Coyotes' new majority owner has Philly-area ties

THE PHONE BUZZED, lit up with a 610 number - not exactly the area code you'd expect of the majority owner of the Arizona Coyotes.

Then again, few things about the Coyotes or their ownership observes hockey tradition.

Meet Andy Barroway: the 49-year-old hedge-fund manager and lifelong Philadelphian who is now a member of one of the most elite clubs on the planet.

He is not a hockey purist. He didn't grow up playing the game. He has no connection to Arizona. When he visits the Valley of the Sun, he stays in a hotel, because he has not yet had a chance to scout out a secondary residence.

This son and grandson of two Cherry Hill, N.J., pediatricians isn't moving anywhere. His home base is and will be the Main Line's Gladwyne, purported to be seventh-wealthiest ZIP code in the country, where Flyers chairman Ed Snider also maintains a home.

Barroway and Snider have never met or spoken.

That will change soon, especially after Barroway visits Wells Fargo Center tonight for the first time as the enemy, to watch his Coyotes take on the Flyers.

In fact, his first game watching the Coyotes live at Gila River Arena in Glendale, Ariz., was against the Flyers on Dec. 29, 2 days before officially closing as the new 51 percent stakeholder. He caught himself a few times wanting to cheer for the Flyers.

"What a thrill," Barroway said. "I've wanted this since I was a kid. It's a very weird feeling. It's such a tough process to get in [as an owner]. This is something I wanted very badly. I'm a huge sports fan, I'm a huge hockey fan. I love the game, I love the pace of the game. I'm tremendously excited."

The biggest question for this Cherry Hill East, Rutgers undergrad and Penn Law School grad is: Why the Coyotes? They are buried in the brutal Western Conference. They play in the desert in a beautiful arena situated far from their core fan base in Scottsdale. They were operated and funded by the NHL from 2009-13 after previous owner Jerry Moyes was stripped of his ownership in bankruptcy. They have won two Stanley Cup playoff series since moving to Arizona in 1996.

The short answer for Barroway is that they were the next team on the market.

Barroway has been linked to negotiations to purchase the Sixers, New Jersey Devils and New York Islanders. He lost to fellow hedge-fund magnate Josh Harris on two of those attempted transactions. He sued Islanders owner Charles Wang for reneging on a reported March 2014 deal to purchase the team for $420 million. The suit was dropped in October after Barroway was connected to the Coyotes.

His thirst to be a professional sports owner was virtually unquenchable.

"I have learned that Andy is a very smart man," NHL commissioner Gary Bettman told the Daily News. "I have learned that Andy is a very persistent man. And I have learned that Andy is a very passionate man, about hockey and all sports."

Barroway's faith in the NHL product, particularly in a market like Arizona which has struggled for more than a decade, is evident in his purchase price. According to multiple reports, Barroway purchased a 51 percent stake for $152.5 million. The entirety of the Coyotes was sold to IceArizona group, headed by George Gosbee and Anthony Leblanc, by the NHL for a reported $173 million only a year earlier.

Barroway bought in at a franchise valuation just north of $305 million. He has suddenly made the Coyotes significantly more stable, because he has infused the team with cash. He also is the leading voice.

"I think anytime you have an ownership group with nine people, you're going to strengthen it when you add someone who has resources like Andy," Bettman said. "When one person takes majority control, the business operations are streamlined, too. I think all the owners in Arizona were excited to have a strong, smart and passionate person like Andy join."

Barroway cut his teeth first as a class-action lawyer in Center City. He spun his practice off into Merion Investment Management, where he made his fortune hedging. His net worth is unknown, and Barroway has made a habit of avoiding the media spotlight.

Barroway doesn't envision any huge changes looming for the Coyotes. He wants to get his feet wet, really grasp the business. He is enjoying watching the buzz created in his family with son Jake, 17, and daughter Jessica, 14. Andy and Jake Barroway enjoyed the NHL All-Star weekend in Columbus, where Andy attended his first Board of Governors meeting as an actual governor.

Few owners in pro sports anymore made their money in sports, as Snider did way back when. In a lot of ways, Barroway is as Snider was in 1967, green but hungry to learn and become a true insider.

"I'm tremendously excited to be a part of the Coyotes," Barroway said. "It hit me when I was introduced at that first game [in January] and dropped the puck at center ice. It's been a tough year for our team, but we've got really good people in hockey operations in Don Maloney and Dave Tippett. I'll be going out there a lot. I plan on getting to know everyone. I want to build a winner and I want to do it the right way."

Blog: ph.ly/FrequentFlyers