Biggie Smalls maintained that, “…the more money we come across. The more problems we see.” A friend of my brother heard those notorious lyrics and replied that, “No money. More problems.” I’m starting to think that Greg Jamison can relate more to the latter than the former after his last ditch effort to buy the Phoenix Coyotes fell apart.
According to an AP report, Jamison has not secured the necessary funding and is unable to purchase the Coyotes. The former San Jose Sharks executive had until midnight on February 1 to buy the NHL owned franchise.
"Obviously, it's a frustrating time, but we have no control over it," Coyotes goalie Mike Smith said in a recent report. "It's something we can't really solve, otherwise we'd buy the team if we could. We've just got to worry about winning hockey games and playing to the best of our abilities, and hopefully it'll work itself out."
The midnight deadline was a facet of the arena management agreement that Jamison signed with the city of Glendale on December 21, 2012. From the day he signed the agreement he had until midnight on February 1 to buy the team. If Jamison could have purchased the Coyotes he would have an arrangement that Glendale would have paid him an average of $15 million a year to maintain Jobing.com Arena, the home ice of the Coyotes.
The Coyotes are now for sale to the highest bidder. Future suitors of the Coyotes franchise would have to sign a new arena management agreement with Glendale that could be less advantageous than Jamison's arrangement.
“If we can keep the Coyotes here and have a successful team and have people spending money, certainly I’d want that,” Glendale Mayor Jerry Weiers said in a recent Arizona Republic report. “But not with the deal that was made with the previous council.”
The NHL has a different perspective on Jamison's inability to buy the team. The NHL owns and operates the Coyotes and can have all the patience in the world while they wait for the perfect customer. They've owned the franchise since 2009 and don't seem to be in a hurry to unload the reigning Pacific Division champs.
"This Jan. 31st deadline, quote-unquote, is not a deadline from our prospective," NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly said in a recent NHL.com release. "It is a contractual date that happened to be in an agreement between Greg Jamison and the City of Glendale. Assuming the condition precedent to that date doesn't happen by [Thursday] night, I would imagine everybody has to reassess where they are -- or at least those two parties have to reassess where they are and where they go from here. Our objectives are going to remain the same, which is to find and transition ownership in Glendale."
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