Leipold extends Preds deadline, signals desire to keep team here

Seven hours before the deadline he imposed was scheduled to expire, Nashville Predators owner Craig Leipold announced that he was giving a group of local investors more time to complete their contract talks with Metro.

At 5 p.m. Wednesday, Leipold issued a statement saying he was giving a group of local investors led by Nashville businessman David Freeman more time to negotiate with Metro over changes to the Predators-Sommet Center lease. The investor group sought a number of changes to that lease before agreeing to purchase the franchise from Leipold.

Leipold, who has been considering offers from other potential buyers outside of Nashville, accepted a preliminary offer from Freeman’s group but gave them until midnight on Wednesday to hammer out a deal with Metro over changes to the Sommet Center lease.

But at the end of last week, negotiations between Metro and Freeman’s group seemed to get tripped up by a disagreement over how much financial liability the team would need to assume versus how much Metro would have to shoulder.

In announcing the last minute deadline extension, Leipold signaled both a willingness to let both sides continue to work toward an agreement and desire to see the Predators remain in Nashville.

“Based on the progress being made, I am convinced all parties will benefit from extra time to complete this transaction so we will extend the purchase agreement with David’s group with a goal of completing the sale as soon as possible,” Leipold’s statement read. “We understand how complex this transaction is and how much time and effort David [Freeman], his group, the Mayor’s office and others have invested into the process—all with a goal of keeping the Predators in Nashville and making the franchise viable for the long-term.

Leipold also said he “look[s] forward to completing the sale to David and his group.”

Leipold did not set a new deadline, saying in his statement “we do not plan to comment further on the sale status until there is significant and definitive news.”