Frank Stiner was excited when he received the invitation to Titans House in late October along with his cousin as they prepared to buy seats at the new Nissan Stadium.
They are original seat holders from the first hour tickets in Nashville went on sale, in the fifth row of the end zone, and were excited to continue that family tradition by expanding their ticket base from two to four.
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The Tennessee Titans continued to upgrade areas of the current Nissan Stadium heading into the NFL season, spending on everything from escalator repairs to electrical upgrades to stadium lighting and step repairs to a perimeter sidewalk.
Those repairs are funded through public funds in the stadium Capital Fund, capped at $42 million in expenses starting when the amended lease agreement was signed to build a new stadium and ending when the current Nissan Stadium is no longer used and demolished.
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Nashville’s Metro Council is on board and a new East Bank Development Authority will be created after Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee signed a bill creating the board in May.
The East Bank area is the land between Interstate 24, I-65 and the Cumberland River.
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Development on Nashville’s East Bank is moving forward as the area prepares for a new $2.1 billion Tennessee Titans stadium, set to open in 2027, and development in the area surrounding it.
Both the House and Senate will soon discuss companion bills to create an East Bank Development Authority board after Nashville’s Metro Council approved a deal to have Fallon Co. develop the initial 30 acres of Nashville-owned land in the development area.
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A bill that would allow Tennessee Department of Tourism to keep mega-event contracts hidden for up to 10 years headed to the desk of Gov. Bill Lee this week, where it’s expected to be signed.
The department currently has $25 million in a mega-event fund to use to lure events such as a push to hold the 2028, 2029 or 2030 Super Bowl to the new Nissan Stadium.
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The Tennessee Titans have agreed to a 20-year naming rights deal with Nissan for the team’s new stadium, set to open in 2027, but did not disclose the amount Nissan is paying for those rights.
That will make the new stadium Nissan Stadium, just like the current stadium has been since 2015. The deal agreed to by Metro Nashville’s council allows the Titans to retain stadium sponsorship money and not disclose the price.
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Forbes estimates the Tennessee Titans’ value has reached $4.4 billion, up 26% from last year.
The Titans are one of just four National Football League teams to see a more than 20% value increase, along with the Las Vegas Raiders, Miami Dolphins and Cleveland Browns, Forbes wrote.
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As the Metro Nashville council prepares for its second vote Tuesday night on the deal to build a new $2.2 billion Tennessee Titans stadium, the largest remaining debate involves an amendment added to the deal at the April 4 council meeting.
On Tuesday night, the council will see what is likely its final opportunity to amend the deal.
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The Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp, in partnership with the Greater Nashville Hospitality Association, is hosting a hospitality industry job fair at Nissan Stadium on Tuesday. The job fair will be held from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. (Central Standard Time) and will host 48 regional employers – some with current job openings ready to hire on the spot.
The hiring event comes as the hospitality industry in Nashville continues to grow. The city has 273 hotels, with an additional 2,544 rooms under construction, according to data by the Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp. In addition, 66 new restaurants opened in 2022, with 765 restaurants and bars opening since 2015.
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A “first-class” condition requirement was at the forefront of Tennessee Titans Chief Executive Officer Burke Nihill claiming Metro Nashville would owe $1.839 billion in renovation costs at Nissan Stadium.
But a new lease agreement with the team for a new estimated $2.1 billion stadium, set to open in 2026, would also include a similar “first-class” requirement. The final documents were released publicly Wednesday before they are scheduled to receive a first reading at Tuesday’s Metro Nashville Council meeting.
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On Nov. 14, the Tennessee Titans released plan documents for a renovation to Nissan Stadium that Venue Solutions Group estimated would cost $1.9 billion.
The documents show a complete renovation with everything from a three-story sports bar to a rooftop food and bar area to a Song Writing Café, Theater Boxes and a new seating total of 59,271 fans with a capacity of 64,108.
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NASHVILLE, Tennessee – The East Bank Stadium Committee (EBSC) held its first of five public comment sessions Monday night at the East Nashville Magnet High School.
The EBSC was formed in June by Vice Mayor Jim Shulman to lead the efforts related to any potential legislation and to serve as a central place to gather information for the Council and the public, but will not be taking any votes.
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At the Thursday evening meeting of the East Bank Stadium Committee, a council member praised an economist’s presentation about public investment in sports stadiums as more valuable than the paid report the council approved a company to do.
