TUCSON, AZ — After much speculation, the Roadrunners will be staying in Tucson for the 2024-25 full home schedule.
"It's our ninth season in the American Hockey League and our ninth season in Tucson and it's going to be really fun to bring that excitement to the fans for all the games," Roadrunners President, Bob Hoffman said.
On Monday, the Roadrunners announced they will play all 36 homes games in Tucson, switching from the original plan to play 30 games at Tucson Arena and six at Mullett Arena in Tempe.
"If we had lost this team, we think it would have been over for us as a sports team," Rio Nuevo Chairman, Fletcher McCusker said.
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On Tuesday, we reported Alex Meruelo's land auction in Phoenix was canceled.
If Meruelo had won, it would have allowed him to build a new arena in Phoenix for an NHL expansion team within five years.
"There's still much like what we've seen over the past few months just with some speculation uncertainty of what will happen in the future and it's very difficult to tell what that looks like," Hoffman said.
The uncertainty follows a report of the potential relocation of the Roadrunners to Reno, Nevada.
Meruelo is leading the construction of an entertainment district with an arena in Reno.
That arena is set to finish in time for the 2026-27 season. However, the potential move has not been confirmed.
"I know that we've signed an additional year on top of our two years here so that's a minimum of three years here in Tuscon and as long as we keep drawing the support we've received and keep being Tucson's pro team and now the state of Arizona's pro hockey team I think we're going to be just fine," Hoffman said.
