Are the Nashville Fans Finally Winning One?

When Rangers fan favorite Jed Ortmeyer signed a two-year contract with the Nashville Predators back in July, it appeared probable that he would be playing the second season of that contract in a new city. The franchise was losing money, and a move to Hamilton, Ontario. or Kansas City, Mo., for 2008–09 seemed a fait accompli. But over the course of the past few months, a coalition of fans and local businessmen, called Our Team Nashville, has stepped up with an all-hands-on-deck effort to save the Predators. They organized a rally on July 19th that had an enormous impact, drawing 7,500 fans and generating 750 season ticket sales.Soon thereafter, a local ownership group emerged as the leading candidate to purchase the team and keep it in Nashville. They hope to have a binding agreement in place by mid-August, and assuming the team is able to meet its realistic ticket sales goals, the Predators — and Ortmeyer — will remain in place.That hockey has taken a strong foothold in Nashville — previously considered a hotbed only for NASCAR, college football, and country music — is a sign of how much the city has changed, and also how much the Predators have changed the city.“Downtown Nashville was never like it was today,” the CEO of Avenue Bank and the Our Team chairman, Ron Samuels, said. “People have short memories sometimes. Twenty years ago, you couldn’t find 50 people in downtown Nashville after dark. Today it’s a vibrant, active city. You’re talking about a business that has a direct annual economic impact of $50 million, and in terms of what Nashville’s become, it’s hard to find a business that’s had more impact than the Predators.”Back in 1995, while Martin Brodeur and the New Jersey Devils were en route to their first Stanley Cup victory, rumors were swirling that the team was on the verge of being relocated. Then-owner John McMullen was unhappy with the Devils’ lease agreement with the New Jersey Sports Authority at the Continental Airlines Arena, and was seriously considering relocating the team to Nashville.Predictably, the NHL cognoscenti responded to this prospective move with incredulousness, for there was little reason to believe that a hockey team could survive — much less thrive — in Tennessee. The Devils remained in the Garden State, winning two more Cups. Meanwhile, the city of Nashville remained dogged in its pursuit of a hockey franchise, convincing the NHL to award the city an expansion team in 1997, and contributing a generous 31% of the $80 million franchise fee.Since the team first took the ice in the fall of 1998, great strides have been made with regard to the growth of hockey in this unlikely market. In 2003, the city hosted the NHL draft, and fans packed the Sommet Center to cheer on general manager David Poile as he made every selection, even those whose names were unfamiliar to all but the most savvy evaluators of young hockey talent. All signs pointed upward for this surprising success story.But ticket sales — particularly those for luxury boxes and club seats — were much slower than owner Craig Leipold hoped, and he announced last season that if the numbers didn’t improve, he would be forced to sell the team. A buyer — the chairman of Research in Motion, Jim Balsillie — stepped to the forefront. Previously thwarted in his attempt to purchase the Pittsburgh Penguins, Balsillie offered Leipold a whopping $220 million for the money-hemorrhaging team.Not surprisingly, Leipold accepted Balsillie’s highball offer, and it quickly became apparent that the Predators’ future in Nashville was on shaky ground. Soon after Balsillie’s intentions to purchase the team became public knowledge, Ticketmaster.ca began taking deposits for Hamilton Predators tickets, and thousands were quickly sold.Perhaps the NHL owners were put off by Balsillie’s choice to start taking deposits before his purchase of the Predators had been approved. Perhaps the Maple Leafs were loath to relinquish their monopoly on the Southern Ontario market. And perhaps the owners feared that moving the team to Hamilton would alter the league’s economic balance, its expected revenues increasing the total amount to which the players are entitled under the collective bargaining agreement. But whatever its reasons, the NHL put the kibosh on the Balsillie deal.Next, William “Boots” Del Biaggio III, a minority owner of the San Jose Sharks, emerged as a potential buyer, likely intending to move the team to Kansas City, where the brand-new Sprint Center is ready and waiting for an anchor tenant. But the Predators’ fans, however, had other ideas, demonstrating over the past few months that they take their hockey very seriously in Nashville.That all said, the team’s future is still far from certain. The Predators exercised a clause in the agreement back in June that would allow them to terminate their lease if they don’t average at least 14,000 in paid attendance next season. With Del Biaggio now a member of the Predators’ ownership group-to-be (he sold his interest in the Sharks), the specter of a move to Kansas City will continue to loom overhead. But it’s heartwarming to see that the fans have had as much impact as they have on the process, and it bodes well for the team’s staying power. To welcome the 2003 draft attendees, signs were hung proclaiming Nashville to be a “Hockey Tonk Town,” and the Music City is proving itself to be just that. Like Ortmeyer, who battled his way back from a pulmonary embolism last season, the Predators’ fans have demonstrated uncommon tenacity. As it turns out, Nashville is a perfect fit for hockey, just as the never-say-die Ortmeyer is a perfect fit for the Predators. It’s a match made in heaven.Mr. Greenstein is the editor in chief of InsideHockey.com.

Are the Nashville Fans Finally Winning One?

Are the Nashville Fans Finally Winning One?

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