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Coyotes name new president, hope his ‘relationships’ can get arena built

University of Texas football coach Mack Brown

AUSTIN, TX - DECEMBER 15: University of Texas at Austin president Bill Powers (L) and Athletic Director Steve Patterson listen as football coach Mack Brown resigns on December 15, 2013 in Austin, Texas. Brown announced he will step down as coach after the Valero Alamo Bowl game against Oregon on December 30. (Photo by Erich Schlegel/Getty Images)

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The Arizona Coyotes have a new president and CEO, and he’s got a big job ahead of him.

The club announced today that Steve Patterson will take over the job that Anthony LeBlanc left after owner Andrew Barroway bought out his minority partners.

Patterson’s top priority will, of course, be getting a new arena built so that the Coyotes can move out of Glendale but remain in the Phoenix area.

“We are very pleased to name Steve as our new President and CEO,” said Barroway. “Steve has a wealth of experience and has served as an innovative and successful executive in the NFL, NBA, professional hockey, professional baseball and college athletics for over 30 years. He’s built championship teams and organizations and has managed stadiums, ballparks and arenas across the United States. Most importantly, he previously worked in our market and has the necessary corporate and political relationships to help us secure a long-term home for the Coyotes in the Valley. We’re thrilled to have him join us.”

From the press release:

Patterson, 59, successfully led the effort to bring the Houston Texans NFL team and Super Bowl XXXVIII to Houston, Texas. As General Manager of the Houston Rockets he built the 1994 NBA Championship team. He is currently the President of Pro Sports Consulting, which provides services to companies, government entities, universities and individuals that operate or seek to acquire or sell sports properties, to design, finance, build and operate sports facilities and to maximize the revenue of these and related entities.

Patterson is not new to the state, having been Athletic Director at Arizona State University from 2012-13.

More on that from the release:

In that capacity, Patterson was responsible for all ASU Athletic Department business and sports operations, acquisition, development and operation of current and new sports facilities and the development of the 425 acre Sports Facilities District adjacent to the University in downtown Tempe.

Which is interesting, since the Coyotes were hoping to partner with ASU on an arena deal, before the plan fell through in February.

Perhaps that deal can be brought back to life?

“Arena deals take time, talks and negotiations,” Patterson told Arizona Sports. “They’re kind of like vampire movies. You go to the coffin a dozen times and you think they’re dead, but they keep rising back up. Every single deal I’ve been involved with was thought to be dead a dozen times and then it rose back up.”