Local Preds bidders boost profile at rally

The top two businessmen in the group mingle at rally, as ticket sales from the all-day selling drive far surpass goal

Email | Print By Richard Lawson

David Freeman (right) chats with Nashville Predators defenseman Ryan Suter (Photo courtesy of Igor Ponomarev, otherwise known as PredRUS on the team's message boards)

While Nashville Predators fans were making their point last night that professional hockey works in this town, the local bidders for the team were taking their first steps in boosting their public profile a bit more.

David Freeman, chief executive officer of 36 Venture Capital, and Herb Fritch, CEO of HealthSpring, appeared at the rally, chatting with Gov. Phil Bredesen and his wife Andrea Conte as well as others. Fritch wore a Predators jersey with HealthSpring in place of a player's name and had the number 1 on it.

Freeman and Fritch clearly were happy with the rally's showing and the number of tickets sold yesterday. By the time everything shut down last night, 714 season tickets had been sold. The total will likely exceed 800 this morning as all are processed from last night. Some 7,500 fans showed for the rally, filling the floor and the lower bowl seats, which is possibly more than any week night game for the Predators last season.

Bredesen surprised a lot of people when he showed up at the rally. His wife Andrea Conte was already scheduled to speak. Mayor Bill Purcell wasn't there because he was out of town. The highlight came when Bredesen — who probably saw his share of hockey growing up in upstate New York, and who as mayor of Nashville brought the Preds here a decade ago — pulled a sign out of the crowd that read "Get Your Damn Hands Off My Team" and held it aloft with his wife.

It didn't take long for fans to figure out who Freeman and Fritch were and begin to flock to them. Both chatted with George Plaster on sports-talk radio's 104.5 The Zone after the rally, drawing cheers from the fans gathered around the live show.

Both were approachable as curious fans sought to chat with them. After the radio interview, Freeman, in particular, chatted with folks working the table for Save the Predators, which had an auction and sold T-Shirts to raise money for buying tickets that will be donated to Big Brothers Big Sisters. Freeman bought two T-Shirts with the statement "Keep the Predators in Nashville." His attorney Chase Cole bought three.

The Save the Predators group appreciated Freeman's approachability and the ease with which he chatted with them. Approachability is one of the attributes fans liked about current Predators owner Craig Leipold. Many times after home games, Leipold and others would head over to The Palm and sit at a reserved table in the bar area, not hidden away.

Now that the rally is done, the local bidders will turn their sights to working with the city to figure out if the team's lease on the Sommet Center can be renegotiated with more favorable terms to help narrow the team's losses.

The team around the bidders has grown as they approach the city. To add some government relations punch, Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis attorney James Weaver has joined with fellow Waller attorney Chase Cole, who has been one of the chief attorneys working with the bidders from the start. The group has also brought on public relations and lobbyist Joe Hall.