena.

2005 – Jerry Moyes buys the team.

2009 – Moyes places the team in bankruptcy. The NHL takes over and signs a short-term lease extension with the City of Glendale.

2010 – An ownership bid to buy the team is derailed by the threat of litigation.

2013 – After the league threatens to relocate the team, Glendale signs a 15-year lease to support a new ownership group: Renaissance Sports & Entertainment. In 2014, they change their name from the Phoenix Coyotes to the Arizona Coyotes.

2015 – Glendale voids the long-term lease after an alleged violation of conflict of interest laws.

2016 – the Arizona Coyotes announce plans to move to the Arizona State