An exciting project was unveiled to the Nashville Sports Council yesterday that could extend the useful life of Bridgestone Arena far beyond normal lifespans. The arena is now 20 years old, which is stunning to me… doesn’t feel that old, and as a testament to the vision of city and franchise leadership, certainly doesn’t look that old. This visionary project would include massive updates and upgrades to Bridgestone Arena, including new event plazas, a second sheet of ice, new retail and potentially a new hotel.
Courtesy nhl.predators.com
Courtesy nhl.predators.com
Let’s be clear here… these are ideas… glimpses of a potential future of what an updated, improved arena could be. Partnering with Metro, the Sports Authority and many of the stakeholders in the arena has paid off handsomely for Metro and the franchise. Instead of a white elephant in the middle of downtown, there is a center of activity. The downtown experience has been greatly enhanced by the presence of the Arena over these last 20 years, complemented with the development of the District, the Gulch, SoBro, the Music City Center, driving more hotels and convention business. All surrounding the high-octane entertainment engine that is Bridgestone Arena. Gone are the days of the Big Events bypassing Nashville due to a lack of world class facilities.
Many longtime Nashville residents remember how downtown used to be… a ghost town after dark except for a brave few that would go to Printer’s Alley… now it is a vibrant, bustling area with plenty to do and see at all hours. Light years from where it was.
Courtesy nhl.predators.com
To keep this type of energy going, it takes vision and planning. The type of vision laid out in this ambitious plan that Predators CEO Sean Henry described as a conversation starter to keep the location relevant for at least another 20 years.
We all know that most cities are stressed when it comes to building new facilities. Frankly, cities like Houston and Baltimore were rather penny wise and pound foolish when it comes to new facilities… preferring to pay ridiculous amounts for new teams, instead of reasonable amounts to hold on to the ones they had. The reason the Titans are in Nashville is because Houston's mayor didn’t want to deal with Bud Adams… so the city of Houston paid 5 times the amount to get a new NFL team and build them a stadium… instead of building the existing team one... stupid business practice if you ask me…
Metro has shown the appropriate, responsible acumen in supporting Bridgestone Arena… and the tax revenue driven has proven how wise that support has been. With continued visionary leadership, in Metro, with the Sports Council and with the Predators front office, there is no reason why this successful partnership can’t be enhanced and continued.
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Random Notes
- The August previews are coming hot and heavy… the Preds were featured on NHL.com and NBCSports.com this week.
- #VeseyWatach3 is still on… man… with as much hype as this kid is bringing on himself… and make no mistake, he has brought it on himself… well… he better be the second coming…
- Single game tickets go on sale next week… Season ticket holders get first crack, they then go on sale to the general public within the franchise’s TV viewing area at 10am 8/26. Worldwide sales begin on 8/29.
- Queue the inevitable media whining from Chicago… 6 games are limited to only be sold to season ticket holders as part of the “In Gold We Trust… Program…
- After last season’s 35 sellouts… Nashville is expecting to have all 41 home games sold out this season.
- Colorado has begun their coaching search and reports indicate they are looking for new blood vs. recycling an experienced coach, although former CBJ bench boss Scott Arniel is one of the names being floated…
- Calgary has extended Sean Monihan… seven years with an approximate AAV of $6.3 million. Very comparable numbers to Filip Forsberg’s contract.
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