Charles Borla
Just when it seemed like Tucson’s professional hockey future had become at least somewhat solidified, new reports have again put into question the Tucson Roadrunners’ as a longterm Southern Arizona fixture.
According to a report from Sportico, Roadrunners owner Alex Meruelo plans to move the team out of the Tucson Convention Center and up to Reno, Nevada, with the expected completion date of 2026 for a new arena that could potentially house the American Hockey League franchise.
Andy Squire, a spokesman for the city of Tucson, said that a potential move-out of Tucson was not discussed between parties when the Tucson Roadrunners, the Rio Nuevo board and the city amended its license agreement to keep the Roadrunners here through the 2026-2027 season.
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“They went three years because they did not know ... what things would look like after three years,” Squire told the Star Wednesday. “But, the possibility of them going to Reno was not (part of the discussion), not something that we were aware of.”
The amended agreement, offered by the Rio Nuevo board in late-May and approved by the Tucson city council in early-June, is expected to keep the Roadrunners playing in the Tucson Convention Center for at least the following three seasons.
“We have a three year contract with them now. That’s being ratified,” he said. “Whatever contract they enter into with us, we will hold them to that contract.”
According to the original license agreement, the team could terminate its deal after the fifth season if average home game attendance was below 2,500 in that span. However, if they were to terminate the agreement at any point, Squire said, the city would require unpaid rent from the team for the remainder of the contract.
Under the original agreement, the Roadrunners would have to pay back “unamortized and unreimbursed costs of the capital improvement fund by the Rio Nuevo District,” according to a May 2016 city memorandum, although the amended agreement approved earlier this month has altered terms, therefore the question of ramifications for the Roadrunners if they were to exit still remain.
When asked Wednesday for comment on recent reports linking to the Roadrunners to the Reno development, the team provided the Star with the following statement: “Tucson is the home of the Roadrunners and we were excited to celebrate our ninth season coming in October last week with our fans, partners, City of Tucson and Rio Nuevo. We’re very appreciative of all of the support that we’ve received from the community since arriving in 2016 and we’re proud to have added another year on to our existing ten-year lease at the Tucson Convention Center that now runs through the 2026-2027 season.”
Meruelo, who owns casino properties in Las Vegas and Reno, proposed last year a $1 billion sports and entertainment facility in the Northern Nevada city that includes a 10,000-seat arena that would house the University of Nevada basketball teams and also be ready for a high-level minor-league hockey team, the Arizona Daily Star previously reported.
It would not be the first time an Old Pueblo sports team skipped town for Reno. The Tucson Toros, founded in 1915 but a beloved high-level minor-league baseball franchise from 1970-2008, long served as a top affiliate to Major League Baseball teams like the Cincinnati Reds, Cleveland Indians, Chicago White Sox, Oakland A’s, Texas Rangers, Houston Astros and Milwaukee Brewers. In 1998, the Toros were rebranded the Tucson Sidewinders and became the Triple-A affiliate of the expansion Arizona Diamondbacks. But the Diamondbacks moved the Sidewinders to Reno, Nevada, in 2011, renaming the team the Reno Aces.
According Sportico’s Barry Bloom, Meruelo, who sold the Arizona Coyotes’ hockey assets to a group out of Salt Lake City in April for a reported $1.2 billon — while keeping the Coyotes’ name and logo and control of the AHL’s Roadrunners, “told his staff Monday he will no longer pursue building a new arena to house (an NHL team) in the Phoenix area, and that the (now-dormant) franchise should be disbanded within a month.”
“Meruelo will retain the minor league Roadrunners ... before eventually moving to a new arena when it is completed in Reno,” Bloom reported on Wednesday.
That sentiment was also suggested by Craig Morgan of PHNX Sports, during a PHNX Hockey Podcast episode which ran Tuesday.
“I know a lot of people have asked about this, and it’s not really much of a secret... I think the Meruelo’s are going to continue to own the Roadrunners and they’ll keep (them) affiliated with Utah as long as they can, and maybe they’ll try and find another affiliation if Utah breaks it,” Morgan said. “But I really do think, and this is no surprise to a lot of people that, (Meruelo) is going to move that team out of Tucson and move it to Reno in his new arena, which I think is supposed to come online in the fall of 2026. The Roadrunners are signed for actually three more years so, I’m not sure what will happen for that final year... but I (got to) believe that team is heading to Reno.”
