Under court rules for the auction on August 5, bankruptcy judge Redfield Baum will decide which of the bidders should be allowed to buy the team and keep it in Phoenix.
Chicago Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf, who also owns baseball's Chicago White Sox, has offered $148 million for the Coyotes and would keep the team in Phoenix. However his offer and another from an unnamed bidder need “several more weeks” to improve bids according to the league as the new lease with Glendale, the suburban city near Phoenix where the Coyotes play, needs to be negotiated.
The league filed its request yesterday in US Bankruptcy Court in Phoenix a few hours after lawyers for the Coyotes claimed in the press that the two offers failed to meet bid qualifications set by the court.
“If given several more weeks, the bids will be substantially more complete and in a form that allows the court to render a considered judgment on the merits,” NHL lawyers said, as quoted on Bloomberg.
