The Arizona Coyotes are playing their home games in a makeshift arena while they try to figure out a more permanent place to call home.
Based on the results of voting in Tempe on Tuesday, it appears that they won’t be finding that home there anytime soon.
According to AZ Central, three ballot items ― Propositions 301, 302, and 303, all of which need to be approved for a $2.1 billion Coyotes development proposal to move forward, are losing by wide margins.
Props 301 and 302 were said to be losing 56% to 44% while Prop 303 was losing 57% to 43% at the time of the reporting. Those tallies are unofficial and are likely to change, though all signs seem to point to the propositions failing across the board.
Regardless of the final vote count, the turnout rate appears to be on track to be the highest of any of Tempe’s elections over the last 13 years. Clearly, the people have spoken and they’re not interested in helping to fund the Coyotes’ new arena.
NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman released a statement saying “We are going to review with the Coyotes what the options might be going forward,” which is about as vague as you can get.
Naturally, that’s leading to a lot of speculation that the NHL franchise could be on the move soon.
There could be an NHL team on the move soon. https://t.co/rmnSWP3vRf
— Dan Wolken (@DanWolken) May 17, 2023
Just relocate the team to Quebec City… Enough is enough, the NHL has held the Arizona Coyotes above water for far too long. @HabsUnfiltered https://t.co/ufKarGjBYF
— Matt Smith (@Snakebite350) May 17, 2023
Translating: "Hello, Mayflower?" https://t.co/vAm2CfQkQD
— Joe Reedy (@joereedy) May 17, 2023
Look man, I’d LOVE to have NHL in Portland https://t.co/bIPolHnChH
— Danny Marang (@DannyMarang) May 17, 2023
There’s no shortage of Canadian and U.S. cities that would love to add an NHL franchise, so we’ll see how this vote impacts the future of the Coyotes.
