Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton told Dan Mandis on Nashville’s Morning News, broadcast weekday mornings on Nashville radio station 99.7 WTN the benefits of a $500 million bond deal to add a retractable roof to Titans Stadium.
Mandis: Happy Friday to you. I want to welcome into not the studio, but welcome in on the phone, Cameron Sexton. The Tennessee House, Speaker Cameron Sexton. How are you, sir?
Sexton: I’m doing well, good morning to you.
Mandis: All right. Very good. So let’s talk about something I do know a bit about, and that is the $500 million dollar bond deal that the governor is floating to help fund the new stadium. Now, we know that that’s not going to be all of it, clearly.
We’re talking about a $2 billion stadium. So let me ask you a couple of questions sir. First of all, you came out yesterday and you gave indications that you would support such a bill. How would this work, the bond deal?
People are asking me how exactly would it work? And I think I know how it would work, but a lot of people are concerned that ultimately taxpayers would be on the hook for this $500 million deal. Can you just tell us how that would even work?
Sexton: Logistically, it would work like with different types of bonds. But this bond would be a bond that would be paid back over time and with revenue that’s collected. And there was a sales tax zone for the Titans to build up different things around their stadium that we still get 50 percent of those proceeds back.
But what I will say is the bond would be paid back over time based on the investment and based on activity around the area. And so one of the things that we are doing is looking at the previous Titans Stadium.
We should have those numbers sometime this week about the investment back then and the return on investment on that stadium. And we believe that stadium has paid itself back a couple of times over on the bond that we gave out back then.
So we feel like the return on investment, or at least I do say for me, the return on investment for the stadium, especially if it’s enclosed, is a lot bigger return on investment than just an open-air stadium.
Mandis: Were you surprised, sir, that after just what, 23, 24, 25 years we needed a new stadium and that it needed such renovations? It just seems like it’s only a 25 year old building? I mean, I was a little surprised.
Sexton: Yes. Well, when you talk to the Titans and I would ask you to bring them on, they’ll be happy to talk about it is they were wanting to do a renovation of the stadium first.
And the life of the stadium, getting that much life out of it without major renovations is a pretty good investment. And when they started looking at doing the renovations they found out that there were a lot of structural problems with it, meaning there was more concrete and less stable than they thought.
And there were certain things having to do with the plumbing and the other things that they couldn’t take care of by the way it was designed. And so it just became too expensive and they couldn’t do it based on how the stadium was constructed the first time.
And so the costs were pretty similar. If you were going to rebuild one and then be able to get it with sturdier qualities than what the previous one was.
Mandis: Yes. And just so you know, I’m very excited about a new stadium. One of my weird hobbies is going to visit stadiums across the country. So I’m actually very excited about this. My concern, though, is about taxpayer dollars being used.
But you do say that it’s a good investment and that a $500 million bond deal will be paid not necessarily through taxpayer dollars per se but from the revenues generated from around the stadium.
The original projections of what you folks are talking about, it does seem like this is going to be a major benefit to the downtown area, the area around the stadium as well, because you’re talking about mixed-use bars, restaurants, and the rest of it right?
Sexton: It is and I think it would be a big investment for all across Tennessee. And the reason I say that is we’re a sales tax-driven society in our state. And we also have tourism is one of the biggest industries that we have coming into Tennessee.
And you see all these big events that are going into Atlanta, New Orleans, Dallas, and Indianapolis that we could host, that we could bring people here. You know the Titans talk about if we had an enclosed stadium, we could get a Super Bowl and that changed the whole discussion at that point.
We also could get WrestleMania, which brings 100,000 people into Nashville in Tennessee over the weekend. And so an enclosed stadium would change from a football-dominated venue to an international world-class entertainment venue where we can start competing for events that we never had the capability, which would increase the number of people visiting, which would increase our sales tax.
And then we take that sales tax from people from outside the state, which I think is very beneficial for Tennessee, and put it back into our K12 education, put it back into infrastructure in our rural areas. And so we do take that money from tourists and invest it back inside Tennessee.
Mandis: Is there a thought to the retractable roof as opposed to like just a permanently closed building?
Sexton: No, I think that the plan would be a retractable roof like the Mercedes Benz Stadium and other stadiums. And if you just remember last year we lost at the Garth Brooks concert because there was rain and it just destroyed the whole thing.
It was packed. And so when you have things like that and I’ve talked to different people who are associated with the WWE, and they travel around. And one time they were doing an event in Florida, and they thought they were going to lose two days of the event because of the rain forecast.
And so when you have big events they want to make sure that those go off and I think it puts us in a place to where all those things going to Atlanta could come to Tennessee or come to Nashville and that’s why we’re looking at it.
That’s why I think the enclosed retractable roof type of stadium would be much more beneficial and a much bigger return on our investment than just another open-air stadium.
Mandis: Democrats are asking for transparency. We want to make sure that everybody knows exactly what’s going on with this process. I’m assuming that you would guarantee that this is going to be something that people can take a look at. The facts and the figures all along down the road guaranteeing transparency.
Sexton: Absolutely. We’ll be happy to provide transparency and have those conversations and the Titans have been very open in their conversations.
And let me just say about the Adams family, too. They’ve been a great part of our state and a great part of Nashville and they’re looking at the stadium too.
They are investing everything that they have and liquidating almost everything that they have to come up with their $700 million to invest in the stadium.
The stadium would be the largest single investment that they have in anything that they own. And so the city is wanting to put in $700 million and the state is putting in $5 [hundred] million.
So this would be an investment partnership between everybody that has just as much skin in the game to make sure that we keep the Titans in Tennessee and make sure that the Adams family can stay in Tennessee.
When that family is making that big of an investment and having to liquidate a lot of their assets, that tells you how important, how much they’re into it which gives me some confidence that they’re here to stay.
Listen to the full interview: here:
Sexton and the Titans (and the NFL) can stick it where the sun don’t shine!!!!!
Unfortunately, more corporate welfare from TN legislators who think they know how to spend TN taxpayers hard earned money better than the taxpayers. Ford Company and the Titans, 2 multibillionaire industries and they are begging for taxpayer money. And our legislators can’t wait to toe to the lie to these woke pathetic corporations.
Absolutely no, let the woke NFL pay for there own shit. I do not want any of my money going towards a bunch of millionaires.
They need to pay for the WHOLE thing! This “it’s the-other-guy’s-fault” crap is an old, worn-out excuse that’s past it’s usefulness. Millionaires and billionaires want the little guy to pay for their playground. Ummm, how about…NO!
Sure. Sure. The Tennesse taxpayers would not be on the hook for $500,000,000 – wink! wink! How can the RINO Sexton make such a statement with a straight face? Oh, that’s right. He has been doing that for way too many years. Get rid of him. He and Senator McNally are a disgrace. Along with Mr. Lee.
We don’t need a new stadium. How about using that money instead for retro-fitting all of Nashville’s (and much of Tennessee’s) streets and road with sidewalks and adequate safety lighting? Use that money so that will benefit most of the public’s safety!
How about if the Titans pay for the new stadium, and We The Taxpayer will give them $500 Million for each Super Bowl that they win.
My house is 45 years old (more than twice as old as Nissan Stadium!) and needs some work. I am not satisfied with it. How do I hoodwink Cameron Sexton and Tennessee state government into building me a new one?