Tuesday, May 03, 2011

Glendale pays NHL $25 million for Coyotes losses

The city of Glendale should send Gary Bettman the bill for the Coyotes losses.
GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) The NHL has exercised its option to take $25 million from the city of Glendale to cover losses by the Phoenix Coyotes this season.

The city had placed the money in escrow a year ago at the NHL's insistence to cover such losses if the sale of the team had not gone through by the end of this season.

The city says the NHL took the funds on Monday.

The NHL bought the team out of bankruptcy in September 2009 with the intention of finding a buyer to keep the team in Arizona.

The proposed sale to Chicago businessman Matthew Hulsizer has been stalled by the threat of a lawsuit by the Goldwater Institute, a conservative watchdog group.