Arizona
Coyotes owner still plans to bid on land earmarked for NHL arena
Despite the imminent sale and relocation of his team to Salt Lake City, Arizona Coyotes owner Alex Meruelo still plans to bid on and win the auction on June 27 for land in northeast Phoenix, on which he hopes to build a hockey arena suitable to host an NHL team.
In the agreement of the sale of the team, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman has agreed to give the Coyotes five years to secure land and an arena, Arizona Sports’ John Gambadoro reports.
If that happens, the Coyotes would then be able to start the process of bringing an NHL team back to Arizona.
The sale of the Coyotes to Ryan Smith, a deal that is not finalized but will get done, will be for $1.2 billion, of which Meruelo will get $1 billion.
The other $200 million will go to the NHL and will be distributed, as a relocation fee, to the other NHL owners.
Meruelo agreed to sell the team after he secured a contractual right to reactivate the franchise within five years of the date of the agreement and trigger an expansion draft if an arena is built. This would require him to pay back the $1 billion that he is getting from the sale to Smith.
Gary Bettman convinced Alex Meruelo that selling the franchise was in the best interest of the players because of the indefinite timeline for an arena. Meruelo agreed it was unfair to the players and that led us to where we are today.
— John Gambadoro (@Gambo987) April 13, 2024
Meruelo will retain ownership of the Tucson Roadrunners, the Coyotes’ affiliate in the American Hockey League, and will negotiate to be an affiliate of the new team in Salt Lake City. He will explore moving the team from Tucson to the Valley so it can play its home games at Mullett Arena in Tempe.
The tract of land in northeast Phoenix is located on the northwest corner of the Loop 101 and Scottsdale Road near Desert Ridge Marketplace.
The Coyotes said that the development would include a 17,000-seat arena and 150,000-square-foot practice facility.
It would also feature a concert venue for a live music theater for 3,000 attendees, 400,000 square feet of retail and a multi-purpose watch party plaza equipped with a supersized screen for viewing events. The district would be covered by a 170,000-square-foot canopy spanning the arena to the theater.
Arizona didn’t have the best start, but a long second half drained the life from Arizona State and sent the Wildcats back home to Tucson with a 23-7 victory, and the Territorial Cup in hand.
Brent Brennan’s first win in the rivalry series punctuates a dramatic turnaround for the program. After a 4-8 finish last season, Brennan’s aggressiveness in the portal, while retaining his roster, and making significant changes to the coaching staff, led to a 9-3 finish this time around.
The Wildcats have been great defensively all season long, and it showed up again on Friday night. The Wildcats forced five turnovers from ASU’s Jeff Sims, nabbing three interceptions and scooping up two fumbles.
According to Pro Football Focus, the Wildcats dominated the game defensively, despite only playing 20 minutes of the game. Here are the five highest-graded defenders from Arizona’s win (minimum 30 snaps).
Kennedy had a relatively quiet night in the box score, but was still effective on the edge. He made two tackles and had one pressure against the Sun Devils.
The edge rusher did a great job of keeping contain against Sims, not letting him scramble or beat the Wildcats with his legs. He did the same thing in the run game. With the exception of a few plays, ASU could only run the ball between the tackles, and the edges were a big reason why.
According to PFF, Kennedy had an overall grade of 68.3, with a tackling grade of 75.8, a run defense grade of 66.5 and a pass rush grade of 62.7.
Dansby had a big day locking down the perimeter with fellow corner Jay’Vion Cole limited to just eight snaps. The senior corner had two tackles, one pass breakup and an interception.
ASU’s first turnover of the day came as Sims was flushed from the pocket and made an errant throw toward the sideline, where Dansby dove and came up with the takeaway. He allowed just one short catch on five targets, but he also had a pass interference penalty.
Break out the turnover sword. 🗡️@dansby_michael with the INT. pic.twitter.com/pzFghLex4c
— Arizona Football (@ArizonaFBall) November 29, 2025
According to PFF, Dansby had an overall grade of 68.9, with a coverage grade of 71.4, a tackling grade of 76.6 and a run defense grade of 56.1.
Wilson had a great day opposite Kennedy on the edge. He made six tackles and batted down two passes at the line of scrimmage in the win for Arizona.
