MONTREAL – Arizona Coyotes president Javier Gutierrez said the team could make more money playing at its temporary Arizona State University ground than playing at Glendale.
“From a revenue standpoint, if we’re not better than before, that’s what will happen,” he said Thursday before the NHL draft.
Coyotes will play at least the next three seasons at ASU’s new multipurpose facility on campus, trying to build an arena on city-owned land in Tempe. Tempe City Council voted last month in favor of a bid to negotiate a new arena and entertainment district. The Tempe project is estimated at 7 1.7 billion.
“It simply came to our notice then. We have made that clear, “said Guterres. “We want to be transparent from day one. We didn’t try to hide the ball. “
Guterres said Coyote ASUs are sold in “two-thirds” before going public with full and half-season ticket plans. He said the estimated number of students out of the team’s 600 seats in home games would actually be around 350-400.
“The NHL is trying to figure out where the best places are for all their cameras, all their lights. It will still be around 4,700-4,800. [fans]He said.
Guterres reiterated that the Coyotes want cheaper tickets despite their limited capacity.
“We never want to go into a situation where we are strangling people. We wanted to reach the NHL average, which has an average ticket price of 157. We’re about $ 170 right now. “
The Coyotes have told the city of Tempe that they must make a decision before the end of the year. Tempe has told the Coyotes that they want to make a decision in the fall, including a possible Labor Day vote. The team also has alternative plans for “Plan B and Plan C” around the Tempe site, but Guterres said he believes the current project is the right one.
For the 2022-23 season, Arizona will play four games in a row at ASU after starting the season with six road games. After that homestand, the Coyotes are on the road for a 14-game journey that will take them from the East Coast to the Mid-Atlantic of Las Vegas back to the West Coast and then end with the Western Canadian Swing.
Coyotes told ESPN that the road trip was as planned. The new annex building with NHL-eligible dressing room will not be ready until December.
Guterres said: “Part of it was related to the construction timeline and we wanted to play the game even though our contract was not fully prepared. We are making arrangements with ASU so that we can play the game in October. ,