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Glendale to spend $25M on Coyotes in ’11-’12 — and maybe for next decade

Phoenix CoyotesThe Glendale City Council voted to cover the NHL’s losses on the Phoenix Coyotes for the 2011-2012 season up to $25 million, and also committed to do so annually for the next decade if the team isn’t sold or moved.

In a contentious meeting last night, the council agreed to continue the financial agreement first made for this past season while continuing to negotiate with Matthew Hulsizer and the NHL on a lease where he’d buy the team and set up shop with $197 million provided by Glendale. Negotiations have been going on for two years, and no one seems very eager to conclude them: the NHL says it lost $37 million the Coyotes this past season, so you’d think they want a deal ASAP.

But if anything there are some signs the situation is getting worse, not better. Despite proclaimations from Bill Daly that conditions for a deal are better than ever, others aren’t so sure: Ice Edge Holdings, which had its own plan to buy the team and was a minority investor in Hulsizer’s group, walked away from their small part of the deal, saying it wasn’t worth the effort any longer. And you can bet the Goldwater Institute will be continuing to press the city to make a taxpayer-friendly deal.

RELATED STORIES: Glendale ready to commit $25M to keep Coyotes in town for next season ; Goldwater Institute: We still oppose Coyotes lease; Is Hulsizer’s Coyotes deal collapsing?; Glendale approves Coyotes lease; Could lawsuit sink Glendale arena deal?; Glendale proposal: pay Hulsizer $197M to run $170M team

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