Last Friday morning, Steve North, a member of the Metro Sports Authority, dropped a bomb during a meeting of that body by saying that the sale of 14,000 tickets a night wouldn’t keep the Nashville Predators here, as the team could simply buy its way out of the lease for $27 million.

That sent a few folks scrambling and confused a good many of the fans out there. The problem is that North, an attorney, may have misinterpreted the lease document. For those of you who would like to come up with your own interpretations, the lease is available at this link. All 76 scintillating pages of it.

The $27 million would be for liquidated damages. It has nothing to do with whether or not the Predators can sell 14,000 tickets a night. The damages are what the sports authority can seek from the Predators should the team be held in default of the lease. Jim Murphy, the Metro Legal director under then Mayor Phil Bredesen who helped negotiate the lease, explained that it’s not another way out for the team.

Just so no one goes crazy trying to find the section, check out Section 27.2(a) of the attached lease. The only way out by the team’s choosing would be via the ticket clause.

The team could put itself in default by filing bankruptcy or not paying certain fees. It’s highly unlikely Craig Leipold would take such measures to get the team out of the lease. And the NHL wouldn’t allow it unless league Commissioner Gary Bettman had a change of heart. Bettman has said he wants the team here.

In the event the Predators did default, Murphy said the authority likely would push the team to comply with the lease rather than seek the damages.

Pushing Metro to cure with the ticket sales is a less expensive option anyway. That’s about $18 million to cover the city’s cost for bringing the expansion team here.

A lot of people think that the “city” could buy the tickets to get to 14,000. It actually says the sports authority has the option of buying the tickets.

That doesn’t necessarily mean taxpayer money. If the ticket drive seems slow or is falling short, maybe additional money could come from the Nashville Convention & Visitors Bureau, Nashville Sports Council, the Nashville chamber and its Partnership 2010, and a host of companies and hotels that benefit from the Predators playing downtown.

Perhaps, with all of those tickets in hand, a special organization could be created that would give businesses tutorials on how hockey tickets can be used to reward employees or grease clients or land new ones. Just an idea.