Alex Meruelo bought the majority share of the Arizona Coyotes

A casino owner has recently made a purchase that gives him the majority share of the Arizona Coyotes. Alex Meruelo bought the majority share of the team for an undisclosed purchase price. That becomes big news in part because of how he joins a group of small casino owners who own sports teams. This is also good for the legalization of online gambling because of how it indicates that legislature could soon be more accepting of legalization of online gambling with the involvement of someone like this in the sport.

What You Need to Know

Alex Meruelo owns SLS Las Vegas, located down on the strip. In buying the Arizona Coyotes, Alex became the majority shareholder of the team, and most people expect that this sale will be totally finalized by the end of July. However, they have never disclosed the actual price. One of the problems that have hit the Arizona Coyotes is that they have consistently been on unstable financial ground. They don't seem to draw the crowds, and attendance has consistently sat on the lower end, which has made them a weaker team. In fact, they have been in 28th or worse when it comes to attendance, and this problem has persisted since the 2006 to 2007 season.

The Changes for the Team

Currently, the Coyotes play in Glendale, but the National Hockey League believes that Meruelo will help them to find a new place. This could spark up the attendance levels much higher than what they currently sit at.

Getting More Participation: How?

Meruelo plans to use sport betting with the sport as a way of driving engagement in the sport of hockey. Selling to a casino owner, it should be obvious that gambling will come out the shadows with this new sale to the casino owner, but it also shows that people are starting to warm up to the idea of sports betting.

The NHL has recently made expansions into Las Vegas, and they have had a considerable level of success from it. Along with the NHL, the NBA also brought the summer league over to Las Vegas because of the popularity of it. One of the reasons that the NHL probably welcomed Meruelo comes from the fact that he has had a lot of success in the past with turning around failing businesses. With the Coyotes consistently drawing low crowds, they need to change their plans a little.