An open letter to Craig Leipold
Craig–
I know you care about this team and this community. I know your decision to discuss a sale with prospective owners was a painful one. I know you’ve worked hard without bearing enough fruit to sell the Preds to corporate Nashville.
I think you’ve only really made one major mistake while you’ve been the owner of this team: You buried your heart so deep in what you were doing that you (unintentionally) lulled us to sleep in regard to the Preds’ financial woes by insisting that the team would never leave.
I firmly believe that you did not want to be “that owner,” the one who holds a city hostage and threatens to relocate. You wanted to be a partner and a part of this community from day one for as long as you owned the team, and you’ve done that.
I know the rumors and speculation that are springing forth are not how you saw things transpiring back in June of 1997 . . . or maybe even in May of 2007.
It isn’t too late to change this, and I hope you will give us that opportunity. Those of us who are hard core fans have loved you and your team since day one, and the business community is finally awakening to recall the same fondness it once held for the Preds.
There’s no question in my mind that you want to see this team, the team that you built, raise the Stanley Cup here on Broadway and stay in town for a long, long time. Take another chance on Nashville and make a difference to thousands of fans: Embrace the campaigns to pack the Sommet Center, and retain ownership of this team. It may not have happened when you originally hoped, but we get it now, and we’ll work hard to keep the Preds here where they belong. The Preds slogan from last season, “Live It!,” represents the approach you’ve taken all along with this franchise. Please don’t let that amazing story end like this.
June 14th, 2007 at 12:22 pm
[...] Rob Robinson has an open letter to Craig Leopold (the current (?) team owner) Those of us who are hard core fans have loved you and your team since day one, and the business community is finally awakening to recall the same fondness it once held for the Preds. [...]
June 14th, 2007 at 4:22 pm
Good note, and i agree that Leipold was a great fans-friendly owner. But his pockets just aren’t deep enough to deal with more years of financial losses, and i think it has been proved that his people don’t have the marketing savvy to sell tickets to businesses.
I think our best hope is to ask Leipold to sell to someone with deep pockets that will keep the team in Nashville.