A new lease for the franchise is expected to be voted on next month by the Nashville Sports AuthorityGETTY IMAGES
The Predators plan to invest $350M in "renovations and maintenance at Bridgestone Arena over the next 20 years" under a proposed new lease agreement, according to Nate Rau of the Nashville TENNESSEAN. The Predators will "no longer receive an operating subsidy, which covered the losses they incurred by running the arena," and which had cost the city about $3.5M annually. However, the Predators will "still receive incentives in the form of sales tax collections and ticket tax revenue, which they will use to invest in maintaining and improving Bridgestone Arena." The Nashville Sports Authority board is "expected to vote on the new lease next month." Under the plan, the "first major upgrade" will come in '21 when the team "intends to add about 1,200 seats to the upper level in addition to a new press box." Predators President & CEO Sean Henry said that a new tower at the northwest corner of the arena "remains a possibility." A venue study in '17 "identified that part of the building as a possible hotel in the future." Henry also "identified the southeast side of the building, which currently houses a large rehearsal hall that country artists use before launching their tours, as an opportunity for renovations as well." Rau notes the Predators have already put $80M in upgrades at the arena in the last eight years. Under the new deal, the Predators "bear the responsibility for capital improvements, not the city." Members of the ownership group "will no longer be required to file annual guarantees proving their net worth eclipses their financial commitment to the city" (Nashville TENNESSEAN, 5/17).
SETTING A PRECEDENT: Nashville Mayor David Briley, who is running for re-election in August, said that the Predators' lease "sets a precedent for future sports deals negotiated under his watch." Briley: "What you're seeing nationally over the last couple of decades is a trend away from 100% public financing of sports venues. That will continue to be the case in Nashville." In Nashville, Meg Garner noted Briley's first sports deal for the city's forthcoming MLS stadium also is designed to not put "too heavy a cost burden on local taxpayers." While the Sports Authority "will issue construction bonds" for the $250M project, the team's owners "will be responsible for the vast majority of the debt service on those bonds, along with any construction overruns." The Titans also will soon have their "own lease negotiations for Nissan Stadium" (BIZJOURNALS.com, 5/16).
