Nashville Predators "#1 Franchise in All Sports" (ESPN) (sales, home)

[JMT]

On Monday, ESPN named the Predators as the best franchise - not just in the NHL - but in all of professional sports. It's a humbling designation, but also one that is worked toward 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and sometimes more than that.

The honor comes on the heels of Nashville's home venue, Bridgestone Arena, being named Arena of the Year by the International Entertainment Buyers Association (IEBA) during their 2017 Industry Awards ceremony last week.

Read more here:

https://www.nhl.com/predators/news/e...ts/c-292203746

[Drake744]

We're really lucky that this organization is run the way it is.

[BlueRedTide]

Yes, Very passionate about this team

[JMT]

A writer for a fan site of the Columbus Bluejackets attended his first game at Bridgestone last Saturday night. Here are some of his impressions:

One of the first things you notice as you drive into town: there are advertisments for the Predators EVERYWHERE. On streetlamps, on magazine covers, and at the heart of Broadway, on Bridgestone Arena. It is impossible to miss the distinctive yellow of the Predators around the city.
...
We visited Bridgestone and walked around a team store that is more than twice the size of the Blue Line in Nationwide Arena. If you want any sort of apparel, that is the place to go. One of the managers of the store told us that the shop does $1 million dollars worth of sales per month - $12 million a year. Absolutely staggering.
...
The first thing you notice when you walk in the front doors is the sheer amount of neon yellow in the building. Every single fan is in a bright yellow jersey - unlike Columbus, no fans wear the away gear. ... Another thing you notice - before warmups are even over, more than half of the Nashville crowd is in their seats. There’s a party going on, and the team is at the center of it.
...
An interesting note - Saturday’s game was the most attended hockey event in Bridgestone Arena history, even higher than the Stanley Cup Finals last season. It also seats fewer people than Nationwide Arena. Being in the arena, however, you’d never guess that. Those fans are LOUD. They cheer from nearly the word go, and rarely let up. Our friends sat next to Section 303, which is dubbed “Cell Block 303” and prides themselves on making noise throughout the game. The fans cheer. They chant after goals (coordinated, insulting chants that caught me off guard). But it was fun to see - it was the type of home ice atmosphere that, frankly, I hope Nationwide Arena can become one day. The arena is imposing toward opposing teams and gives the home team a mental edge. It was really cool to see live.
...
The Nashville fans, to an individual, were incredible to us. They welcomed us at every single stretch, suggesting food recommendations and offering to buy drinks. They treated us with respect, never acted obnoxiously or bad-mouthed our team or our presence in their arena in ways some visiting fans have done in Nationwide. I have not one negative thing to say about the fanbase of the Nashville Predators - every single person we interacted with in the city was wonderful. We highly recommend the experience if anyone gets the opportunity to travel down.

The entire article:
https://www.jacketscannon.com/2018/4...-retrospective

[CountryGirl2b=]

Really nice article! Am glad he had a good experience. Interesting comment about Lyft vs Uber . . . .

[Drake744]

Originally Posted by CountryGirl2b=

Really nice article! Am glad he had a good experience. Interesting comment about Lyft vs Uber . . . .

I drive for Uber and no one has ever complained about anything like that, so that's odd. I'm approved for Lyft too, I just stick with Uber because I get more riders. But it was a cool article. Go Preds!

[BobNJ1960]

An honor deserved.

Lived in region 17 years, went to many games and events. World Class all the way.

[GWoodle]

Need to win many more games to be "best sports franchise". Need to win 1st Stanley Cup first.

[beenhereandthere]

Total opposite of the way Atlanta was run

[dad2paisley]

yeah