Judge Redfield T. Baum approved the sale of the Phoenix Coyotes by Jerry Moyes, ending a six-month court battle that almost saw the franchise moved to Hamilton.
In the end, there was little drama in the courtroom as U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Redfield T. Baum approved the sale of the Phoenix Coyotes by Jerry Moyes, ending a six-month court battle that almost saw the franchise moved to Hamilton.
The final sale price: $128 million. That doesn't include some $12 million in funds the NHL has promised to pay to creditors.
It was May 5 when Coyotes owner Jerry Moyes filed for bankruptcy in an attempt to keep the team. Almost immediately the court was presented with a bid from Canadian businessman Jim Balsillie, who announced his intentions of moving the team to Hamilton. The NHL opposed the Balsillie bid and sought to put together a competing bid. It did, but that bid was a joke — it called for the buyer, Jerry Reinsdorf, to be paid by the city of Glendale to plat at Jobing.com Arena — and was ultimately not a factor in the bankruptcy court's proceedings.
However, Balsillie's bid was taken seriously, enough so that the NHL felt compelled to work out a deal with Moyes. It wasn't the best of deals for Moyes, but it ends the proceedings.
The NHL will take over the team immediately and seek a buyer who wants to keep the team in Phoenix. We're not entirely sure there's such a buyer out there — Jerry Reinsdorf, a pretty smart buy as owner of the Chicago White Sox and Chicago Bulls, didn't want to make a bid on the team without massive concessions from Glendale on the arena lease.
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