Where'd That Go? #0003 - Nashville Kats
Back before Nashvillians could feast on mediocre NFL football, locals had a steady diet of Arena League football in the form of the Nashville Kats.
The long version of the Nashville Kats history is here, but here are the highlights (we cut things down because if you love arena football, it means you can't handle the full version of anything):
- The Nashville Kats started in 1997, but then moved to Atlanta in 2001. (That franchise folded in 2012.)
- The Kats were reborn in 2005, with Tim McGraw as a minority investor. We guess he liked it, he loved it, he wanted some more of it.
- That team folded in 2007. Bud Adams (the majority owner who was also the Titans owner) decided (we think) people really don't want to watch football 12 months a year.
The Arena League itself has been afraid of success it seems, stopping and starting a few times. They cancelled their 2009 season, and now there are only 5 teams. We're not saying that's the Kats' fault, so we'll just chalk that one up as one of life's unanswerable mysteries, like religion, how GDP works, and why people love pedal taverns so much.
HOLD THE PHONE.
As of last summer, rumors ran wild that arena football could return to Nashville once again. Why? Because pretty much any business will give it a shot in this town nowadays (mobile hot tub, anyone?).