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Another layer of madness added to Coyotes sale: Glendale might sue Goldwater Institute

Kings Coyotes Hockey

Two Phoenix Coyotes fans join a sparse crowd of 5,259 to watch the Coyotes play against the Los Angeles Kings during the third period of a preseason NHL hockey game Thursday, Sept. 23, 2010, in Glendale, Ariz. The Coyotes defeated the Kings 2-1 in overtime. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

AP

It doesn’t take an expert to figure out that the Phoenix Coyotes sale/conundrum is pretty much a disaster right now.

In case you haven’t been keeping tabs on the situation, the latest bump in a pothole-filled road of problems is that the City of Glendale hasn’t been able to sell the $100 million in public bonds that were crucial to generating the revenue to bring potential new owner Matt Hulsizer on board. The matter isn’t as simple as supply and demand, though, as the city is worried that a watchdog group known as the Goldwater Institute might sue Glendale for complicated dollar-and-cents/legal issues.

(I’m far from a legal expert, but from what I’ve read, the Goldwater Institute’s case is actually pretty reasonable. Especially since the city of Glendale hopes to help pay back the $100 million partly based on proceeds from parking lots around Jobing.com Arena, not exactly a hot ticket considering tepid fan response in the market. Let’s move on past these subjective - and complicated - matters, though.)

In a previous post, we pointed out that Hulsizer stated that he just wants the Goldwater Institute to make a decision whether or not to sue, indicating that maybe the group is dragging the matter out. Well, the City of Glendale might want a little more from that group. In fact, they might want “hundreds of millions of dollars in damages” according to ESPN’s Scott Burnside.

It would be wrong to call it a counter-suit since the Goldwater Institute hasn’t actually filed a lawsuit against the City of Glendale yet - and it’s important to remember this is a rumor anyway - but it would be a lot like a counter-suit in the grand scheme of things. Here’s an excerpt from Burnside’s report.

The lawsuit is expected to allege the Goldwater Institute was guilty of a legal form of interference when the institute reached out to potential buyers of municipal bonds, the sale of which are crucial to the City of Glendale’s new lease agreement with Chicago businessman Matthew Hulsizer, and warned them off purchasing the bonds.

(snip)

The league has had the option of relocating the team since the end of December but the emergence of Hulsizer looked like the team’s future in Arizona was going to be assured. But Goldwater’s threat to sue the municipality over the proposed deal has stalled the sale of the municipal bonds and thrown the team’s future into uncertainty.

A source familiar with the planned lawsuit said the city will name not just the institute itself but individual directors and will ask for “hundreds of millions” of dollars in damages.

It’s believed the city will also ask for a judgment that the lease agreement doesn’t contravene state law.


On the bright side for those of you who passed the point of exhaustion regarding this story, Burnside indicates that the league is finally fed up with the situation and wants a resolution within days. Of course, anyone who has been following the Coyotes non-sale for the last few years is probably used to all the false-starts and moments of apparent doom and hope. Deadlines have become something of a running joke during this sad little saga, so take the premise of a resolution with an admittedly appealing grain of salt.

As frustrating and perplexing as the situation might be, we will do our best to provide updates (and hopefully clarity) regarding the team’s future. Stay tuned.