Like Kennedy, Wilson did a great job of keeping ASU contained to the pocket or running between the tackles in traffic. He also had two hits on Sims as a pass rusher, making his presence felt.
According to PFF, Wilson had an overall grade of 69.0, with a tackling grade of 78.3, a run defense grade of 75.2 and a pass rush grade of 57.1.
Arizona’s safeties once again were flying around the field and always near the ball. Smith was huge against the run, making six tackles and deflecting one pass.
While tackling has been a problem for Smith this season, he was perfect against the Sun Devils. He played close to stop the run and also picked up one pressure. Smith didn’t allow any catches as the primary defender and made some key tackles downfield to prevent ASU from scoring.
According to PFF, Smith had an overall grade of 71.7, with a tackling grade of 82.9, a run defense grade of 74.6 and a coverage grade of 68.7.
Who else? Johnson was once again all over the field making plays. He made three tackles, two pass breakups, one interception and forced a fumble in the fourth quarter.
Johnson punched the ball away from Sims on a run with ASU driving into scoring range, and Arizona recovered and went on the score the final touchdown to seal the game. On the ensuing possession, Sims overshot his man and Johnson laid out to snatch the pick, the fifth and final takeaway of the day for the Wildcats.
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🌵 that’s four, fam. pic.twitter.com/VCwlvoY8yY— Arizona Football (@ArizonaFBall) November 29, 2025
According to PFF, Johnson had an overall grade of 83.3, by far his highest grade of the season. He also had a run defense grade of 92.7, a coverage grade of 71.3 and a tackling grade of 56.2.
What did you think of Arizona’s statement win over Arizona State? To let us know, follow us on our X account by clicking on the link.
Arizona has brought the Territorial Cup back to Tucson, winning the rivalry game with ASU for the third time in four seasons. And it did so despite some of the worst grades of the season for the team as a whole and the offense specifically.
The UA’s team grade of 69.1 ranked third-lowest in 2025, ironically ahead of two of the other wins in the current 5-game streak. The offensive grade of 62.6 was also better than only the recent wins over Kansas (57.2) and Colorado (55.5).
Defensively it was a different story. Arizona graded at 76.1, which was 6th-best, and its 90.3 run defense grade was the best of 2025.
For the season, Arizona’s overall grade of 87.5 ranks 39th in FBS. The defense is tied for 21st at 91.5. Compare those to a season ago when the Wildcats ranked 98th nationally and their defense was 118th out of 134 FBS schools.
Below are the snap counts and individual grades of all players who appeared on offense or defense at ASU:
Top overall grades (min. 20 snaps): S Dalton Johnson (83.3), S Genesis Smith (71.7), QB Noah Fifita (71.2), RT Matthew Lado (71.2), LB Riley Wilson (69.0)
Top pass blocking: RG Alexander Doost (85.5), LG Chubba Maae (81.6), RB Ismail Mahdi (76.2)
Top run blocking: RT Matthew Lado (66.2), WR Kris Hutson (62.7), WR Tre Spivey (61.9)
Top pass rushing: LB Chase Kennedy (62.7), CB Treydan Stukes (60.0), CB Michael Dansby (59.7)
Top run defense: Johnson (92.7), CB Ayden Garnes (77.0), Wilson (75.2)
Top tackling: Smith (82.9), Garnes (81.1), LB Taye Brown (79.1)
Top coverage: Dansby (71.4), Johnson (71.3), Smith (68.7)
PHOENIX – From the terrifying moment caught on camera of a wrong-way driver on I-10, to the duel in the desert as ASU takes on Arizona for the rivalry game, here’s a look at your top stories on FOX10Phoenix.com for Friday, Nov. 28, 2025.
1. Wrong-way driver caught on camera
What we know:
During the late night hours of Thanksgiving, a white pickup truck was seen heading the wrong way on Interstate 10’s HOV lane near Baseline Road.
2. Man found lying near roadway prompts hit-and-run investigation
3. Suspect in custody after shooting at South Phoenix apartment
4. Officers use less-lethal means to detain road rage suspect
5. ASU vs. U of A: Fans gear up for rivalry game
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