NHL hockey is coming to Tempe, with the Arizona Coyotes announcing that it will be moving to to the Arizona State University multipurpose arena as the team builds its new arena nearby.
The new multipurpose arena is opening in fall 2022, according to Arizona State News, and will hold 5,000 fans. This will only be a temporary home for the Coyotes as it is much lower than a capacity needed for a professional hockey team. Coyotes President and CEO Xavier A. Gutierrez and ASU officials held a press conference announcing the move. Gutierrez was excited about the energy of an intimate venue alongside a venue that is home to 80,000 college students. He feels this will be “the best experience in all the NHL.” This temporary home would make it the smallest in the NHL, but in the press conference Gutierrez said this adds to the appeal.
“It’s going to be loud, it’s going to be packed,” Gutierrez said. “This is the experience we know our fans, our partners, our players, everyone associated with the Coyotes absolutely going to be excited about.”
Construction began in December 2020 on the new arena at ASU, located near the former baseball stadium at the east side of Packard Drive. It should be ready by October but the space for the Coyotes will be ready in December. The new arena is 200,000 square feet and will be used for concerts, lectures, meetings and athletic events.
The project was approved at a cost of $115 million but it will now be at $134 million, with the Coyotes contributing $19.7 million.
The ASU News website explained that last December the Coyotes approached the university to play seasons 2022 through 2004 at the multipurpose arena. This is due to the lease agreement with the city of Glendale that ended with the Coyotes. It will take about three years to build a new NHL sized arena in Tempe. According to KJZZ, the Coyotes had been playing at Gila River Arena on a lease with Glendale. The city of Glendale announced last year it would not renew the annual lease.
The Coyotes moved from Winnipeg in 1996 and formerly were in Phoenix at the America West Arena, which was also the home of the Suns. The team moved to Gila River Arena in 2003, KJZZ reported.
With the Coyotes coming on board, there will be a two story, 15,000 square foot annex constructed at the Northeast end of the arena for locker rooms, training areas, equipment rooms and more. There will also be facility upgrades to meet NHL requirements for media, medical services, broadcasting, analytics and more.
“Obviously, an incredible opportunity for us an organization to be in a brand new facility, state of the art, in the heart of Tempe,” Gutierrez said.