On Monday, NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly provided the latest on the state of the Phoenix Coyotes.
The short answer? It’s still a work in progress.
The longer answer? It’s still a work in progress...but with a few added details.
First, Daly said the purchase price would be more than $150 million, corroborating an ESPN report from late March that claimed a group led by Canadian financier George Gosbee was looking to buy the team for $170 million.
Daly also confirmed the league was currently in discussions with the Gosbee group -- a group that, according to Paul Gilbin of the Arizona Republic, includes three other business executives (Anthony LeBlanc, Avik Dey and Daryl Jones) working under the name Renaissance Sports and Entertainment.
“There’s no doubt we’re dealing with Mr. Gosbee and Mr. LeBlanc and trying to work through and get to a deal with them,” Daly told Sportsnet’s Hockey Central (by way of AZ Central). “But there are other interested people that we’re working with at the same time, as well.
“Nobody has exclusivity here.”
Gilbin reports the Gosbee-LeBlanc group was created for the purpose of buying the Coyotes, and has met “many times” at the Renaissance Phoenix Glendale Hotel & Spa (located next to Jobing.com Arena).
Hence the “Renaissance” name.
All that said, Daly was hesitant to describe the nature of talks or how far long -- or far apart -- they were in cementing a deal.
Daly said “there are no guarantees” the team would remain in Phoenix, and classified Glendale as a “big question mark.”
“We came very close to selling this team a couple times, and some unforeseen circumstances kept it from happening,” he explained. “That’s why I’m the first person who can’t give any guarantees on any result here.”