Professor of Economics, Finance and Quantitative Analysis at Kennesaw State University, J.C. Bradbury, delivered an information-dense presentation in rapid-fire fashion to the East Bank Stadium Committee (EBSC), of which Council Member Delishia Porterfield (District 29) was highly complimentary and appreciative, especially in comparison to the Vision Stadium Group (VSG) report that had a cost of at least $250,000.
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On Thursday, a day before Taylor Swift Eras Tour tickets were supposed to go on sale to the general public, Ticketmaster announced it suspended the event.
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At its regularly scheduled meeting Tuesday evening, Metro Council gave approval for Mayor John Cooper’s office to pursue a solicitation for development of a portion of the Nissan Stadium campus.
By voice vote, an amended RS2022-1828 was approved unanimously, having advanced through three committees unanimously after it had been deferred at a previous Council meeting.
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There is not a manual that states the NFL standards for stadiums, even though the language of “first class” is carried forward from the current stadium lease agreement and incorporated in the term sheet between Metro Nashville, the Sports Authority, the Tennessee Titans and the to-be-formed StadiumCo for the new stadium.
Burke Nihill, President and CEO of the Tennessee Titans (pictured above) shared the insight with the Nashville Metropolitan Sports Authority, at a special-called meeting held on Thursday, November 10 at Nissan Stadium, the team’s current home.
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At the end of the November 7 meeting of the East Bank Stadium Committee, a representative for the Tennessee Titans came forward and agreed to make public a plan to renovate Nissan Stadium developed on behalf of the team that Mayor John Cooper’s office has claimed is “proprietary.”
After questioning by several of the committee members, James Weaver, partner at Waller, Lansden, Dortch & Davis LP and representing the Titans said they would be happy to share the plan with council.
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NASHVILLE, Tennessee – At the Wednesday meeting of Metro Council’s specially formed East Bank Stadium Committee, members heard from the Tennessee Titans promoting their recently introduced community benefits platform and an advocacy group that recommended formal agreements for the communities that are to be served.
The Titans announced their ONE Community benefits platform just days after the joint announcement with Mayor John Cooper that the parties reached an agreement for a new football stadium.
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The resolution to approve the term sheet, which gives an overview of the terms and conditions of the agreements and transactions for the financing, construction and operation of a new domed stadium adjacent to the existing Nissan Stadium which will then be demolished, was deferred for two meetings. Both the Budget and Finance Committee and the Public Facilities, Arts and Culture Committees had previously voted to defer for two meetings.
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The much-anticipated report from VSG (Venue Solutions Group), which claims to substantiate the estimated $2.1 billion in projected costs to renovate Nissan Stadium was released Tuesday.
The previous estimates for an upgrade to the stadium to the “first-class condition” required in the 1996 stadium lease agreement at costs ranging between $1.75 to $1.95 billion is what is driving the argument for a new stadium.
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Opposition to a deal for the public portion of financing of a new $2.1 billion Tennessee Titans stadium is building amongst Nashville council members since the deal was first announced at a press conference by the mayor’s office and then a non-binding term sheet was presented to the city’s sports authority and East Bank Stadium Committee.
The deal includes a $500 million payment from the state of Tennessee, $760 million in bonds from the city’s sports authority and an undetermined amount of future tax dollars that will go toward stadium maintenance, upkeep and East Bank infrastructure. The mayor’s office hired private consultants, New York-based Inner Circle Sports, to help broker its deal.
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Members of the Metro Nashville City Council will be asked to approve a term sheet and legislation to enact a 1% hotel-motel tax starting Feb. 1 with its initial consideration of both to begin at the board’s Nov. 1 meeting.
The term sheet outlines plans for the projected $2.1 billion new stadium for the Titans, including the order of financing and how a fund that includes the hotel tax and sales tax at the stadium and outside the stadium can be used. The stadium is expected to be ready for the 2026 NFL preseason. The lease will be for the term of the bonds — about 30 years — with three five-year renewal options.
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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.
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Thursday’s Nashville East Bank Committee Meeting was scheduled to be about the city’s capital improvement obligations at Nissan Stadium.
But a portion of the meeting was ultimately a preview of a central point of the Metro City Council’s ultimate debate on approving nearly $2 billion in bonds that will be paid for with an estimated $1.5 billion in public funds for a new estimated $2.2 billion stadium.
