Arizona Coyotes Pick New Site for Arena; Could It Impact Arizona State?

The Arizona Coyotes arena situation has been a mess for quite some time, and frankly, the minutiae of their lease agreements makes my head hurt. But it seems as though the Coyotes building a new arena is the best hope of Arizona State ever finding a new facility to play in--an issue that continues to hamper their transition to Division I hockey.

The good news is that there seems to be progress on that front. Coyotes president Anthony Leblanc announced on Thursday that the Coyotes have picked out a new site for the arena, though declined to say where that site actually is as they are still working through legal paperwork.

Potential sites for the new arena include two spots very close to Arizona State's campus, one spot actually on Arizona State's campus, and one spot in downtown Phoenix, though that seems the unlikeliest candidate by far.

Arizona State officials could not be reached to comment on whether they would be partnering with the Coyotes in a new venture. Leblanc said once a land agreement is finalized, they will begin discussing the possibility of potential partners.

Even if this deal goes through, it would likely still be some time before Arizona State had a new home. The Coyotes have one more year on their lease in Glendale, and are looking to extend for two more years beyond that to bridge the gap until an arena is done, meaning the new arena might not open until the 2019-2020 season.