uniform, after they first used them on Saturday home games the prior season. In the 2017–18 season the Predators changed their uniform style to fit with the new Adidas template. While the gold home uniforms received minimal alterations, the away white uniforms featured more gold accents in the sleeves, shoulders and tail while navy was relegated to trim color. The Predators unveiled a special edition uniform for the 2020 NHL Winter Classic, featuring a design inspired from the uniforms of the defunct EHL team Nashville Dixie Flyers. Heavy gold stripes with navy trim adorn the chest and sleeves while a script rendition of the team name was inserted to the gold chest stripe. A navy felt-rendered saber-toothed cat logo was also added on the left shoulder. In the 2020–21 season, the Predators released a special "Reverse Retro" alternate uniform, using the design they wore from 1998 to 2007. However, gold was used as the base color while navy was relegated to trim color. For the 2022 NHL Stadium Series, the Predators released a navy uniform with a thick gold stripe in front. The "Smashville" moniker in large navy letters along with the navy "guitar pick" alternate logo was emblazoned inside the gold stripe. Numbers were enlarged for visibility purposes. A second "Reverse Retro" uniform was released in the 2022–23 season, using the 2001 to 2007 alternate uniform but with the current athletic gold in place of mustard gold. Ownership The franchise was initially owned by a group led by Craig Leipold. On May 23, 2007, Leipold was reported to have reached a tentative agreement to sell the team to Research in Motion chairman and co-CEO Jim Balsillie. At the time, Leipold indicated that the team would play the 2007–08 season in Nashville but that the future of the team after that was not clear. On June 23, information leaked by several sources indicated that Leipold no longer wanted to sell the Predators to Balsillie. Subsequently, a campaign to land the team in Kansas City, Missouri, received a boost in late June 2007. The Canadian National Post, citing anonymous sources, reported that Leipold planned to sell the team to San Jose venture capitalist William "Boots" Del Biaggio III, who wanted to relocate the club to Kansas City's new Sprint Center for the 2008–09 season. Del Biaggio, who had a contract with Anschutz Entertainment Group to own an NHL club that would