Nice save Gary! Alex "I don't like the media"! Gary " let me explain that".

Credit to these guys for coming forward and being straight with the public. I hope this works out, and the Yotes return in the near future.

As others have echoed. I have to give Gary credit. The memes are all stating that the Yotes were betrayed and done dirty. Gary could have easily kept quiet and ignored the feedback. He could have also just made a generic PR statement from a Twitter account or press release hiding behind "The League". But he flew out to Arizona and did an hour long press conference and was honest and relatively candid (as candid as any multi-billion dollar corporation can be). He's the butt of a lot of jokes by Hockey Fans and we have to acknowledge and respect when they do something right.

Alex Meruelo has got that swindler vibe. I'd bet my house he doesn't pay his bills or if he does, pays 1/2 of what was agreed. Love how Bettman has to re-phrase Meruelo's off-putting remarks to make them sound professional.

Surreal press conference. Gary basically took over and told Muerelo to shut up lol.

Got to give Gary Bettman credit. He didn't have to do this press conference.

I remember when he had the same press conference for the Quebec Nordiques.

Not Yotes fan but i really do hope the Coyotes come back

No more teams.

why is Bettmans head shaking like a bobblehead🤣

Why is everyone glazing Gary for doing a press conference as if he didn’t have to. 😂 Of course he had to, it’s part of the business.

This was very interesting to watch and I sincerely hope that all of this works-out in the long term.

Do not move the team from Tucson. I am a 7 year STH for the Roadrunners...and believe me we will be pissed.

gotta give these two guys credit for addressing the media and answering questions.

Bettman RULES! By far the smartest, sharpest, and most successful executive ever before seen in the history of professional sports, and probably also in any field of industry anywhere on the planet.

It’s amazing how quickly deals can get done when everyone involved is getting richer and the fans are the only one paying the price

Meurelo wasnt even paying the teams hotel bills this season, i think the nhl best just let him go away

More than MLB said to Montreal and Expos fans....

these two just sound super shifty

Garry Bettman has set the best example of how a Sports Commisioner should handle a very touchy situation. Great job Gary.

Man Alex looked brutal. He should stay far away from this team.

No way hes going to pay for an unimproved lot, get all utilities in, pay for en exit remp and build an arena complex. Not this guy. Its a pipe dream.

can’t pay hotel bills and is gonna pay 1 Billion for a arena complex? lolololol

Gary saved his ass.

Way to expand and already water down a product that's already watered down. What a clown.

Winning brings in fans. Not location, thats where Alex messed up the first time. Alex needs to just move on and keep his winnings. Gary and the NHL just needs to also move on and leave the Coyotes legacy where it is. The state of AZ and hockey fans dont deserve to have something start all over again.

Gary Bettman is a extremely intelligent man and as a fan of the Jets 1.0 and Jets 2.0 I respect the man.

As much as I'd love to believe it, I think there is a lot of wishful thinking about the future return of the Coyotes.

Meruelo self-catered a water and someone brought in another one. Bettman: I got this.

Meruelo looks like he has clammy hands.

Am I the only one who has volume in the right ear bud?

Oakland: SELL THE TEAM! = No expansion Phoenix: No "sell the team" = EXPANSION Unfortunately Oakland still hasn't learned why all its sports teams left.

I have hope and faith that the Coyotes will return to Arizona and when they do it’s gonna be with a bang! Brand new awesome arena and establish a good team on ice… if this happens it’s going to be electric in the valley. Give Alex sometime to get everything sorted out with a better state of the art arena and facility and get the stability with a good team no doubt in my mind the Coyotes will thrive. Praying I see the team come back!

I'm not a Coyotes Fan, but I feel the pain for the actual Fans losing their team! Regardless of what people say if the Owner and the League love Arizona that's their decision. I hope Arizona can get another team Someday if they get a 2nd chance

Classic Bettman-- Let's not think about all of the ways the Coyotes management pissed off local communities, vendors, landlords, etc. Let's not talk about how Bettman was steadfast about keeping hockey in Arizona until $1 Billion materialized in Utah. Let's not talk about the windfall each current franchise will receive in relocation fees because the league bought out the Coyotes and granted Utah this franchise. Meruelo's statement sounded like he was reading a book report he didn't write. He then declares the Roadrunners will move to ASU... then backpedals, saying he doesn't know if they'll move... This guy is poison to the AHL and the NHL and needs to go away.

Please summarize so I don't have to waste precious minutes of my life listening to Gary f-ing Bettman.

The most painful decision? The dude just made a net profit of $700m on a failing franchise…. How horrible that is for him and his family l

Why was Houston not the spot? No new building required and solid ownership, plus in state rivalry with Dallas. Side bonus, don't have to deal with the LDS in Texas. Also i call BS on the namdng timeframe, Winnipeg did the same thing a lot quicker.

