Arizona Coyotes, Arizona Cardinals won't bid to manage Glendale's Gila River Arena

As the deadline nears for management groups to bid on running Glendale’s Gila River Arena, the NHL's Arizona Coyotes and the NFL’s Arizona Cardinals are staying on the sidelines.

Coyotes President Anthony LeBlanc and Cardinals President Michael Bidwill told The Arizona Republic in separate interviews that their organizations have no intention to submit bids. The arena manager books events and concerts and maintains the facility.

The current Coyotes ownership group has managed the arena since 2013.

LeBlanc said he's uncertain whether the Coyotes even have a long-term future at the 18,300-seat arena, which opened in 2003. Team officials are exploring the possibilities of a new arena somewhere in metropolitan Phoenix, he said.

The decisions underscore strains in the relationships between the pro sports franchises and the city where they play.

The Cardinals' home field is University of Phoenix Stadium, but the NFL franchise submitted a proposal to manage the adjacent hockey arena when the city last solicited bids in 2013.

At the time, the Cardinals partnered with venue-management company SMG to bid on the job. Three other competitors also submitted proposals.

Glendale City Council members didn't consider the proposals. Instead, the council agreed to pay the Coyotes $15 million per year to manage the arena, even though the Coyotes never submitted a proposal through the formal bidding process. The deal included partial reimbursements to the city.

The negotiations were covered in the media, but Glendale officials failed to formally inform the Cardinals they weren't selected until after The Republic twice submitted public-records requests for rejection letters. At the time, Cardinals executives considered the matter a professional slight.

The Cardinals had no interest this time around, Bidwill said. "We just decided we're not going to submit a bid," he said.

Earlier this year, Glendale voided the 15-year arena-management deal with the Coyotes, on the basis of potential conflicts of interest by former City Attorney Craig Tindall and former Assistant City Manager Julie Frisoni, who went on to work for the Coyotes.

City officials and Coyotes executives patched together a two-year management deal in July, and the city issued a new request for proposals to manage the arena on a long-term basis. Bids are due Dec. 11.

Glendale Vice Mayor Ian Hugh said he doesn't know why the Coyotes and Cardinals are opting out of the bidding process. Most members of the City Council assumed the Coyotes, at least, would be part of the process.

But LeBlanc said he can't understand why city officials decided to issue a request for proposals in the first place.

“We just don’t think that’s the appropriate way to do it. And at the end of the day, the city, they’re very good at saying they would like the Coyotes to stay, but quite candidly, actions speak louder than words," he said.

LeBlanc said Coyotes executives believed they would negotiate a new long-term arena-management deal immediately after agreeing to the two-year deal. However, two weeks later, interim City Manager Dick Bowers told LeBlanc that city officials planned to invite other management companies to submit proposals.

LeBlanc said the city's process ignores important questions about revenue splits between the team and city.

"If we’re not managing the facility, who’s selling concert suites? Who’s the concessionaires? That’s very important to us. And candidly, they refused to talk about it,” he said.

The Coyotes have other concerns. The team negotiated a nine-year naming-rights agreement for the arena, but the Gila River Indian Community can opt out if the Coyotes no longer manage the facility, according to LeBlanc.

The city's current process puts the onus on the potential new arena manager to negotiate all those points with the team, he said.

“We don’t have an agreement with whoever that company is. We have an agreement with the city of Glendale, so I’ve said this repeatedly to the city, ‘The process is broken. The timing of it is incorrect,’" LeBlanc said.

Furthermore, the city's emphasis on reducing the management fee at the arena neglects to consider the economic activity at the Westgate Entertainment Center spurred by NHL games, he said.

“I’m not going to waste my time on it. I have a business to run. I have partners to answer to and I have a fiduciary duty to find out what our alternatives are, because we’re not going to take a deal that doesn’t make sense,” LeBlanc said.

The Coyotes' focus is on finding a new venue in the region, he said. The team could move as soon as the 2017-18 season.

Glendale's vice mayor said he understands LeBlanc's position.

"I don't object if he thinks that he can get a better situation someplace else. Just like why we're looking for the best arena operator we can find," Hugh said.

One option for the hockey team is a return to downtown Phoenix in a new arena that would be shared with the NBA's Phoenix Suns. The Coyotes initially played in the building now called Talking Stick Resort Arena, but the facility was built for basketball and has thousands of obstructed-view seats for hockey.

Discussion about a potential new joint-use arena is being driven in large part by a desire to retain the Suns, the state's first pro franchise, Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton said.

"Ensuring that relationship stays strong for the long haul is my priority as mayor, but certainly I'm aware of successful models around the country where an NBA franchise and an NHL franchise very successfully share an arena in a way that's profitable for all involved," he said.

Phoenix officials actively are conducting due diligence, but many questions remain, he said. Among them:

How much would a new arena cost? The Milwaukee Bucks' planned new arena is pegged at $500 million.

How much would be privately funded? How much publicly funded? Would the public-funding source be municipal, state or some combination?

Can voters be sold on the idea of picking up any portion of the bill?

Where specifically would an arena be built?

When would it open?

Can the Suns and Coyotes work out an agreement to split revenues?

Coyotes executives don't need firm answers right away, but a clearer direction by the end of the NHL season would be valuable for fans and sponsors alike, LeBlanc said. The Stanley Cup Finals end in mid-June.

Stanton called the Coyotes a regional asset.

"I don't know what the future holds for them and Glendale, but if it's not going to work in Glendale, and we can make it work for all parties in downtown Phoenix, I would love to see that happen," he said.

If the Coyotes vacate Glendale for a new venue, they likely would have to play a couple of seasons at Talking Stick Resort Arena or someplace else on a temporary basis while a new arena is built, LeBlanc said.

Coyotes executives are not looking at options in Las Vegas, Seattle or anywhere else outside of metro Phoenix, LeBlanc said.

“I don’t know if I have to write it in blood for people to finally understand it. I’m serious,” he said.