Titans Exploring Option Of Building New Stadium In Nashville
The Titans' 23-year run at Nissan Stadium in Nashville could be coming to an end in the near future, as new reports say the team is exploring the option of building a new stadium.
According to Axios Nashville, recent talks with the Titans and Mayor John Cooper's administration have indicated that the price of renovations is much more than previously thought to be. After The Tennessean reported last month that the cost of renovations would be $600 million, a Titans spokesperson told Axios that the actual cost is nearly double of that.
"We need to take a step back and re-evaluate if a stadium renovation is the most responsible option forward and explore other paths," the Titans said. "For example, the stadium's structural frame was built with concrete and needs to be largely replaced with steel. The mechanical, plumbing, and electrical systems need to be completely replaced.
"The window system throughout the building is so antiquated that it is not even manufactured anymore."
A new stadium would be right on par with the Titans' plans to revamp the riverfront in East Nashville with a mixed-use redevelopment project, per Axios. While officials didn't specify if the new stadium would be a dome or remain open-air, there are a few advantages to going with a roof.
Having a dome would open Nashville up to the possibility of hosting future Super Bowls, NCAA Championship games, WWE Wrestlemania and winter-time concerts. Such events would increase the overall tax benefit to the city. Stadium costs, however, would be higher.
"Revised cost estimates require us to closely review whether a new stadium would be a better long-term financial decision," Cooper said in a statement to Axios. "We won't settle for anything but the best-case scenario for Nashville."
OutKick's Clay Travis has been banging the drum for a domed stadium and discussed the potential benefits on OutKick The Show Thursday. In a series of tweets while in Los Angeles last week for Super Bowl LVI, Travis declared that "now is the time" to get a new domed stadium in Nashville.
"Out here in LA for the Super Bowl & been thinking more and more about @Titans plan to renovate existing stadium," Travis wrote. "That’s needed, but it isn’t bold enough or forward thinking enough. We need to build our own new domed stadium downtown in Nashville. Now’s the time.
"This is a thirty year decision. Nashville would get the Super Bowl, the college football national title game, the Final Four, the World Cup, Wrestlemania, you name a big sports event and we would host it. City, state & team need to come together & build a dome. Now is the time."
While the NFL successfully pulled off hosting Super Bowl XLVIII outdoors at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey in February of 2014 and avoided elements such as snow, the game was the third-coldest (49 degrees) Super Bowl in history. The NFL has remained in domes and in warm weather cities for every Super Bowl since.
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