NHL enlists Nashville leaders for All-Star plans

With the 2015 NHL All-Star Weekend behind him and less than 11 months until the next one, NHL events executive Don Renzulli came to Nashville on Wednesday to begin laying the groundwork for the 2016 event at Bridgestone Arena.

Among his advisers is a committee of local civic, business and entertainment leaders — Vince Gill, CMA Chief Executive Officer Sarah Trahern, Mayor Karl Dean, Bridgestone executive Chris Karbowiak and 20 others. The Local Organizing Committee will help with planning and will offer input to make the event resemble Nashville’s character.

“It gets the local community involved in a lot of ways that we can’t, coming in from out of town,” said Renzulli, NHL senior vice president of events. “When you start talking about music alone, they will be able to help us attract people we probably couldn’t attract normally.”

The NHL announced Nashville as the site of the 2016 game last fall, and Nashville tourism and hockey leaders have been preparing since. Several traveled to Columbus, Ohio, in January to take notes on the 2015 tournament, which included a team draft on Friday, a skills competition on Saturday, the game on Sunday and fan events throughout the weekend. The event is expected to generate $20 million in economic impact, according to the NHL.

While the All-Star game will bring plenty of fans to downtown restaurants and hotels, it also will be a boon to downtown venues that will be needed for ancillary events tied to the hockey weekend — parties for NHL leaders, parties for athletes’ friends and family and other pregame events. More NHL officials will be visiting in the coming weeks to research options.

The proximity of the arena; the Music City Center; the Omni Nashville Hotel, which will serve as the NHL’s headquarters; and the Music City Walk of Fame park, where fan events will be located, makes downtown Nashville friendly to local and out-of-town hockey fans, Renzulli said. In addition to the interactive fan events at the Music City Center, an outdoor ice rink is likely.

“Eighteen thousand (people) will have the opportunity to participate in skills and/or the game,” Renzulli said. “The rest of the community has to watch on TV, so we want to build things out locally here.”

The NHL would like to incorporate live music of different genres, inside and outside the arena, Renzulli said. Given Nashville’s entertainment industry, the Predators games are usually music-heavy, and Predators President Sean Henry said attendees should expect strong music offerings throughout, especially with the involvement of artist agencies William Morris Endeavor and Creative Artists Agency on the local committee.

“To have the whole NHL and the international community come into our city and see how well we mix music and the hockey side together, it’s going to be incredible,” Henry said.

While a strong Predators season this spring probably will boost local interest in the upcoming All-Star weekend, the league will support the local team regardless of its performance this fall, Renzulli said.

“We’re here for a reason,” he said. “This should be a win-win for the league, the (Predators) club and the community. We are trying to promote hockey. We want to develop more fans, get a stick in their hand early and often and, hopefully, when they grow up, we’ll have them for a long time.”

Reach Jamie McGee at 615-259-8071 and on Twitter @JamieMcGee_.