just being reported C & P :
Balsillie offers $212.5M to bring Coyotes to Ontario
Canadian billionaire Jim Balsillie is looking to buy the financially ailing Phoenix Coyotes and move them to Southern Ontario.
The co-chief executive officer of Research In Motion Ltd., maker of the BlackBerry smartphone, says his $212.5-million US offer is conditional on moving the Coyotes north of the border.
"The current team ownership asked that I table an offer to purchase the Coyotes, and significant discussions resulted in an offer that is in the best interests of the franchise, the NHL, and the great hockey fans of Canada and Southern Ontario," Balsillie said in a statement Tuesday.
"I am excited to move closer to bringing an NHL franchise to what I believe is one of the best un-served hockey markets in the world, Southern Ontario, a market with devoted hockey fans, a rich hockey history, a growing and diversified economy and a population of more than seven million people."
According to the Arizona Republic, the Coyotes filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Tuesday. The team's CEO said efforts have been made to keep the team in Arizona. "Extensive efforts have been undertaken to sell the team, or attract additional investors, who would keep the team in Glendale," Jerry Moyes told the Republic.
Moyes added that the City of Glendale, where the team's arena is located, is willing to "offer incentives to keep the team as a tenant in the Jobing.com Arena, the lease for which is subject to rejection in bankruptcy."
Moyes also said the court process will assure that the new owner and team's location will be known by June 30, though it was unclear whether the NHL would still need to approve new ownership or relocation after that date.
At the request of the Coyotes owner, Balsillie said he has also agreed to provide $17 million US in bridge financing to allow the franchise to keep going in advance of the sale.
The NHL did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the Balsillie move.
Balsillie made a well-publicized attempt to purchase and move the Nashville Predators to Hamilton in the spring of 2007. The deal fell through, with speculation that some in the NHL did not like Balsillie's insistence that the team be moved to Canada.
But he reportedly has kept angling for a team of his own. The 48-year-old Balsillie is a huge hockey buff who still plays weekly — he's a right-winger.
Coyotes stopped paying rent
There was confusion last week about the Coyotes with a spokesman for Glendale, where their arena is located, saying the league was in charge of the team.
Coyotes president Doug Moss rejected that report. The league declined comment.
Citing Glendale records, the Arizona Republic reported that the Coyotes stopped paying the city of Glendale rent, parking fees and most of its security costs at Jobing.com Arena in August. The paper also said the city was paid nearly $351,000 US for past rent on Feb. 25, the day after the NHL agreed to loan the team an unspecified amount.
As part of the loan agreement, the league had the right to take over the franchise if the loan was not paid, the paper said.
The NHL has had little to say about selling or moving teams, although the issue resurfaced recently with news that deputy commissioner Bill Daly met with a group interested in putting a second team in the Toronto area.
"There is no consideration of bringing a second franchise to Toronto. We have no intention to expand in the foreseeable future, and there is no desire to relocate any of our existing franchises," the league said in a statement when asked about that meeting.
Balsillie is looking for help in his bid to establish a seventh Canadian NHL team. He's asking fans who want to see a seventh NHL franchise in Canada to make their voices heard. He's asking fans to log on to
www.makeitseven.ca to add their voices to his bid.
"It's an exciting time for professional hockey in Southern Ontario and it has nothing to do with the playoffs," the website says.
Should the Coyotes end up in Canada, it will be a homecoming of sorts. The franchise was the Winnipeg Jets from 1979 to 1996.
© The Canadian Press, 2009
end C & P
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