January 19, 2008
Preds lease quagmire continues
Averaging 12,618 in paid attendance so far this season, the Preds are in danger of missing out on much needed revenue sharing dollars from the NHL and well below the 14,000 threshold required to maintain the terms of the team’s current lease at the Sommet Center.
The questions no one seems to be asking are: 1) Why aren’t things moving faster with the Nashville Sports Authority and the Metro Council, so the revised lease agreement (the one that requires the team to stay in Nashville for a minimum of three years) can take effect? 2) Will David Freeman and company, the new ownership group, consider exercising the team’s out clause if the new lease isn’t enacted by season’s end?
![Rob Robinson](http://thinktrain.net/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2007/02/Rob.jpg")
paul nicholson said,
January 19, 2008 @ 1:57 pm
i think the council wised up that the lease as it is means the team stays here for at least 10-15 years if attendance goals are met. The new lease as it is proposed means they can leave within 3-5. Nothing attendance or fans or the city can do about it. Oh, and the new one costs more money. If the city wanted to, they could just buy up a few tickets and the team would have to stay. i am a huge fan and generally want to be optimistic about the new ownership, but the new lease terms suck.
Rob Robinson said,
January 21, 2008 @ 1:46 pm
I hadn’t thought about it that way, Paul. I’m curious how this will shake out if the city does decide to stick with the original lease and just buy up the tickets. That would put the new owners in a bit of a bind, based on their previous comments.