Former Coyotes Owner Says NHL ‘Compelled’ Him to Sell Franchise

The Utah Hockey Club continues to thrive in its new locale, drawing vibrant crowds to the Delta Center in Salt Lake City while competing for a playoff spot and nearing a permanent name for the franchise. Recriminations, however, remain in the team’s former Arizona home.

IceArizona, the Alex Meruelo–led entity that owned the former Coyotes franchise, has filed a lawsuit in Maricopa County (Ariz.) Superior Court, seeking to recoup a $3.5 million security deposit for use of the 5,000-seat Mullett Arena at Arizona State University. The team was originally set for a third season at the facility, roughly one-third the size of the smallest NHL arena, before the league approved the franchise shift in April 2024. 

The legal action is against the Arizona Board of Regents, which oversees the state’s public universities, and Oak View Group Facilities, which operates Mullett Arena. The lawsuit, however, also contains a significant broadside against the league as IceArizona says it was “compelled by the NHL to agree to suspend its franchise rights and sell its hockey operations assets.”

That isn’t necessarily a radical departure from comments last year in which Meruelo said he initially told the league he was “not going to sell the team.” 

Describing a compelled sale in a lawsuit, however, is entirely a different matter. Legally, it’s also a critical distinction as IceArizona is claiming a force majeure situation that would free it from any further lease obligations and support the return of the security deposit. The Board of Regents and OVG have previously claimed that with the Coyotes’ departure, the team broke the third season of a three-year lease. 

Though Meruelo originally had a five-year window to revive the Coyotes franchise, premised in large part on developing a new venue, he has since abandoned efforts to do so. 

The Coyotes’ situation, meanwhile, is not the only current scenario involving a potential forced sale of a pro franchise. The Rays and owner Stu Sternberg, facing their own heightened facility challenges, are also under rising pressure from MLB to sell the club.