Nashville is getting a new stadium, with plenty of public money. Which also means that Nashville is eventually getting a Super Bowl.
According to the Tennessean (via Sports Business Daily), a final agreement has been reached on a new $2.1 billion stadium for the Titans. The deal includes a record amount of public (free) money -- “at least” $1.26 billion.
In a vote of 26-12, Nashville City Council approved the deal. The vote came after an “impassioned five-hour public hearing.”
The city, the state, and the team will contribute to the constructions costs. The Titans will kick in $840 million, via NFL loans and Personal Seat License sales. Tennessee will add $500 million in bonds, and the Nashville Sports Authority will provide $760 million in revenue bonds.
At a time when taxpayers still don’t want to subsidize billionaires’ ballparks, these deals keep getting done because the teams and the politicians find a way to bypass the ballot box. If this proposal had been put out to the voters of Tennessee and/or Nashville, it never would have had a chance.
Now, Nashville will have a very good chance -- if not a strong likelihood -- to host a Super Bowl. That still wouldn’t have been enough, frankly, to persuade enough voters to give away $1.2 billion to the Titans.