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Mayor John Cooper wants to saddle Nashvillians with an estimated $1 billion in taxes to pay for a new stadium for the Tennessee Titans, blaming a poorly negotiated contract and the shoddy craftsmanship of Nissan Stadium. But here’s the kicker: the mayor and city officials appear to be entertaining the same stadium designer who helped with the construction of the existing subpar stadium for this new boondoggle.
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Nashville’s East Bank Stadium Committee plans to parse information on a new projected $2.2 billion Tennessee Titans stadium deal once it’s announced, along with information on the city’s current lease obligations and a $200,000 stadium study the council has planned along with land-use requirements around Nissan Stadium.
But the group will not be producing its own economic impact and tax impact numbers related to the proposed project.
“I am guessing the council doesn’t have an appetite for spending $25M on its own professionals, or $5 million or $1 million or half a million,” committee chair Bob Mendes said in the group’s planning meeting. “So we’re, necessarily, going to have to rely on information from others on that. I assume we’re going to hear about that. When we’re going to get presented with an actual deal, there’s going to be a list of income streams and a look forward on what it generates over time. Sources and uses.
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In an open letter written and delivered to the entire Nashville Metro Council on July 5, former AllianceBernstein COO Jim Gingrich expressed his concern about negotiations over a new Titans stadium and called for more transparency for the process.
“The time has come for the Council to assert its leadership, bring transparency to the negotiation, and prioritize taxpayers and Titans fans,” Gingrich said.
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A lease agreement between the Tennessee Titans and the limited liability Cumberland Stadium LP, calls for the Titans to be provided “a modern, first class, open air, stadium designed primarily for football, with a grass playing surface, to be located on the Stadium Site,” according to a copy of the lease acquired by The Center Square.
Cumberland Stadium is an operator that works for the Metro Nashville Sports Authority at the stadium.
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Nashville will consider spending $200,000 on a “stadium study” to evaluate the Tennessee Titans’ claim that the city would owe $1.839 billion under the terms of the team’s current lease if Nissan Stadium in Nashville was renovated instead of having a new estimated $2.2 billion stadium built.
The line item called “study of Nissan Stadium obligations” appeared on a revised city budget from Metro Nashville Budget and Finance Chair Burkley Allen. The amendments will be discussed at Tuesday’s council meeting.
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A new report from Sycamore Institute shows that the proposal for a new Tennessee Titans stadium includes the highest total amount of public subsidies for an NFL stadium at a proposed $1.5 billion while bringing limited public benefit in return.
That commitment was part of $1.5 billion in total stadium commitments lawmakers have made in the past 18 months. In a comparison of 10 new NFL stadium proposals since 2008, the new Nashville stadium includes more total public funding than any previous NFL stadium proposal and includes an estimated 68% public financing, which is higher than any proposal since the $700 million Lucas Oil Stadium built in Indianapolis in 2008, which relied on 86% public financing.
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Tennessee Titans Chief Executive Officer Burke Nihill estimated that Nashville would owe $1.839 billion under the terms of the team’s current lease if Nissan Stadium in Nashville was renovated instead of having a new stadium built.
The estimate is based upon maintenance and a lease stipulation saying the city must pay for capital projects to keep the stadium in “first-class condition to keep pace with comparable facilities.”
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Governor Bill Lee’s office made a presentation to the Tennessee House Finance, Ways, and Means Committee on his $500 billion bond proposal for a new Titans stadium that included several generalizations with very few details.
Commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Finance and Administration Butch Eley, who functions as Lee’s chief financial officer, made the presentation on Tuesday.
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Governor Bill Lee is said to be asking the Tennessee General Assembly to issue $500 million in bonds to help fund a new Tennessee Titans stadium.
First reported by Axios, Governor Lee wants the General Assembly to approve $500 million in bonds, which would be issued by the state and likely repaid by revenue from the new stadium.
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Nashville Mayor John Cooper’s office left the door open on the issue of utilizing taxpayer funding for a new Titans stadium to replace Metro Nashville-owned Nissan Stadium in a comment issued to The Tennessee Star.
“The Mayor’s Office continues to work closely with Titans leadership to find a responsible stadium solution. The Titans are important to Nashville and we know that being here is important to the Titans. Planning is still very much underway, and we do not have new details to share at this time.”
