National Hockey League commissioner Gary Bettman is in Arizona to once again defend the Coyotes. He supports the Amphitheater project in Tempe and sees the desert club there “forever”.
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The construction of a new entertainment complex, which will include the future “Yotes” arena, has been a major focus in Arizona in recent months. Two camps are opposed, some do not want this new building near Sky Harbor International Airport. A referendum on this issue will also take place on May 16th.
Obviously for the project, Bettman moved Thursday to support local people’s efforts with a press conference. At a cost of $2.1 billion, the complex will create 6,900 new jobs, according to the Yes camp.
On a sporting level, after the difficulties in Glendale and the famous Mullett Arena, the commissioner sees the Coyotes finally settled there.
“Once the draft is passed, the Coyotes won’t be going anywhere else. They will be here forever,” he said.
“If you look at the substance, not the rhetoric … I can’t see why anyone would think that’s a bad idea,” Bettman added.
vandalism
It doesn’t suit everyone as the intended press conference location, a charity car park, was vandalized during the night. Slogans saying “Vote no” could be found everywhere. The speaking engagement eventually took place at the Tempe Chamber of Commerce.
“These are the actions of critics and opponents of this campaign. What we’ve been saying all along is that we’re here to invest in this community, create jobs, clean up a landfill, and people who pay taxes in Tempe don’t have to pay for it. Most importantly, we seek to be leaders in this community,” said Coyotes President Xavier A. Gutierrez.
In March, the city of Phoenix threatened to sue the community of Tempe if it went ahead with this project, which a 1994 law said would be too close to Sky Harbor. However, builders would make an exception for building 2000 soundproof homes.
The Coyotes and their development arm Bluebird Development retaliated with a $2.3 billion lawsuit, accusing Phoenix of attempting to sabotage the arena project.