nobody asked…

Nashville sports fans are somewhere between disappointed and totally pissed-off today as Craig Leipold has announced he is selling the NHL Predators Hockey Team to a Canadian billionaire, Jim Balsillie, for $220 million. Balsillie, who is Co-CEO of RIM, the Blackberry folks, was previously thwarted in his attempt to buy the Pittsburgh Penguins and move them to Canada. Naturally, it is assumed he will grab the Predators, take his puck and stick and go home to Ontario.

I am a sports fan, football primarily, but have never been a big hockey fan. I don’t understand enough of the nuances of the game to really enjoy it. But since the NFL Titans moved to Nashville and the NHL Predators took to the ice 10 years ago, major league sports have become an important component of the Nashville culture. Without the Predators, there will be an important piece missing. As the Predators have continued to improve over the last few years, the fan base has expanded, and this year I even felt myself being pulled to follow them as they made a run to the playoffs. This is good for the city in many ways.

After reading the stories and listening to news conferences and sports talk radio today, I have developed a conviction on the question of who is to blame. I point two fingers.

Look at successful major league sports franchises in cities around the country and they have many things in common, including fan support, media coverage, political support, and corporate endorsement. Nashville’s fan support is strong and growing, and left alone, would probably exceed the NHL mandate of 14,000 per game within a year or so. Local media coverage has been great. But on the other two scores, there are serious problems.

Governor Bredesen, then Mayor of Nashville, had the vision and energy to help bring the NFL and NHL to town. He understood the economic and cultural value of major league sports. The present Mayor, Bill Purcell, is not so inclined. Failure of the project to build a new baseball park for the Sounds was not his doing, but I believe could have been achieved at little or no cost to the city if he had wanted it. He does not seem to care whether there are sports in Nashville or not. No argument that health, education, and protection of the citizenry is far more important than sports. But for a sizeable portion of the population, sports make it worth living here in the first place.

Corporate sponsorship for the Predators has paled in comparison to their support for the Titans, the symphony, the arts, etc. The many companies that have moved headquarters and/or operations to the Nashville area over the last few years are heavily influenced by numerous factors important to their business and their employees. The overall cultural landscape is very much one of the key factors in site selection. So why do the existing corporate citizens not step up to help preserve what we already have? Once it’s gone, it’s gone.

There is still an opportunity for everyone to do their part to keep the Predators here. It ain’t over till the fat lady sings. Or perhaps until the Canadian smiles because he was able to turn a bad situation into a win-win for all.