Nashville Mayor John Cooper Monday announced that he and the city’s professional football team had reached an agreement to build a new stadium.
The Tennessee Titans will reportedly have a new stadium by 2026, replacing the current Nissan Stadium, according to Titans Wire. The deal was made after months of negotiating whether to repair the current 23-year-old stadium, or build a new one.
The new stadium is expected to cost $2.1 billion.
Ultimately, the city decided to move forward with a brand-new home for the Titans, noting that estimated repair costs for the current stadium would have been between $1.75 and $1.9 billion.
“Today, together with the [Titans], we announce a new stadium proposal that relieves taxpayers of a $2 billion burden,” said Cooper on Twitter, attaching a release with further details.
Today, together with the @Titans, we announce a new stadium proposal that relieves taxpayers of a $2 billion burden.
Read more: https://t.co/3eZZhXaAcy pic.twitter.com/bbctcbNOMV
— Mayor John Cooper (@JohnCooper4Nash) October 17, 2022
“The lease for Nissan Stadium, signed in 1996, legally obligates Nashville to provide a ‘first class’ stadium until 2039,” the release says. “The Mayor’s Office worked with Metro Council to hire Venue Solutions Group (VSG), an independent and nationally recognized public facility consulting firm, to assess the condition of Nissan Stadium and estimate Metro’s financial obligation to the Titans. VSG estimates that renovating and maintaining Nissan Stadium would cost between $1.75 billion and $1.95 billion over the remaining 17 years of the current stadium lease. This liability would require general fund dollars that could otherwise support essential priorities like public schools and first responders.”
Building the new stadium, according to Cooper, will not cost a penny from the city’s general fund. Rather, state and hospitality investments will cover the cost.
The state will make a “one-time contribution contingent on the building of a new, enclosed stadium,” and a new 1 percent hotel/motel tax will be levied against those visiting Nashville.
The Titans will also chip in $840 million, and “$760 million will come from revenue bonds issued by the Metro Sports Authority to be repaid through the revenue streams described above, all of which, per state statute, can only be used for this project or other stadium-related costs,” according to Titans Wire.
“When my father brought this team to Tennessee 25 years ago, I don’t think he could have imagined a better home for our organization,” Titans controlling owner Amy Adams Strunk reportedly said. “The way the people of Tennessee have embraced this team as their own is truly something special, and I am thrilled that with this new agreement, we will cement our future here in Nashville for another generation.”
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Pete D’Abrosca is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Pete on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Nissan Stadium” by Nissan Stadium.
