The final vote is at hand.
It is first down and goal to goal in the Tennessee Titans’ ownership desire to get a new Nashville football venue. A yea or nay vote is at hand. Titans’ ownership and Mayor John Cooper reached a tentative deal to build a new stadium that needs city council approval. The Titans’ ownership initially wanted to renovate the 24-year-old stadium but then concluded that for a few hundred million dollars more, a new stadium could be built. A yes from the council will cement the date a shovel can be put intothe ground and allow the start of the construction. The proposed stadium will cost at least $2.1 billion. The stadium could open in 2027 and the first big non-football event could be the 2027 WrestleMania event. The stadium will be the recipient of the largest public subsidy ever for an NFL stadium surpassing Las Vegas and Buffalo’s subsidies.
Who is paying the $2.1 billion? The project could end up costing Nashville taxpayers more than $760 million. The deal needed government approval which is why there were public hearings. Titans’ ownership will kick in $840 million with that money coming from personal seat licensing sales and a National Football League loan. Another $1.3 billion will come from the pockets of state taxpayers. Tennessee legislators approved the allocation of $500 million in bonds for the project. The local $760 million needed to complete the stadium would be funded by Metro Sports Authority revenue bonds backed by a new 1% countywide hotel occupancy tax, in-stadium sales taxes and half of the state and local sales tax revenues from a planned 130-acre stadium-village with the stadium as the anchor. Nashville politicians will finally make a yea or nay decision and the Titans’ ownership needs just to get one yard to hit pay dirt.
Evan Weiner’s books are available at iTunes – https://books.apple.com/us/author/evan-weiner/id595575191
Evan can be reached at evan_weiner@hotmail.com
