Carrie Watters
The Arizona Republic
Oct. 25, 2006 12:00 AM

Glendale Arena is expected to transform into Jobing.com Arena this morning.

That is when the Phoenix Coyotes owner, president and head coach say they will make a “major announcement” at a news conference. Team President Doug Moss has said in recent weeks that he was closing a naming-rights deal on the arena that is home to the hockey team and a lacrosse team, the Sting. Sports insiders last week said the team was looking for a multiyear deal in the $3 million-a-year range and negotiating with Jobing.com. The Phoenix-based Internet company hosts career fairs and allows people to post resumes and search for jobs on its Web site.

The naming-rights deal would come a month after the Arizona Cardinals announced a 20-year, $154.5 million agreement to rename its new dome the University of Phoenix Stadium. While the Valley buzzed over that new name, hockey fans say the arena’s name change is easier to swallow because it wasn’t named after the team. Also, some had wanted the football stadium named after former Cardinal Pat Tillman, who left the NFL for the Army and died in Afghanistan. “This has no history like the Cards,” said Tommy Weber, a Coyotes fan from Phoenix. He and hockey fan Scott Crozier of Scottsdale said name changes are part of today’s sports world. “Years ago many stadiums stayed the same name. Now, that’s just part of the deal,” Crozier said.

Even the San Francisco 49ers’ Candlestick Park now goes by Monster Park, after Monster Cable Products Inc. Crozier said he might care more about the new moniker if he were a Glendale taxpayer, who largely paid for the arena. But city officials, who learned of the Cardinals deal on the eve of its announcement, said the Coyotes have kept them informed on negotiations. Like Moss, they were not talking details on Tuesday. Glendale Mayor Elaine Scruggs said she would be at today’s news conference. The city paid $180 million of the $220 million cost for the arena. The city reaps sales taxes at the venue and benefits from the development momentum it ushered in along the city’s west side on the Loop 101 corridor.

The arena opened in 2003 and team owners have spent three years scouring for a partner, one of just a handful of National Hockey League franchises playing in unnamed stadiums. The search hit roadblocks when a dispute between players and owners led to an NHL lockout and erased the entire 2004-05 season. Unlike their football neighbors, who needed naming approval from the Arizona Sports and Tourism Authority that oversees the stadium, the Coyotes require no third-party approval.