Relocation proved a stumbling block in court
Jim Balsillie’s US$212.5 million bid to buy the Phoenix Coyotes was rejected by a bankruptcy judge in Arizona. The billionaire’s plan to relocate the team, which has lost a reported $300 million since it moved from Winnipeg to Phoenix in 1996, was a major issue for the court. So was who owned the team—Jerry Moyes, who filed for Chapter 11 in May, or the NHL—and therefore, who had the legal right to sell it.