Predatory sports may be cheating Nashville out of money and jobs

NewsChannel5's Phil Williams is the only local journo all over the story on the propriety of Nashville Predators hockey intending to extend their no-bid contract with one NHL insider's concessions company to mid-century. Williams highlights the hockey club's contract with the Courthouse that requires them to hold a "competitive bidding process similar to that being used by the Metropolitan Government" for selecting concessionaires. In the video report Williams catches the Predators' president lying in saying that he checked with other concessions companies before deciding to extend the contract of Delaware North. Like a good reporter should, Williams followed up with other concessionaires who denied that the Predators had called them.

Here's Williams' entire report:






The other news media outlets are steadfastly ignoring this ethical mud puddle, likely because it doesn't enhance their access to the team and matches. And the team demands sweet PR in print circulation.

Williams pointed out on Twitter that SouthComm/Nashville Post reporter J.R. Lind, who is a constant stream of Predators information layered with barbs at other teams, merely repeated what the Preds PR people sent him rather than going for the documents. In fact, the Nashville Post got contract information wrong.

Of course, reporter Lind has been a promotional machine for the local hockey club. While he is keeping mum on Williams' report, we can judge him by his previous hard-hitting exposé of feel good ode to the building-the-fanbase business of sports in a recent Nashville Scene Cover story (that's Lind at the center of the photo):

No bid contracts! Less money for Nashville! Stand with us!

You would think that all of the hard-core supporters of pro sports in Nashville--who stacked up argument after argument that having these teams would maximize cash flow into Metro coffers and provide so many jobs--would be backing reporters like Williams and cajoling other journos to do more digging themselves to squeeze every cent we can out of these contracts. But don't hold your breath. There is nothing but silence on that end, which makes their arguments about financial boon all the less credible. They just want the team. They just want the NHL experience. They don't care how much it may cost us.

Maybe a few journos don't care either.