TEMPE, AZ — Next season the Arizona Coyotes will be playing in a whole new part of the Valley in an arena that seats about 70% fewer fans, but the team’s CEO said financially there won’t be much difference.
The Coyotes and Arizona State University held a press event Monday, officially launching the new partnership that will have the Coyotes playing the brand-new, 5,000-seat multipurpose arena, which is currently under construction on the school’s Tempe campus.
The school and the Arizona Board of Regents agreed to let the NHL franchise be a tenant at the new facility – which will be home to ASU hockey, wrestling and gymnastics — for the next three or four seasons until the Coyotes find a permanent arena solution.
With this deal, the Coyotes will be playing in the smallest arena in the NHL, but Xavier Gutierrez, the team’s president and CEO, said even though there appears to be fewer revenue opportunities, the team won’t notice a difference.
“We don’t anticipate there being a material financial impact,” Gutierrez said. “The reason is because how difficult our current situation has been financially.”
Read more of this story from the Phoenix Business Journal.