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The Tennessee Titans want a new stadium, switching gears from modernizing Nissan Stadium to making plans to build a new one in the lot next door. It is currently unclear how the team plans to raise the money to pay for it.
the Titans’ president, Burke Nihill, talked about the team’s goals for a new stadium at a March 10, 2022 Metro Nashville Sports Authority Finance Committee meeting. The Titans are reportedly working with Metro Nashville officials on the design and costs for a new stadium which would be located in the parking lots outside the current Nissan Stadium.
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Former Nashville Mayor Phil Bredesen admitted in 1997 that direct economic impact benefits couldn’t justify taxpayer funding for a football stadium.
The then-Mayor Bredesen said in June of 1997, “I can’t justify building a football stadium on direct economic impact. The professors who make a living pooh-poohing that are right. But there are a lot of intangible benefits that make it more than easy to do.”
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Tennessee Titans officials want to renovate Nissan Stadium, but those renovations would likely cost $600 million, and now people are talking about simply constructing another stadium altogether — possibly with money from taxpayers. Nashville’s finances aren’t in the greatest shape.
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Nashville spent nearly $10,000 for 7 hours of live music, cheerleaders, and mascots to celebrate mass vaccinations with the now-suspended Johnson & Johnson vaccine. As The Tennessee Star reported, Mayor John Cooper announced these celebratory aspects of the mass vaccination two days before last month’s event.
According to an invoice obtained by The Star, these were costs incurred by “live music production event support.” The invoice didn’t offer any further details about those costs. The exact total came out to $9,836.47.
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The 10,000 individuals who signed up for the mass vaccination event at the Nissan Stadium will be greeted with fanfare: live music, cheerleaders, and mascots to boot. Nashville Mayor John Cooper issued this announcement in a press release on Thursday, several days ahead of the mass vaccination event on Sunday. The release noted that the Nashville Convention and Visitors Corporation (CVC) and the Tennessee Titans would assist in putting on the “live musical performance.”
The Tennessee Star inquired with the mayor’s office about the cost of this celebratory aspect to the mass vaccination event. Cooper’s spokesperson didn’t respond by press time.
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While the Tennessee Titans and Nashville Mayor John Cooper are talking about renovating Nissan Stadium and extending the team’s lease, a price tag for taxpayers has not been disclosed.
The franchise and the city announced their discussions last week, The Tennessee Star reported. The negotiations have been going on for some time, but the team said it was making the process public, citing a story by The Tennessean. Something should be known in about six months.
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Tennessee Titans officials and members of the Metro Nashville Government reportedly want to upgrade Nissan Stadium. This, according to Thursday’s Tennessean, which reported that Titans’ officials will soon announce formal discussions with Nashville Mayor John Cooper and members of his administration. As the paper reported, they will discuss extending the city’s lease with its NFL franchise. This, “while launching a gigantic project that will – in the words of the team and Cooper himself – ‘secure the Titans’ future’ in Nashville.”
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Live from Music Row Tuesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. – Leahy welcomed in-studio guest Melissa Smithson, Chairman of the Davidson County Republican Party to the show. During the first segment, Smithson updated Leahy on the current depositions taking place in regard to the usage of the Nashville Fairgrounds. Specifically, she noted that light has been shone on how many of the board members were negligent and unknowledgeable of the law, which has allegedly led to manipulated land grab. Leahy: Just joining us now, making the fun of the party, Melissa Smithson, Chairman of the Republican Party in Davidson County. And an all-star panelist with The Tennessee Star Report. Good morning Melissa. Smithson: Good morning. Good morning gentlemen. Roberts: Good morning. It’s good to see you. I haven’t seen you since the campaign season. And I’ve never been on the radio with Melissa before I don’t think. Did we ever do a radio show before? Smithson: No. No. But I’m excited about today. Leahy: It’s a little snappy here. And we’re kind of pushing the edge. But that’s what we…
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Monday morning on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 am to 8:00 am – Leahy and Carmichael were joined in studio by Metro councilman, Steve Glover who broke down the financial situation in Nashville’s water department and how the past three administrations may have brought the city to its fiscal knees.
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Kenny Chesney announces Chillaxification Tour with Florida Georgia Line, Old Dominion, Michael Franti & Spearhead at 20 majors stadiums and more to come.
