Arizona Coyotes owner Alex Meruelo giving up pursuit of NHL arena, report says

Alex Meruelo is ending his pursuit of an arena and his hopes of returning the NHL to the Phoenix area, according to PHNX Sports.

Meruelo addressed the Arizona Coyotes staff on Monday, according to reporter Craig Morgan, citing "multiple" unnamed sources, with Meruelo telling staff he had no plans to pursue further arena options.

The arena plan was based on the pursuit of a state parcel which the Arizona State Land Department canceled an auction for, citing concerns about land use and questioning the Coyotes' preparedness.

After selling the Coyotes' assets to a Utah investor in April due to a failure to acquire a permanent home in Phoenix, Meruelo and the NHL struck a deal that would have granted him an expansion team if he could build a suitable arena within five years. However, that deal was exclusive to Meruelo and specifically did not allow for the same terms if he were to leave his position as owner, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said in April.

The deal only allowed Meruelo to bring in partners for a maximum of 20% of the project, meaning he had to complete the lion's share on his own.

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At the time, Bettman said he would not speculate about what would happen if Meruelo could not get the deal done.

The auction's cancellation was likely the final nail in the coffin for Meruelo's tenure as owner of the team. The land department abruptly canceled the auction June 21, less than a week before it was to take place. Land department officials said there had been discussions with team ownership in the weeks prior that the auction could be canceled, but the team's leadership was formally notified of the cancellation on Friday, the same day it was announced to the public.