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Former Owner Gives Up Coyotes Rights

Alex Meruelo is officially done with the Arizona Coyotes.

Jon Alfano

Coyotes President Ahron Cohen (left) owner Alex Meruelo (center) and GM John Chayka (right) speak with the media at a press conference announcing Meruelo's new ownership of the Coyotes at Gila River Arena in Glendale, Ariz. on July 31, 2019. Third Eye Blind July 31 2019
Coyotes President Ahron Cohen (left) owner Alex Meruelo (center) and GM John Chayka (right) speak with the media at a press conference announcing Meruelo's new ownership of the Coyotes at Gila River Arena in Glendale, Ariz. on July 31, 2019. Third Eye Blind July 31 2019 / Thomas Hawthorne, Thomas Hawthorne/The
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Less than three months after selling off the Arizona Coyotes' assets, owner Alex Meruelo has officially walked away from the team.

According to Craig Morgan of PHNX Sports, Meruelo has "agreed to and signed all of the necessary agreements and paperwork to relinquish his rights to the Coyotes." In layman's terms, the NHL now owns the rights to the Coyotes name and branding, and any future owner looking to bring hockey back to Arizona will presumably be able to use them.

On April 18, Meruelo reached a deal with the NHL to sell the Coyotes' assets to Smith Entertainment Group, thus creating the Utah Hockey Club. Meanwhile, the team's name, branding and history would stay with Meruelo, who would have a five-year window to reactivate the franchise as long as he built a new arena.

Fans and pundits wondered if Meruelo would even be able to meet the necssary requirements, but almost no one imagined he would walk away this quickly.

For months, Meruelo had planned to bid on a 110-acre plot of land just north of Phoenix at a land auction on June 27. On June 21, though, the Arizona State Land Department canceled the auction, stating that the proposed arena use would require a special permit. This led to the Coyotes releasing an angry statement on the matter, which they concluded with the threat of legal action.

Then on June 24, just after Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final, Morgan reported that Meruelo would be walking away from his ownership of the team. Now, that process is complete.

Meruelo became the majority owner of the Coyotes in 2019, then the sole owner in 2023 after the league banned minority owner Andrew Barroway for a domestic violence arrest. His time as owner was nothing short of a disaster, with the low point coming when the team was kicked out of Gila River Arena over unpaid arena charges and delinquent tax bills.

The NHL returning to Arizona feels like an inevitability, and now that Meruelo is out of the picture for good, hopefully that team will have stable ownership if/when the time comes.

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Jon Alfano
JON ALFANO

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