The Nashville Predators are a month away from initiating an ownership change.
Former Tennessee governor Bill Haslam is expected to complete his purchase of the NHL team in mid-May. The league’s board of governors still has to approve the deal, but the impending purchase values the Predators at $880 million — five times the team’s revenue, per Forbes.
That price is just shy of the largest in NHL history, set when Fenway Sports Group purchased the Pittsburgh Penguins in December 2021 at $900 million.
Haslam is buying the 60% stake of the team owned by Herb Fritch. The team’s 16 other limited partners have no contractual guarantees allowing them to sell their stakes to Haslam.
While the deal is on the cusp of closing, it will take two more years to fully play out. Haslam — the brother of Cleveland Browns’ owner Jimmy Haslam — is buying the stake in four installments: one this year, one next year, and two in 2025. He will only take majority ownership of the team in 2025.
The NHL hit a revenue record last year of around $5.3 billion, in part due to sponsorship revenue more than doubling to $1.4 billion.
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