Andrew Barroway Deal Still On Track With Arizona Coyotes
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before, Coyotes’ ownership issues are making headlines again. There have been conflicting reports about Andrew Barroway’s deal to purchase the majority of controlling interest of the Arizona Coyotes. This is the deal that will give Barroway 51% of the team and it is still very much alive, despite rumors to the contrary. It was reported by the New York Post that Andrew Barroway was “backing out” and that the deal was “falling apart.” The rumor was cited by sources supposedly confirming this, but like most off ice Coyotes related rumors, it was false.
At the first day of the NHL Board of Governors meetings, Commissioner Gary Bettman said to reporters that the deal is “ongoing and on track.”
Coyotes’ CEO Anthony LeBlanc also released a statement concerning the issue saying, “Commissioner Bettman provided a detailed update on the transaction to the board including the fact that the paperwork was finalized late last week. We will be working with the league to finalize this process and are on track to close before year end.”
There wasn’t much else discussed about the deal at the meetings as the focus was primarily set on NHL expansion to Las Vegas. The key word here for Coyotes’ fans is “expansion” and not “relocation”.
NHL fans around the league are sick and tired of seeing Coyotes’ ownership issues constantly in the news and frankly, so are Coyotes’ fans. As a result, the Coyotes are very unpopular, read the comments of any story and you’ll see “move the team” or “hockey doesn’t belong in Arizona” etc.
The Coyotes have had a long road full of left turns, but the problem does not fully lie with the team. There have been many non story issues that pop up overnight along the way that are completely false. There has been a cycle with all of this, a negative story will come out, Gary Bettman refutes the issue, Bettman’s response goes unnoticed (or his words twisted) and then the issue passes and turns out to be completely false.
The media loves to hate the Coyotes and seemingly refuses to leave them be. This is a great example and despite the fact that everything Gary Bettman and the NHL have said in regards to the organization has happened, it doesn’t seem to matter. This deal will go through and another issue will arise and that cycle will repeat itself once again.