California investment executive Darin Pastor has submitted a bid to buy the Phoenix Coyotes and keep them in Glendale.
Pastor’s ownership group submitted the bid to the National Hockey League today, according to an official with knowledge of the deal.
Pastor, 42, also plans on putting in a bid with the city of Glendale to run Jobing.com Arena. The city has a request for proposal out for management of the city-owned arena. Those are due May 24. Pastor is the CEO of Irvine, Calif.-based Capstone Affluent Strategies. He previously was an executive with Prudential Insurance of America.
The NHL owns the Coyotes and still wants to sell the team to an owner who will keep it in the Phoenix market.
The bid offers a “premium” deal for the NHL, according to the official who asked not to be identified. Paperwork for the bid was sent to the NHL today and looks to have a deal done by early June. The same official said the Pastor group is made up the California finance executive’s family and is not dependent on outside investment partners. The group’s arena bid will be on the low end of arena management figures cited by Glendale in budget documents and previous deals. Those figures have pegged arena management payments to a Coyotes owner or other operator at between $6 million and $15 million. Pastor’s group wants to avoid past arena deal hiccups that caused problems for previous bidders. He also could look to buy the arena from the city.
City documents show Jobing.com Arena will generate $6.9 million in revenue this fiscal year with expenses of $12.5 million. That translates into a $5.6 million shortfall. It also means the city needs to pay an operator $6 million on the low-end to run the arena.
Pastor would only say that he is in the Phoenix area today and has hired law firm Kutak Rock LLP in Scottsdale to help with this bid.
He did say if he buys the Coyotes he will focus on boosting youth hockey in the region and partnering with schools, charities and team sponsors on those efforts.
Pastor’s family owned the American Hockey League Buffalo Bison from 1956 to 1971. They also owned the regional Pepsi distribution businesses in Upstate New York. They also founded and organized a large annual youth hockey tournament in New York.
Pastor, an avid hockey fan who attends Los Angeles Kings and Anaheim Ducks games, also said he intends on buying Coyotes season tickets even if he doesn’t buy the team.
Another group, Renaissance Sports & Entertainment, also is seriously bidding to buy the Coyotes and keep them in Arizona. That group is headed by Canadian businessmen George Gosbee and Anthony LeBlanc.
Published reports and others familiar with Renaissance group say it also is looking to move ahead with purchase of the team.
Both groups intend on keeping the Coyotes in the Phoenix market. That is welcome news for the Coyotes fans who have seen the franchise owned by the NHL since a 2009 Chapter 11 bankruptcy sale. The NHL has continually pushed to keep the team in Glendale and not have them sold and relocated to another market such as Quebec City or Kansas City.
While bids to Glendale for the arena are due May 24, July 1 is a big deadline for potential Coyotes buyers.
Executives from both groups have met with Glendale officials including Mayor Jerry Weiers.
That is when head coach Dave Tippett and general manager Don Maloney’s current contracts are up and they can possibly move to other teams.