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Nashville Predators: Home attendance proves Nashville is a hockey home

By Corey Francis

Jun 11, 2017; Nashville, TN, USA; A general view of hockey fans outside the stadium before game six of the 2017 Stanley Cup Final between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Nashville Predators at Bridgestone Arena. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports
Jun 11, 2017; Nashville, TN, USA; A general view of hockey fans outside the stadium before game six of the 2017 Stanley Cup Final between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Nashville Predators at Bridgestone Arena. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports /
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After 18 seasons of being in the Music City, the Nashville Predators prove that hockey is a national sport. The attendance records support their argument.

Raise your hand if you have heard the following statement: People in Nashville do not like hockey, just the playoffs. Yeah. I heard it as well. And read that or similar statements on Twitter. Fans of other hockey cities – those with long histories – would say those things to discount the fact they wish to deny. The fact that the Nashville Predators made this city a hockey town.

We are looking at you, Chicago and Pittsburgh. Not with a look of disdain or anger, but simply disapproval of your statements. Why? Because of the evidence. In 18 years, the Predators made 10 playoff appearances. Sure, it took five quarterfinal losses for the team to break through to the next round, but they did. And now, the Predators made the Stanley Cup Finals.

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After sweeping the Chicago Blackhawks and taking out the St. Louis Blues and Anaheim Ducks in six games each. Yet, there is another piece of evidence that other fans overlook. No. It is not the catfish.

Predators packed place

Bridgestone Arena. The impressive venue brings in major concerts, the Southeastern Conference basketball tournament, and is home to hockey. That is Nashville Predators’ hockey. The venue itself can seat approximately 20,000 people for a concert event, which includes floor seating. For NHL hockey events, the capacity is 17,113, according to ESPN statistics.

That is not a large number, especially when compared to the 20,000+ seats in Chicago and Detroit. If you look at just the average number in attendance per game, the Nashville Predators rank 20th in the NHL, with 17,159. Remember that number. The team is also 20th in total attendance, which makes sense if you take their average per game and multiply it by 41 home games.

Those numbers are rather misleading. In terms of capacity, Bridgestone area is not as large as other places. That is just fact. Yet, it is similar in size to Boston (17,565) and larger than Winnipeg.

Numbers do not lie

The evidence is not the number of fans per game, but the percentage of seats sold. That is where the Nashville Predators prove hockey is home here. In the 2016-17 regular season, the team average (remember the number) 17,159 people per game. That does not include playoffs. We saw the response to the team then. In terms of the NHL, the Predators ranked eighth in percentage of seats sold at 100.3 percent per game. All 41 games were sold out.

Here is a list of teams that ranked higher than: Los Angeles Kings, New York Rangers, Boston Bruins, Washington Capitals, Detroit Red Wings. That is not to boast, to thump our chests and say “we are better than you.” Not at all. It means that our fans show up all the time during the regular season.

The team sold out all 41 home games in 2016-17, and 31 in 2015-16. No, it is not close to the Pittsburgh Penguins streak of 484. But, with the numbers at hand, Music City is also Nashville Predators City.

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Or, as we call it, Smashville.

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