Bridgestone Arena business is booming, per the Nashville Post

In a piece of reporting you're not likely to see at The Tennessean, the Nashville Post's J.R. Lind brings word today that the Nashville Predators, through their arena operations arm Powers Management, have increased business at Bridgestone Arena, per an internal memo:

The team's document - described as a sort of "passdown memo" - has been in the works since Tom Cigarran took over the chairmanship from David Freeman earlier this summer. It shows that, during the final five years of ownership under the Leipold regime, the organization lost $46 million before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. That included $12 million in the 2006-'07 year.

Since 2008, by contrast, the organization's EBITDA has been positive every year and have totaled $6 million.

EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization) is a common measure of financial performance, but it should be noted that interest expense is probably pretty hefty for the Preds. All the same, this is validation of a significant turnaround.

One of the main aspects of the arena lease negotiation of 2007-8 was to provide greater incentives for Powers Management to book more events at the arena (previously there was a hard cap on possible profits, while the city covered operating losses, which provided a disincentive to grow the business). Non-hockey events at the arena have grown tremendously over the last two years, providing a similar boost to downtown Nashville as well.