Nashville Predators|NHL.com

The future for F&M Bank Arena, in the middle of downtown Clarksville, has been exciting citizens of Clarksville since construction broke ground on the arena in November of 2020. 

The arena’s first general manager, Kylie Wilkerson, was hired in January and is looking to build the arena into something special for the city of Clarksville and Austin Peay State University. 

“I am personally newer in the relationship with Austin Peay, but these relationships have been going on for years,” said Wilkerson. “We are just really eager to continue that relationship and keep growing it and obviously start hosting basketball in our new arena.”

The Nashville Predators are also partners with F&M Bank Arena, which was a major part of Wilkerson’s former job in the event management office at Bridgestone arena. 

There is hope to possibly have some Predators’ practices and scrimmages in Clarksville’s new arena, and maybe even have the arena as a home for a NHL minor league team in the future. 

“We absolutely hope we can have a second tenant in the future (for the arena),” said Wilkerson. “That’s a dream and a goal of ours, and obviously hockey is near and dear to our hearts.”

Not only will the new arena be a great thing for athletics and entertainment in Clarksville, it will also bring new job opportunities to the city and boost the market of Clarksville, as a whole. 

“We will have all of the job opportunities, which is really exciting,” said Wilkerson. “We’re starting to round out our director roles right now, and as we get a little bit further into the year, we’ll see additional opportunities open such as event coordinators, security, and guest services positions.” 

The citizens of Clarksville and the students of Austin Peay have been waiting on F&M Bank Arena for years, and with Wilkerson at the helm, the future seems very bright for the city’s new arena.