Nate Rau

USA TODAY NETWORK - Tennessee

For the Nashville Predators, the days of struggling to sell enough tickets to ensure their home in Music City are long gone.

The hockey franchise is on track to sell out every home game this season, which would be a first in franchise history. In fact, buoyed by last year’s successful All-Star Game at Bridgestone Arena, Predators executives say the team’s business operations have been on a hot streak.

The team has brought back former corporate partners, expanded relationships with other partners and introduced cutting-edge ticket sales strategies that put season ticket sales at an all-time high.

It was just seven years ago that the Predators were in danger of being sold and possibly leaving town because of poor ticket sales and lack of local corporate partners. If the team had slipped below an average of 14,000 fans per game, it could have triggered a clause in its old lease agreement allowing it to opt out and leave town.

The All-Star Game put the spotlight of the hockey world on Music City, and the Predators turned the event into a weeklong music, hockey and entertainment festival. Team executives knew the event was a success, but it took a year for the Predators to appreciate how much it meant to their bottom line.

"We weren't that excited about (2016) summer, because we knew the summer before was built off this huge anticipation and part of it was people buying season tickets in order to get All-Star Game tickets," Predators CEO Sean Henry said. "But it turns out, we had the best season ticket renewal offseason we've ever had. We sold the most new business we've sold to date. We had the best selling year we've ever had. ... It's been absolutely incredible."

Henry said the team is especially proud that it extended relationships with corporate sponsors that had gone away or reduced their presence at Bridgestone Arena but came back for the All-Star Game. Henry pointed to Jack Daniel's, Twice Daily and Kroger among the local corporate partners that increased their commitments since the game.

Kroger spokeswoman Melissa Eads said the company "had a great working relationship with the Predators" that increased "slightly" after the successful All-Star game.

Henry said the team's success on the ice has allowed the Predators to get creative in their season ticket packages, specifically offering fans multiyear plans. The Predators were among the first NHL teams to sell two-year plans, and on Monday the team rolled out three-year plans. Nat Harden, the Predators' senior vice president for ticket sales and youth hockey, said the Winnipeg Jets are the only NHL team he's aware had offered three-year plans, and that came when the club was relocated from Atlanta.

Harden recalled being laughed at when he unveiled the Predators' two-year season ticket packages eight seasons ago. Now many teams have emulated the strategy. The fear was that offering multiyear plans would put a team at a disadvantage because fans are locked into a rate. If the team makes a deep run at the Stanley Cup, then the front office would miss out on the chance to take advantage of an increase in ticket prices.

Harden said first-time season ticket holders historically renew after one season about 50 percent of the time. But if a season ticket holder renewed their seats for at least a second season, the renewal rate for subsequent seasons was about 85 percent, Harden said. . Harden said the team began offering multiyear packages in response to that trend. Overall season ticket renewals were at 96 percent last offseason, he said.

Currently, the Predators have about 10,200 season ticket holders, Henry said. That's up from 8,000 when the community held a Save the Predators rally in 2007. After a local ownership group stepped up to save the team, Henry said sales fell to about 5,500 the next offseason. Henry was hired as chief operating officer in 2010 and promoted to replace Jeff Cogen as CEO in late 2015.

"After the bubble burst (the year after the community rally), we said, 'We’ve got to do something to stabilize our base,' " Harden said.

The Predators' improved business operations do come with a couple of caveats. The team receives about $8 million per year in subsidies and incentives to operate Bridgestone Arena. And the Predators have historically been among the bottom revenue teams in the NHL, which has allowed them to enjoy the league's revenue-sharing agreement designed to prop up struggling franchises.

The current lease agreement doesn't expire for 10 years, but the Predators have expressed an interest in upgrades at Bridgestone Arena. Henry said the process of pondering upgrades will be an ongoing collaborative process with the city to decide what makes sense for the 21-year-old building.

Henry said it's the right thing to do to bring in more money even if it means less revenue sharing coming in from the league.

"As you slide up that scale, as you go from one of the lowest teams to approaching middle of the pack, you receive less revenue sharing because you’re earning more," Henry said. "It’s always better to bring revenue into your building due to your local revenue. There’s a reduction, but it’s a good trade that you’re making."

Reach Nate Rau at nrau@tennessean.com or 615-259-8094 and on Twitter @tnnaterau.

Home attendance at Bridgestone Arena Season Capacity Games Total Att. % Capacity Sellouts Average 1998-99 17,298 41 664,282 93.7 17 16,202 1999-00 17,113 41 680,582 97.0 20 16,600 2000-01 17,113 40* 635,784 92.9 13 15,895 2001-02 17,113 41 608,347 86.7 5 14,838 2002-03 17,113 41 542,367 77.3 5 13,228 2003-04 17,113 41 539,450 76.9 6 13,157 2005-06 17,113 41 591,556 84.3 10 14,428 2006-07 17,113 41 625,649 89.2 11 15,260 2007-08 17,113 41 611,328 87.1 9 14,910 2008-09 17,113 41 615,439 87.7 7 15,011 2009-10 17,113 41 614,143 87.5 4 14,979 2010-11 17,113 41 661,861 94.3 16 16,143 2011-12 17,113 41 684,324 97.5 25 16,691 2012-13 17,113 24 407,386 99.2 20 16,974 2013-14 17,113 41 680,619 97.0 19 16,600 2014-15 17,113 41 691,028 98.5 30 16,854 2015-16 17,113 41 695,828 99.2 35 16,981

Home at

*The 2000-01 season includes a game played in Japan that was counted as a home game. The 2004-05 season was cancelled and the 2012-13 season was shortened because of labor disputes between NHL owners and the players' union. Source: Nashville Predators