Greg Jamison, potential new owner of the Phoenix Coyotes, has missed the deadline to buy the team before the lease agreement expired with the City of Glendale. Under the lease agreement, Jamison had until midnight to follow through with the money, but was unable to produce the funds or investors in time to purchase the team.
"We will not be able to complete our purchase of the Phoenix Coyotes today in time to meet our deadline with the city of Glendale," Jamison said in a released statement.
Jamison was the best chance the Coyotes had to land a new owner. He had originally reached a 20-year, $308 million lease with the city and Jobing.com Arena back in November. It was believed that this was the last hump he needed to get over in order to have a clear path to purchase the team. Now that he was unable to hold up his end of the deal, the Coyotes are back to square one.
Speculation that Jamison was hurt by the 113-day NHL lockout is the only excuse that can be made for missing the deadline and thus continuing the saga of the financial problems with the team. After the Coyotes hit bankruptcy in 2009, they have now had two potential owners fall through due to the inability to get funds or investors.
With Jamison now possibly leaving the ownership picture, the door is open again for potential buyers to bid on the team. The NHL had previously bought Phoenix when no one had stepped forward after the team went bankrupt. The league only intended on running it until someone emerged as the new owner. The process is now only getting longer.
"Obviously, it's a frustrating time, but we have no control over it. It's something we really can't solve," Coyotes goalie Mike Smith said.
With the NHL possibly expanding the league to 32 teams, it can be assumed that the Coyotes are bound to relocate to a stronger market that could produce more revenue. The Coyotes were originally located in Winnipeg before relocating to Phoenix in 1996. It was possible that once the team hit bankruptcy they might relocate back to Canada until Jamison emerged as the potential new owner.
Now Phoenix is back to playing the waiting game and hoping that a new buyer steps up to take over the team. Jamison is still hopeful that he will be able to make a deal for them. In his released statement Jamison said that the journey with Phoenix is not over and he believes a new agreement can be reached that will satisfy everyone.
