The Nashville Predators are offering the displaced New Orleans Hornets a chance to play 12 games this season in the NHL team's arena.

Hugh Lombardi, general manager of the Gaylord Entertainment Center, said he has contacted the NBA about the offer. The New Orleans Arena is next to the Superdome, and the NBA has informed teams the Hornets may relocate.

"We wanted to be sensitive to the whole issue and to see if we can help out if we could," Lombardi said. "And also, if we could get some home dates here, it would be great for the city of Nashville."

But Nashville's arena, which seats a little more than 19,000 for basketball, has limited dates available with the Predators, Arena Football League, college basketball and concerts already scheduled. The Hornets could not play there the entire season.

"Right now, we're trying to get a sense as to what the NBA is planning," said Lombardi, who expects to talk with NBA officials next week. "I don't even know if they'd consider playing anywhere just partially. I assume they'd want to play in one place for the whole season and I know we couldn't accommodate that."