J.J. Watt Hints He Could Be Involved In A Push To Bring The Arizona Coyotes Back From The Dead

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The Arizona Coyotes are as dead as they’ve ever been after their former owner informed the NHL he’s decided to terminate his rights to the franchise, and while there’s no telling what the future holds, it sounds like J.J. Watt could be involved in an effort to resurrect the team at some point.

The Arizona Coyotes weathered a number of storms over the course of a tumultuous existence that officially came to an end after 28 years when the regular season wrapped up midway through April.

The team had spent decades dealing with financial issues that were most recently compounded by its inability to find a suitable arena to play in, which ultimately led to the NHL all but forcing owner Alex Meruelo to sell the team to Utah Jazz owner Ryan Smith for $1.2 billion to mediate a move to Salt Lake City.

The deal was fairly unique when you consider Meruelo still retained the rights to the Coyotes brand for the next five years, and it seemed like a reboot tied to NHL expansion efforts was still in the cards based on his plan to bid in a land rights auction for a 110-acre plot in Phoenix.

However, earlier this week, he ceded the rights to the Coyotes after the auction was called off, which essentially served as the final nail in the coffin for the franchise.

There’s still a chance the NHL decides to return to the region as it ge/ars up to bring more teams into the fold in the not-so-distant future, and while you probably don’t want to read too much into a tweet J.J. Watt sent when he was asked about being part of a potential ownership group, it certainly sounds like he’s open to the possibility.

Watt spent the last two seasons of his NFL career with the Arizona Cardinals and purchased a stake in the English soccer team Burnley FC in 2023.

The man who racked up $130 million in earnings (in addition to plenty of sponsorship money) would certainly need some financial assistance in a potential quest to bring the Coyotes back from the dead, but this is certainly a compelling subplot to keep an eye on.