Nashville Kats The Nashville Kats were an Arena Football League team , located in Nashville , Tennessee . They were last coached by Pat Sperduto , who coached the team ' s original incarnation to two ArenaBowl appearances prior to the franchise ' s move to Atlanta in 2002 . History . The Nashville Kats began play in 2005 at the Sommet Center ( formerly Nashville Arena and Gaylord Entertainment Center ) , also home of the Nashville Predators hockey team . The majority of the team was owned by Bud Adams , the owner of the Tennessee Titans of the National Football League ; country music singer Tim McGraw was a minority investor , and when the Kats scored a touchdown , the PA system played one of McGraw ' s hits , " I Like It , I Love It . " The Kats had a rivalry with the Grand Rapids Rampage which dated back to the original Kats in their ArenaBowl XV appearance in which they lost to the Rampage 64 – 42 . Original Nashville Kats ( 1997 – 2001 ) . The team began as the Nashville Kats in 1997 . The original Kats played in the then - named Nashville Arena ( AKA " The Alley " ) in downtown Nashville , and were initially coached by Eddie Khayat in 1997 and 1998 , who was succeeded by Pat Sperduto for the balance of the team ' s time in Nashville . The Kats were the league ' s Organization of the Year for their inaugural year of 1997 , and were in the playoffs for every season of their relatively brief existence , even playing in the ArenaBowl ( XIV and XV ) each of their final two seasons , albeit winning ounce they reached the AFL ' s championship game in 2001 . After agreements with arena management and the primary tenant , the Nashville Predators of the National Hockey League , majority owner Mark Bloom sold the franchise in December 2001 to Virgil Williams , an Atlanta businessman , for nearly $ 10 million . The team ' s departure from the Nashville market was not related to lack of success neither on the field or at the box office , but rather their inability to negotiate a favorable lease with the Predators . This team would become the Georgia Force . The team was named for the 1967 hit " Nashville Cats " by The Lovin ' Spoonful . The team ' s logo featured an anthropomorphic tabby wearing a 1950s - style leather jacket , holding the neck of a guitar in one paw and juggling a football with the other . Kats revived ( 2005 – 2007 ) . Shortly after the team ' s exit , Adams purchased the rights to an expansion franchise in Nashville ( along with the Kats identity ) , but could not negotiate an arena lease with the Predators . Because Nashville Municipal Auditorium and Vanderbilt ' s Memorial Gym are unsuitable for arena football ( Vanderbilt has a dry policy for athletic events ) , Adams explored the idea of building his own mid - size arena ( roughly 10 , 000 seats ) to host the Kats and compete with the GEC for concerts and smaller sporting events . Ultimately , the Predators agreed to a deal with Adams , and in the summer of 2004 , Adams announced the Kats would return to the Predators ' arena in 2005 . When the Kats were revived as an expansion team in 2005 , the team re - assumed all its history from the Georgia Force prior to the franchise ' s move to Atlanta . This was an arrangement similar to the one made in the NFL with the Cleveland Browns and in the CFL with the Montreal Alouettes . The revived logo was identical to the original except for the ball , which was drawn as the lighter colored , brown - with - blue - stripe ball used in the AFL at that time , along with the colors of the logo , which were slightly modified to reflect those of the Titans . The new Kats ' first season started horrendously . After an opening victory on the road , it took until week 8 for the franchise to record another victory . But after that , the Kats won their next five games , and finished the season with a 6 – 9 – 1 record . The 41 – 41 tie at the Dallas Desperados on April 8 was only the second in AFL history , and prompted the League to change its overtime rules to eliminate ties before the start of the 2006 season . Nashville finished the 2006 regular season with an 8 – 8 record ; good enough to earn the team a playoff berth . The Kats lost in the opening round to the Chicago Rush . The Kats finished the 2007 season with a 7 – 9 record and just missed the playoffs after a Utah Blaze win in the final week of the season . On October 10 , 2007 , after months of speculation , owner Bud Adams decided to shut down operations for the second time in franchise history . The team had struggled at the box office since its return to Nashville . The team ' s mascot was a jersey - and - shorts - clad cat named Kool Kat . AFL Hall of Famers . Joe March