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If members of the Nashville Metro Council wanted to save taxpayers some money they would have arranged for the city’s Major League Soccer team to play in Nissan Stadium, according to a new column. This, instead, of building a pricey new stadium. Nissan Stadium, of course, is where the Tennessee Titans play for the National Football League. Eric Boehm published his column for Reason before Metro Council members voted 31-8 this week for a $275 million MLS stadium project at the Nashville Fairgrounds. He said his idea, though, makes more sense. “Taxpayers are already on the hook for $300 million in upgrades to Nissan Stadium, home of the National Football League’s Tennessee Titans. That stadium is within walking distance of downtown and could easily be adapted to host soccer games,” Boehm wrote. “In fact, Nissan Stadium has regularly hosted the U.S. men’s and women’s national soccer teams. Teams from the English Premier League, widely regarded as the top soccer league in the world, have played there. It’s also one of the stadiums proposed as a site for the 2026 World Cup. Why exactly does the city need a new soccer-specific stadium?” No one at MLS returned The Tennessee Star’s request for comment on the matter. MLS…
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Kenny Chesney came into Nashville’s Nissan Stadium with two No. 1s in the space of three weeks – sharing David Lee Murphy’s “Everything’s Gonna Be Alright,” then hitting the top of the Country Singles chart for two weeks with his own “Get Along” – and the No. 1 selling debut Songs for the Saints. Anticipation was such that the Tennessee State Highway Commission opened the currently closed for repaving and repair traffic loop for the I-40/24 and I-40/65 splits to ease the burden of traffic for country music lovers attending Nashville’s Trip Around the Sun Tour stop. It was a smart move. Not only did the only country artist on Pollstar’s Top 10 Tours at Mid-Year deliver two high energy hours that included “American Kids,” “Noise,” “Young,” “No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems” and “Get Along” – he broke One Direction’s 2014 record of 54,249 with 55,182 fans in the home of the Tennessee Titans. “There’s a special energy that happens when you’re home,” Chesney said of the show. “This one’s for the people who know you, your team, where these songs come from. When they sing the chorus of ‘American Kids,’ you can feel they know that song in…
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When CMT’s Katie Cook talked of friendship, dreams and hard work, the entire third floor of ACME Feed & Seed burst into cheers. As waiters passed trays of hot chicken’n’waffles and fried green tomatoes, David Lee Murphy and Kenny Chesney were being feted for the feel-good summer anthem “Everything’s Gonna Be Alright,” written by Murphy, Chris Stevens and Jimmy Yeary. “First, I wanna thank Chris and Jimmy. We knew the day we wrote it, this was a hit even if nobody played it,” said Murphy, the man known for “Party Crowd” and “Dust on the Bottle,” to several hundred in attendance. He continued, singling out Reviver Records’ tenacity. “They were tough as can be, and we had a long haul. They’ve worked really hard on this record. We knew it was going to be a fight, but every regional got in there and gave it their all. We said you can run, but you can’t outrun us.” Later Chesney beamed as he took the mic. “This all started three, four years ago, because David Lee would send me all these songs–demos that sounded like records–and he was singing so great. I remember thinking, ‘I’d love to hear that on the…
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Kenny Chesney’s ‘Songs for the Saints’ is an album about the refuges we all have, how temporary life is and the way we navigate to better places, dig in and face the destruction.
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Kenny Chesney releases his “Live from No Shoes Nation” album and announces his “Trip Around the Sun Tour” stadium tour.
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The Grand Prix might come to Nashville. The Metro Nashville Sports Authority on Thursday approved a proposal to bring a motor race to Nissan Stadium in 2019, reports WKRN News 2. The course would be laid out in the parking lots around the stadium. Grand Prix of Nashville is the group behind the plans and still needs to secure funding. Negotiations will be ongoing and the group must seek additional approvals, according to the Nashville Business Journal. The group’s leader is Joe Mattioloi III, who previously leased The Nashville Fairgrounds track and hosted NASCAR-sponsored races there. Other members of the management team include Matt Crews, Mike Gillespie and Tony Cotman. Crews, the vice president of the group, was quoted by WKRN as saying, “Like the Stanley Cup run has shown us, and like the All-Star Game last year, Nashville delivers every time it’s given a shot on the big stage. Fifty percent of the U.S. population lives within 650 miles of here. Nashville has unbelievable experience in producing large events. So, bringing a true international event to this environment sets the Grand Prix up to be one of Nashville’s biggest events, but also sets the Grand Prix up to be one of the…
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