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96warrior

Nashville not moving

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http://www.thehockeynews.com/articles/1082...hree-years.html

The Nashville Predators won’t be packing their equipment bags for a move to Kansas City or anywhere else, at least not for the next three years.

Multiple sources have confirmed to THN.com a deal has been reached between the city of Nashville and a prospective local ownership group to rework the team’s lease at the Sommet Center that will guarantee the Predators remain in Nashville until at least through the 2010-11 season.

The deal has been reached between the city and the group led by Nashville businessman David Freeman. Although the tentative deal has not been approved by either the Metro Sports Authority or Metro Council in Nashville, it is expected it will be ratified by both bodies within the next 30 to 45 days.

“From the draft of the deal that I saw, I didn’t see anything in there that would offend a council member or a citizen of Nashville,†said city councilor Charlie Tygard.

But unlike the current lease that forces the Predators to remain in Nashville if they average 14,000 per game in paid attendance, the reworked lease will not have an attendance component to it and the team will essentially be free to leave the city after it expires in three to five years. Essentially, that means the team has at least another three seasons to turn its financial fortunes around and if it fails to do so in that time, the Predators will almost certainly be on the move.

Freeman’s group, which has an agreement to purchase the franchise from Predators owner Craig Leipold for about $193 million, maintained it needed to change the arena lease to have a chance to make the Predators financially viable. It was asking for $4.2 million a year in sales tax and set fee revenue and $7 million in arena upgrades, most of which would go toward building a smaller concert venue that would seat between 3,000 and 4,000 people.

The deal calls for the Predators to get about $3.2 million in sales tax revenues and will also get the concert venue, with revenues from the events going to the Predators.

Tygard said one of the options would have been for the taxpayers to simply buy the remaining tickets to get the Predators up to the 14,000 paid level, but acknowledged there was no appetite from the city politicians to go that route.

“That probably would have been the cheapest and easiest way to do it, but it was the least palatable to the political side because it looks like a corporate giveaway,†Tygard said. “That option was not even on the table.â€Â

Through six home games this season, the Predators have been averaging 14,428 per game, but only 12,305 of that is paid attendance. The organization is expecting that number to rise when some of the partial packages kick in later in the season, but the number is still well short of the team’s stated goal. There has also been a significant lack of corporate support for the team, something that will definitely have to change if the new ownership group has serious designs on a long-term future in Nashville.

An NHL source said the deal will almost certainly be approved by the league’s board of governors as soon as it receives approval in Nashville. Nygard said he’s quite confident the deal will be accepted by both the city council and sports authority.

“I think the administration and Metro Council have a sales job to do,†Nygard said. “But I think the administration has identified the economic benefits that would go away if the team left, namely sales tax revenues that are generated in and around the arena on game nights. I think they have to make it clear that the city would be worse off without the franchise and it had to make up the difference.â€Â

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it's not the 5 years that us Preds fans wanted to see, but we'll take it either way. The city wanted 5 years with no cap on losses, the the buyers wanted a $20M cap... well they got the cap and reduced the years to 3. Most likely meaning that they plan on upping the payroll, which also is signaled by the addition of two more members on the Boots side of things.

the 30-45 days part is a little odd, all we've heard down here is that the council needs 7 days notice to call a meeting and vote on it.

We're all just tired of the whole thing and ready for it to end. Ready to get leipold the heck out of town and get some people in who are interested in actually running the franchise. It'll be nice to actually get back to just talking hockey... though I'm sure no one outside of Nashville will be eager to let that happen, the attendance will probably still be ragged on by the league every night.

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The deal calls for the Predators to get about $3.2 million in sales tax revenues and will also get the concert venue, with revenues from the events going to the Predators.

Does that mean Detroit does not have to payout to Nashville anymore?

