Arizona Coyotes president denies report of Portland, Seattle arena tours

Less than a week after the arena deal between the Coyotes and Arizona State University in Tempe fell through, rumors have surfaced over a possible arena tour.

And the Coyotes have shot them down just as quickly.

According to The Glendale Star, Arizona has been linked to — and has denied — claims from officials in Seattle and Portland that the Coyotes have done arena tours over the last three months.

The arenas in question are Moda Center in Portland, Oregon, and the KeyArena in Seattle. The Portland Trail Blazers of the NBA currently play at the Moda Center, which has been linked to a possible Coyotes’ relocation since at least 2015. The KeyArena, on the other hand, hasn’t been in use since 2007, but the city of Seattle is looking to renovate it in time for either a relocation team or an expansion team.

The source spoken to by The Glendale Star said they knew a representative from Arizona was there, but they did not know the identity of the person.

A spokesperson for Key Arena said, “(the city) recently had a tour for potential developers and potential ownership groups and there was a representative from the (Coyotes) that was part of that.”

Coyotes president Anthony LeBlanc came out with a strong denial on Thursday.

It’s probably best to keep in mind that this news broke just six days after the Coyotes announced the joint arena deal with Arizona State fell through. It’s also not the first time the Coyotes have been linked to the northwest, and it’s likely not the last until an arena deal has been hammered out. Even so, speculation of a relocation likely won’t die down until Seattle itself has a team.

Whether the Coyotes were just checking their options as they deal with their arena situation in Glendale or are legitimately looking into other cities in the northwest is anyone’s guess. Either way, it’s just another off-ice situation for fans to worry over while the team struggles on the ice.