from Rick Westhea of TSN,

The city of Glendale has started to lay out its case for cancelling its $15-million-per-year arena management deal with the Arizona Coyotes.

City officials included details of their case for the first time in an 88-page document filed in Arizona Superior Court on Thursday. The documents were filed in connection with a city request to avoid making a $3.75-million payment due the Coyotes on July 1.

The city doesn't want to make the payment because last week, city council voted 5-2 to end the arena management deal with the Coyotes, a deal the team has said is crucial to its survival in the market. The team says the city must make the payment because it is for arena management services already provided over the last three months.

Without the arena management contract, an NHL source has told TSN the Coyotes will be forced to consider relocation.

Nevertheless, Glendale officials say that in cancelling the contract, they relied on a state statute that aims to prevent self-dealing for public-sector employees.

"Arizona's public policy in preventing self-dealing by government employees is so strong that a city may 'reap the fruits of the contract then void it,'" the city's legal filing says.

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