⚽ Nashville Predators — Key Facts
| Ownership | Nashville-based private consortium (Predators Holdings LLC) |
| Founding Owner | Craig Leipold (1997–2007; sold; then bought MN Wild) |
| Founded | 1997 (joined NHL as expansion team 1998–99) |
| Stanley Cup Wins | 0 (reached Finals in 2017; lost to Pittsburgh Penguins) |
| Home Arena | Bridgestone Arena, Nashville, Tennessee |
| NHL Entry | Expansion franchise; one of original four 1998 expansion teams |
The Nashville Predators are owned by Predators Holdings LLC, a privately held consortium of Nashville-area businesspeople and investors. The franchise was originally founded by Craig Leipold, who secured the NHL expansion franchise in 1997 and operated the team from its first season in 1998–99 until selling the club in 2007. Leipold later purchased the Minnesota Wild. The Nashville Predators play at Bridgestone Arena in downtown Nashville and have never won the Stanley Cup, reaching the Finals once (2017).
Nashville Predators Ownership History
The Nashville Predators were brought into existence by Craig Leipold, a Wisconsin entrepreneur who worked alongside Nashville civic and business leaders to secure the NHL expansion franchise and build what became Bridgestone Arena (then called the Nashville Arena). Leipold sold the franchise in 2007 for approximately $193 million to a local Nashville-based ownership group, going on to purchase the Minnesota Wild in 2008. After some instability in the 2007–2010 period — including fraud issues involving minority investor William “Boots” Del Biaggio III — the franchise stabilized under Nashville-based ownership. The Predators are now owned by a private consortium of Tennessee and Nashville-area business figures who have invested deeply in the team’s long-term growth in Music City.
The 2017 Stanley Cup Finals Run
The Nashville Predators’ greatest moment came in the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs, when they became only the second team in NHL history to win a playoff series after trailing 3–1 in the first round (against Chicago Blackhawks), then advanced all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals. There, they faced the Pittsburgh Penguins — the back-to-back Cup champions — and lost in six games. The Predators’ run generated extraordinary fan enthusiasm, with Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena becoming one of hockey’s loudest buildings. Their catfish-throwing tradition (throwing a catfish on the ice for good luck) became one of hockey’s most distinctive fan rituals.
Nashville as a Hockey Market
Nashville is one of the NHL’s non-traditional markets that has grown into a legitimate hockey city. The Predators regularly sell out Bridgestone Arena and have built a strong identity around their gold-and-blue colors and “Smashville” fan culture. Key players in the franchise’s competitive era include defenseman Roman Josi (winner of the Norris Trophy as the NHL’s best defenseman), forwards Filip Forsberg and Ryan Johansen, and goaltender Pekka Rinne (who anchored Nashville’s goaltending for over a decade before retiring). The current head coach is Andrew Brunette.
