Arizona Coyotes Almost Locked Out Over Unpaid Bills

It was a wild night for the Arizona Coyotes as reports were flying out about their unpaid bills. The City of Glendale gave the team an ultimatum, pay your overdue bills or else the team and all the employees are getting locked out of the arena. 

The embarrassing moments caught the team off guard as ownership was quick to point out they had full intentions of paying all their balances, it was just human error that caused the mishap. 

The Athletic's Katie Strang was the first to report the news on Wednesday night after what's already been a rough month for the franchise. The team has never been closer to moving and from the sounds of it will eventually be heading to Houston, Texas. The city of Glendale gave the team until Dec.20 to pay their unpaid fees.

Strang's report included:

Last Friday, the Arizona Department of Revenue filed a tax lien notice in Maricopa County against IceArizona Hockey LLC - which owns the NHL club - stating the team owes $1.3 million in state and city taxes. If the Coyotes fail to settle their debt by the deadline, the city has told ASM - the company that manages Gila River Arena - not to let team employees or arena vendors into the facility.

Apparently the balance owing is around $250,000. The team released this statement following the reports:

We will make sure that by (Thursday) morning, the Arizona Coyotes are current on all of our bills and owe no state or local taxes whatsoever. And we will take immediate steps to ensure that nothing like this can ever possibly happen again

Considering everything that's gone on between the buying and selling, the draft pick scandal, owning money to the City and the reports of moving, maybe it's time the league picks up and heads elsewhere. As of right now, the Coyotes don't have an arena to play in after June 30, 2022. Perhaps they need to reconsider hockey in the desert.

Photo credit: Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports