The Nashville Predators have backed off a proposal to renovate two club-level sections at Sommet Center into an exclusive $20,000-per-seat area for high rollers.
The initial plan called for the “Reserve at Sommet Center” to be in place by the upcoming season. The team proposed spending half-a-million dollars on the renovation. But in return, it wanted to keep the additional profits from ticket sales instead of splitting them with the city. That requires approval of the Metro Sports Authority, which acts as landlord for the city-owned arena.
At Friday’s board meeting, member Steve North said the body has an obligation to get a better deal on the additional revenues created by the premium seating.
“I think its foolish to say, ok, we’ll accept what is a $2 million/$100,000 split when we could negotiate a much better split for the benefit of the public.”
After several months of discussion, the Sports Authority has now asked city attorneys to negotiate. The delays have derailed the fast-tracked renovations. The team is now working to have premium seating in place by the 2010 season.
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