{coyotes} July 2 now key date for Coyotes deal

Saturday 22 June 2013

{coyotes} July 2 now key date for Coyotes deal

GLENDALE, Ariz. - The Phoenix Coyotes' fate could be sealed — one way or the other — on July 2.

Glendale City Council members emerged from a 3 1/2-hour closed-door meeting Friday anticipating that a contract with the team's proposed new owners could be ready for a vote early next month.

Representatives of the city and an investment group called Renaissance Sports & Entertainment are expected to continue negotiations during the weekend to finalize the proposed deal, said Glendale spokeswoman Julie Watters.

If things go as planned, city officials would post details of the contract on the city's website as early as Monday and the council would schedule a public council vote for July 2, she said.

Some council members wanted more reassurances from the city's potential partners, but the deal is nearly complete, Councilman Gary Sherwood said.

"There are a couple of things they want to get from Renaissance and one from the league. They're not deal-breakers by any means," he said. He declined to elaborate about the specific nature of the assurances.

No additional closed-door council meetings about the Coyotes have been scheduled before July 2, which seems to indicate that the agreement is already nearly locked in and ready for a vote.

"The assumption might be that they have the deal conceptually all put together, but wish to control the announcement and not do it on a Friday afternoon," said Robbie Sherwood, a media and political consultant for Strategies 360, a public-policy and public-relations firm.

The negotiations likely represent the last chance the city and the NHL have to end the four-year saga, during which the NHL has tried to sell the franchise to an ever-changing cast of potential buyers.

The city's dealings with Renaissance focus on a management agreement for city-owned Jobing.com Arena, where the Coyotes have played since 2003.

Council members want a firm to operate the arena, and Renaissance executives want management rights.

The council had budgeted $6 million a year to pay for the service, but Renaissance executives have proposed a complicated deal in which the city would guarantee about $15 million a year.

In exchange, Renaissance would give the city cuts of ticket surcharges, parking fees and naming rights. The ownership group also would commit to keeping the hockey team at the arena, drawing crowds to restaurants and bars in the surrounding Westgate Entertainment District for 41 nights a year.

Glendale and Renaissance representatives repeatedly have declined to provide specifics of the proposed deal.

NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said via e-mail, "We've been in touch and are aware of the current timing. We will continue to monitor the process and make decisions as appropriate."

Coyotes spokesman Rick Nairn said the team's players and staff were standing by. "We're waiting to see what happens," he said.

Renaissance is headed by Canadian businessmen George Gosbee and LeBlanc, who have said their intention is to keep the team in Glendale.