Ownership update from @anthonydleblanc: “Commissioner Bettman provided a detailed update on the transaction to the board including (more)..”
— Arizona Coyotes (@ArizonaCoyotes) December 9, 2014
.@anthonydleblanc: "(more)...this process and are on track to close before year end.”
— Arizona Coyotes (@ArizonaCoyotes) December 9, 2014
On Saturday, the New York Post reported Barroway’s deal with the Coyotes appeared “to be falling apart,” adding the hedge fund manager was “seemingly on the verge of backing out.”The Post report was then followed by this, from the Globe and Mail’s James Mirtle:
Also hearing the Coyotes deal with Barroway may be dead. Mess with that team never ends. Only one interested in buying it was to flip it.
— James Mirtle (@mirtle) December 8, 2014
On Oct. 10, IceArizona agreed to sell 51% stake in the team to Barroway, who’d previously expressed interest in the New Jersey Devils and New York Islanders. According to Fox Sports Arizona, the 51 percent purchase was based on a $305 million equity valuation of the club, which was also reported by the Post.
The “flip” that Mirtle alluded to was thought to be related to Las Vegas, where Barroway may have sought to move the team upon purchasing. But following today’s news out of the Board of Governors meetings -- in which prospective Vegas owner Bill Foley was green lit to begin a ticket drive -- it looks as though the NHL will go into Sin City via expansion, not relocation.