Not so fast…

http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071114/NEWS01/71114020

Crap. This farkakte mess will never end, will it? It’s like the paradox of Zeno in indoor sports form.

This proposal, whether it is approved or not, seems a much better deal than what the group was asking for at the outset. Especially the “Management Incentive Fee” which only gives them 50% of Government revenues above 2006 levels, as opposed to their original desire for ALL government revenues from Hockey and non-Hockey events.

I updated my post too. Back to a holding pattern.

Sean: The deal is “better” for who? The city still has to pay out a bunch of money, but now the team can leave after 5 years (maybe 3) instead of being locked here for 20 as long as attendance is solid at least once every 3 years.

If you think the team is a plus for Nashville (which of course i do) then this deal is a loser because the team can leave sooner, with less penalty.

If you think the team doesn’t deserve a penny and should be allowed to leave, then why pay any of the gov’t funds or spend any more money on them.

Neither side won here in my estimation. I just pray that the new ownership is half-way sincere about making a decent effort in promoting the team. I think it could succeed if it is given the chance.

Sorry Paul, I guess I’ve been going under the assumption that attendance will never be “solid” at least, 14,000 solid, because there have been no signs yet of it being so…personally, I think the best deal (for the City, that is whom I always am referring to when I say best deal) would have been the Balsillie one proposed by Bo Roberts…but it doesn’t appear that anyone is willing to entertain that idea.

Now, when you say, now the team can leave after 5 years (maybe 3) instead of being locked here for 20 as long as attendance is solid at least once every 3 years. are you referring to the Freeman group proposal? Or the deal with Leipold?

I think there is a lot of putting the Horse before the Cart going on here. Reaching an agreement with the City of Nashville is still only one step in this process. The final sale negotiation between Leipold and the local group is not complete yet, nor has the sale been approved/ratified by the NHL Board of Governors. A lot of this deadline anxiety has been promoted by the local media with no real basis. The next Board of Governor’s meeting is on November 18, I believe and of course there would be some pressure to have the deal ready by that date, but if not, they can wait until the next meeting date or even call a special meeting about the sale.

I think the question of finalized sale negotiations, cost and financing for the local owners are much bigger hurdles to cross still.

But I am still contacting my Metro Councilman to urge him to vote yes on this package and get it moving.

With minimal support from the current owner in terms of a real marketing campaign, the team has averaged under 14,000 in paid attendance only 3 or 4 times (trying to find the numbers) out of 9 played seasons. Which pretty much proves the marketing point - not enough people know about the team and the success it has had. All they see is gloom and doom from the Tennessean.

As for the deals…the deal with Leipold was originally a 30 year lease, that could be broken only when the team averaged under 14,000 in paid attendance for 3 years in a row (or two using fuzzy math…). So that’s another 20 years that the fans would be in control of. Team can’t move if we hit attendance marks, regardless of profitability or anything else.

The new deal with the Freeman group (aka: the del Biaggio group) says the team can leave anytime, but has to stay for at least 5 years…unless they lose $20k over 3 years and have attendance under 14k for 3 years (average?, consecutive?), in which case they can move after those 3 years.

It smells to me. All around.

Sara - the board of Governors has done all they need to do to approve the deal and can do the final vote/approval via fax vote. NHL BOG meetings have no play here.

The deal is also done between Leipold and the Freeman group, as long as they secure the funding from their bank. The bank is who is requiring the deal to be changed before they will loan the Freeman group the money needed to close the already-agreed-to deal with Leipold.

While i agree there is no ‘real’ deadline, there is a sense of urgency. The longer there is no promotion or marketing of the Predators, the lower attendance is going to risk dropping and the more off the radar the Preds will fall with the wider/general Nashville public.

Paul,

The only way we are going to get someone to sign a 20 year deal is to get a Nashville based billionaire to pony up and buy the team out of love for both the City and Hockey. As it stands now, we have a cobbled together investment group, of which 50% doesn’t seem to give a damn about the City, and the other 50% doesn’t have to financial resources to be willing to lose money hand over fist.

Unless Oprah decides to become a Hockey owner, I don’t see a long term solution anytime soon. This is a quick fix, as was the whole notion of this investment group.

My point is that the city traded a long-term commitment with ownership uncertainty for short-term commitment with slightly more certain ownership. Not much of a trade.

Paul,

Just so you know I’m not picking on anyone here. I have been a season ticket holder for the Preds since day one. I support the team fully, but since they unexpectedly went on the sale block this year, it is now mostly a matter of time and negotiation as to the lifespan of the team in Nashville.

Money talks.