Phoenix Coyotes Sale: NHL Orders Team To Strike Deal With Arena, New Owners By July 2

A season after rumblings that the Phoenix Coyotes would be sold to another city due to financial woes, the Arizona team is in the spotlight again regarding their shaky status in the state. The team is in the process of trying to reach a deal between its prospective owners and the Jobing.com Arena, a city-owned facility where the team has been playing since 2003, USA Today reported. As of Saturday, the NHL has given the team and those surrounding the deal until Tuesday to come to an agreement.

The new deal being proposed would cost the city of Glendale and its taxpayers $15 million annually in payments to the new owners, a sum far higher than what city officials originally negotiated for. Renaissance Sports and Entertainment, the entity looking to buy the team from the NHL, said it would need the annual payment expanding the course of 15 years in order to fully acquire the team, Sporting News reported. The lender in the sale wants an initial payment for that amount before it approves financing of the purchase. The city of Glendale has proposed a $6.5 million payment annually instead.

Glendale Mayor Jerry Weiers criticized the NHL's deadline, describing it as forced or a way to intimidate the city into making a rushed decision. NHL depty commissioner Bill Daly refuted the allegations. He told reporters that if the groups fail to cooperate by deadline, it could leave Phoenix without a team.

"He can characterize it the way he wants, but it is what it is. We either get certainty in Glendale by July 2, or we immediately pursue our other options outside of Glendale," Daly told Fox Arizona. "We have already gone past the date we were comfortable accommodating in the first place. I hope for the sake of the Coyotes fans in Glendale that they don't lose the team because of a miscalculation made by members of the City Council."

The NHL agreed to sell the team to Renaissance for $170 million when a deal has been reached. The NHL bought the team in 2009 with the hopes of selling it to a local group that would keep it in Phoenix. The NHL did not originally intended to keep the Coyotes on board for four years, but if a deal flops, the team will likely move to Seattle. The hockey league already met with the mayor of Seattle, who is said to have an agreement with a team ownership group for $220 million. If the Coyotoes move to Washington, it will play in Key Arena, which houses a mere 11,000 fans, until a new arena is built.