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Does that mean Detroit does not have to payout to Nashville anymore?

not unless the preds move into the top half of the league... and then they'd just have to pay for whatever team moves down into the bottom half. It's not like the owners care either. Teams like Detroit, Toronto, Philly, NYR are saving $20-30M each year on payroll, so paying $10M into revenue sharing still means they're making $10M more with each season with this system.

am I happy that my team is on welfare? no, but it's what the league agreed on. I'd rather that they just get rid of the cap floor at least teams could save face that way. Preds did pretty good with a $23M payroll before the lockout. Now they're being forced to spend $34M to reach the floor, so getting $10M in revenue sharing balances it out. Get rid of the floor and the revenue sharing and it's all basically equal except no one has to complain about which teams are giving and which teams are recieving.

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http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=222352&hubname=nhl

The Hockey News is reporting that the city of Nashville has reached an agreement to sell the Predators to a local business group who will keep the team in Nashville for at least three years.

Looks like this might finally be over....

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Guest GordieSid&Ted

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=222352&hubname=nhl

Looks like this might finally be over....

Over? I guess the discussion about a move is over. But nah, it ain't over, this just means 3 more years of us talking about how s***ty a market Nashville is and how we're going to regret not having this team moved 3 years ago. Not too mention having them never exist in the first place.

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Guest GordieSid&Ted

it's not the 5 years that us Preds fans wanted to see, but we'll take it either way. The city wanted 5 years with no cap on losses, the the buyers wanted a $20M cap... well they got the cap and reduced the years to 3. Most likely meaning that they plan on upping the payroll, which also is signaled by the addition of two more members on the Boots side of things.

the 30-45 days part is a little odd, all we've heard down here is that the council needs 7 days notice to call a meeting and vote on it.

We're all just tired of the whole thing and ready for it to end. Ready to get leipold the heck out of town and get some people in who are interested in actually running the franchise. It'll be nice to actually get back to just talking hockey... though I'm sure no one outside of Nashville will be eager to let that happen, the attendance will probably still be ragged on by the league every night.

The smartest thing these new buyers did was get a cap on their losses. The dumbest thing they did was buy this franchise. Seriously, how many people buy into a venture anticipating losses so severe that they need to cap it at 20 million dollars. It's called covering your ass but let's be honest. This market has blown, its right their in the dollars and cents. It isn't going to turn around. I'm can't see the future, I just know when i'm right. All these folks did was buy themselves a certified lemon.

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The smartest thing these new buyers did was get a cap on their losses. The dumbest thing they did was buy this franchise. Seriously, how many people buy into a venture anticipating losses so severe that they need to cap it at 20 million dollars. It's called covering your ass but let's be honest. This market has blown, its right their in the dollars and cents. It isn't going to turn around. I'm can't see the future, I just know when i'm right. All these folks did was buy themselves a certified lemon.

Completely off topic, but I hate when real life draws me away from participating on the hockey boards.

Now, back on topic, it's hard to argue with you. That said, Nashville is a strange business town. History has shown that the vast majority of the local business community does not have much in the way of a relationship with non-local businesses. There are certainly some exceptions to that and it can also be mitigated by coming to town with those relationships established (like the Predators did with the original relationship with Gaylord). The problem with the Predators began when they had a falling out with Gaylord- which saw a sharp decline in corporate sponshorship the very next season.

The buzz has been that many corporations are ready to come back with the completion of this deal. The nature of the deal itself is also important. If/when AEG begins to manage the arena, assuming the revenue from the arena goes to the Predators (reported), then revenues for the Predators could get an enormous shot in the arm just from non-hockey events. Will the corporations suddenly jump on board? Who knows? I certainly don't. Will the additional revenue streams have an impact on the bottom line? Some. Enough? I don't know.

The bottom line is that the team has three years, beyond this season, to turn things around. Local ownership and additional revenue sources definitely provide a more favorable environment to make that succeed. If the team is still struggling financially at that time, it would be hard to argue against declaring the market a failure and moving the franchise.

One parting shot: The NHL is not a healthy league. When league revenues rise primarily on the backs of ticket holders, there will be markets that begin to see diminishing returns. We are already beginning to see this. This league must be better marketed for the league to continue to grow as well as obtaining better television contracts.

Thanks.

David

Edited by drsingle

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