Bettman is so rude. Credit to these guys for speaking publicly, though. Still both weasels. And don't take the Phoenix failure out on the fans in Tucson. Leave the Roadrunners alone.

Gary is pissed off cause cause he has a failure

Bettman is so arrogant.

Tempe rather have a Dump than an NHL team. The referendum doomed the Coyotes, not to mention previous ownership. The people of Tempe and the Mayor of Scottsdale should be proud of themselves. Shame on them, no one ever thinks about the fans and the revenue that will be lost. Utah is getting a good young hockey team built by Alex Meruelo. I hope he wins the land auction, builds a first class arena and Coyotes 2.0 thrive in the desert.

Gary has to be applauded for sometimes being one of the only big forces ensuring hockey stayed in the desert. Hopefully that ripple continues as it looks to be

Let's be realistic, Salt Lake City is a much more suitable location for a winter based sport than the desert

Here’s my question… why not just temporarily relocate the coyotes to Utah and have them come back?

A train wreck right to the end.

I really hope that this Does not hurt Youth Hockey in Arizona

utah coyotes of arizona

Gary blew this deal. Now phenix doesnt have a team argh. Dont even think about poaching the jets again now that the jets are the envy of the league again

Why Team doesn’t play at phoenix az

The Utah Ta Tas.... little known First Nations band.

Will they reactivate the Coyotes and add an additional team at the same time? Or go with an odd number of teams?

Gary's salary just went up. A new pool to bobble head in maybe with nhlofficial's serving him his V8s.

Starting the team in a rink that holds so few people was a tragedy waiting to happen, starting out with a huge disadvantage that was going to fail. Many young kids in Arizona are disillusioned by the coyotes but even moreso with the NHL. What a shame for the kids. My respect for the NHL, especially that dictator, oh, I mean the president is drastically lessened

Watch this conference and the salt lake one, the Smith’s understand it’s about community, the AZ conference he starts off with money and it’s all about making money for him. The profit comes with success. The desert dogs are doomed with this guy

Well there you go, now you heard it from the 🐎s mouth.

What's wrong with the ex owner? He seems slow and confused! Something is off with that guy! I wouldn't give him another team. He hasn't done crap all these years and i read he didn't pay the bills for the hotels for away games.

After reading, and listening to different people about this situation. I must say i think Gary Bettman is a sleze bag in this situation. I understand the pain and heartache that yall have. Gary Bettman was hoping this would happen so he could move a young up incoming good team to his mormon buddies up in Uath. BTW this is coming from a fellow Mormon who left the church. If im AZ screw the NHL .

He needs to be fired

Salt Lake City Silver Spurs

What an irony that Mureillo trips on the way to the podium. Describes the Coyotes whole tenure in Arizona. And the way he talks is so cringe. How did this guy become a billionare?

Gary gonna wave his magic wand and have Clelebrini with the hawks 🚨🚨🤘🤘

So their pulling a cleveland browns.

When’s the next work stoppage? 2026?

2 rats jumping off the sinking ship, it was a disaster from the beginning, Bettman has a part to play in this fiasco. How can he continue to be in the loop, if Quebec City and Hartford aren't? The NHL has stunk too high heaven, ever since Bettman took over.

Thank God this nightmare is over. Hockey in Arizona is a joke. Stay the hell out of there

Never should have left Phoenix. These bozos sold (moved from Phoenix) while the stock was down instead of holding and now they don't have a team anymore and the fans suffer.

Who Cares Gray put more teams in Canada 🇨🇦. We all know you won't because you are not for Canada you are for USA.

Press conference allah Utah owners will cover all the money we've lost in ARIZONA.

Who cares put more teams in Canada but we all know you won't you not for Canada you are for USA.

I’m sorry for all your Phoenix coyote fans out in Arizona, but you’re not getting the coyotes back. It’s not gonna happen and he’s not gonna win that land auction. The mayor is gonna make sure Of that.

This was a fkn WAKE for nhl in az. Coincedence or not ahl moves to mullet with one year remaining on yote mullett lease. And liar metulo didn't spend $ 7 mil. on yes campaign. He spent only $500,000 compared to NO campaiign spending $2 mil. Stop being delusional bettman and az. fans. This guy is not delivering nhl hockey back to az.

Awsome

The UTaaaaaaaaaaaH MORMONS!

This was a sick joke

I'll laugh if Arizona actually gets a team back, since they had 27 years to get it right and ALWAYS failed. Arizona does NOT deserve a team, period

The Coyotes won't be back. Not with this owner, at least. He scammed the NHL

This team should never have left Winnipeg. Population does not equal hockey market. If it did Mexico City would have a division.

A joke lol

Best commissioner in all of sports.

remember Bettman only cares about owners profits and nothing about the league,players or fans...