Coyotes Future Will Be Decided in June

For the past 11 months, the Arizona Coyotes have been in purgatory. The city of Tempe rejected their proposal for a new stadium and the program has been scrambling to find a new home before they can be bought out.

Several large voices from Salt Lake City, including Utah Jazz owner Ryan Smith have been pushing for an expansion team in SLC, and they see the Coyotes as the perfect project.

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Why Do the Coyotes Need to Move?

Regardless whether the Coyotes stay in Arizona or not, the writing is on the wall: the program needs a change. They are currently playing in Mullett arena, a 5,000 seat arena belonging to Arizona State University.

The team has played games there since the 2022-2023 season, and they've begun feeling claustrophobic in such a small venue.

READ MORE: Is Hockey leaving Arizona?

The New Stadium

In order to keep the Coyotes in Arizona, the team has joined a public land auction in Phoenix for 110 acres of land northeast of Phoenix. The bidding starts at $68.5 Million and will take place on June 27th at 11 a.m.

The proposed stadium for the area boasts an 18,500 seat capacity, practice facilities and headquarters, a shopping center, a live music theatre, luxury apartments, and over 10,000 new jobs created.

The stadium will not only reinvigorate the local economy, but create new interest in the Coyotes program as well. The same thing happened with the MLB's Atlanta Braves in 2017, when their move from Turner Field to Truist Park sparked a renewed interest in Braves baseball.

If the auction doesn't go the Coyotes way, we may have to say goodbye to Arizona hockey, but ownership is doing everything in its power to make sure the puck stays in Phoenix.