This news comes about a month after the Rio Nuevo board, city officials and the team agreed on an amended license agreement to keep Roadrunners hockey in Tucson through the 2026-2027 season.
Fletcher McCusker, chair of the Rio Nuevo board, also said Wednesday that a possible exit to Reno was not part of the conversations earlier this month that resulted in keeping the Roadrunners skating in Tucson.
“The only conversations that were real-time was the relocation to Tempe, and the team did announce there intent to do that... and then we just heard (on Tuesday) that they abandoned that and want to skate all 36 games now in Tucson,” McCusker told the Star Wednesday. “The important thing I think, for us, is the importance of our relationship to the AHL.”
“Even if the Roadrunners were to move, we think we’ve really established a great relationship with the (American Hockey League). And of course, we’ve got one of the best venues in the minor leagues,” McCusker said. “I think if there’s some time, and the Roadrunners plan to move, there’s a very good chance that we could replace them with another AHL team.”
The Rio Nuevo board, which played a key role in bringing the Roadrunners to Tucson in 2016, voted in late-May to pay half of the rent and about 18 months of office costs — amounts that would come in annually at around $180,000 and $60,000, respectively — to entice the American Hockey League’s Roadrunners to keep playing the heavy majority of its games at the Tucson Convention Center for the next three years or longer. The agreement that mayor and council approved earlier this month has the Roadrunners hosting a minimum of 30 home games in Tucson through those three seasons. It also allows for annual renewals past the 2026-2027 season.
The deal agreed upon earlier this month allowed for the Roadrunners to host up to six games in Tempe, whereas the previous agreement allowed for just five of the Roadrunners’ home games to be played away from the city.
Earlier this week, however, the team announced that it will be playing all 36 of its home games next season in Tucson. This comes off the backs of the Arizona State Land Department canceling a land auction that Meruelo hoped to use to acquire land for an arena to bring an NHL expansion team back to the Phoenix area. Morgan of PHNX added later that Mereulo is calling it quits and has no plans to pursue further arena options in the Valley following the canceled auction.
Even with the possibility of an Arizona NHL team all-but snuffed out, McCusker believes it’s the fans who have kept a potential Roadrunners exit off the table for now.
“The fans really rallied around this team,” McCusker said Wednesday. “You know, they sent almost 4,000 signatures to the commissioner of the (AHL), to keep the Roadrunners in Tucson. And so I think the league is taking note of that... We’re hopeful that keeps the AHL team here permanently, we would like that to be the roadmap.”
“It’s all been driven by attendance. If you look at the Toros, or any other team that has come and gone, their attendance was terrible,” McCusker said. “But (the Roadrunners) pulled in almost 5,000 people a game, that’s 150,000 fans. (Team president) Bob Hoffman said the other day that they’re about to celebrate the one millionth fan. This is the only franchise that’s ever worked in Tucson.”
McCusker said that a worry for the Rio Nuevo board was that if the Roadrunners left, as has all previous Tucson sports teams, that it would “make it even harder to convince another minor league team to base in Tucson.”
“So the fan experience, and the fan support here was a major difference to the league. And ultimately, it was a big enough base to satisfy the owners,” he said. “It’s important for us that want to see Tucson be a sports town, that the Roadrunners remain successful.”
“We wouldn’t stand in front of (a Roadrunners exit), but we would make the case to the other 31 (NHL) teams to see if someone would like to base their AHL team in Tucson,” he said, “and that, we would make worth their while.”
But if Meruelo decides to relocate the team, which he has every right to do, McCusker said, approval from the league would be required, and it would have to make economic sense for him to do so.
“The good news here is Tucson showed our ability to reach, our ability to move quickly. Our efficiency, and being nice people... that played out as more and more enemies were established the Phoenix metro (area),” he said.
“So, professional hockey knows that Tucson wants to keep a hockey team.”
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