Coyotes Face New Challenges For Arena Search After Bad News Comes Out About Planned Site

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Graham Montgomery
March 13, 2024 (10:54 PM)

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The Arizona Coyotes have long been awaiting concrete plans for their next home area. Today, additional information about their latest plan came out and it is bad news for the team.

Coyotes Planned Arena Site Faces Serious Challenges

The team had a 100 acre lot set up to be the site of their next arena. However, several delays have meant that the plan has still not been finalized. However, we did get some new information about the lot today, making it seem like a less viable option for the team. Apparently, there is no plumbing on the land at all, and the area is vulnerable to Arizona's famous flash floods. Furthermore, a building can't be completed until the start of the 2027-28 season at the earliest.

Interesting video on the land the Coyotes are bidding on to build their new arena. Some takeaways:

-No water or sewer to property
-Site is vulnerable to flooding
-Ready at earliest 2027, so 5 full seasons at Mullet Arena

Among these problems, the 2027 completion date could be the biggest one. The Coyotes have already reportedly damaged their reputation with Arizona State University and it remains unclear how long the NHL and the players would be willing to stay at Mullet Arena. Furthermore, that 2027 date is the most optimistic projection. In reality, the building may not be completed until 2028 or later. We've all seen construction projects take longer than expected, that's just part of the business.

5 full seasons at Mullet? I don't know who would have the appetite for that, players or the league.

Arizona To Hold Land Auction For Coyotes Planned Arena Site Tomorrow

That being said, the team is slowly but painfully making progress in this ordeal. The state is set to potentially approve the land auction tomorrow as the Arizona Land Department Board of Appeals is set to convene on the matter. Interestingly, the lot has decreased from 100 acres to 95. Not a major deal, but the first plan was supposed to be for 200 acres so the team continues to downsize their plans.

JUST IN Arizona Coyotes' application for 95 acres of state land for new arena will be taken up Thursday by Arizona Land Department Board of Appeals. Board could approve land auction.

However, this is still a land auction. The Coyotes would still have to win said auction, adding yet another hurdle to their list. The auction will likely be set for the second half of May, so we will not know the final outcome of this plan until then.

Hopefully, the Coyotes and the NHL can provide their fans some answers shortly.

As seen on New information about possible location of new Coyotes' arena is hilariously bad