Report: Governor Bill Lee Proposes $500 Million Towards New Titans Stadium

Nissan Stadium. Photo: By Donald Page/Tennessee Titans

As momentum towards the building of a new Titans stadium is growing, Tennessee governor Bill Lee has proposed giving the organization $500 million in bonds, according to a report by Axios Nate Rau.

According to the report, the money given to the Titans will come with a stipulation that the stadium will be domed, with no open-air stadium and no renovations.

These updates come after the Titans initially planned to renovate the stadium for an estimated $600 million, but the organization later discovered the estimate to renovate is close to $1 billion while building a new stadium is about $2 billion.

Mayor John Cooper has made it clear that the city will not be financially supporting the construction of the new stadium, according to the Axios report. Cooper also refused to use public funds to support the construction of the Nashville SC stadium when he initially took office back in 2020.

With a new stadium on the horizon, the Titans, as well as the city, will be aligned with venues like SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas and Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta.

The Titans aren’t the only team in line for a new stadium. The Buffalo Bills are receiving $850 million from the state of New York and Eerie County, as well as a 30-year lease from Governor Kathy Hochul, according to the Buffalo News. The NFL will also loan $200 million to Bills owners Kim and Terry Pegula.

Dates for construction to begin or complete have not been announced. Titans CEO Burke Nihill stated that the organization plans an 18-month design phase and a 30-to-31-month construction phase with the hopes to be completed by 2026, according to a report from the Nashville Post.

The next step is to find the additional funding for the stadium, which may be between $1 billion and $1.5 billion. Any and all decisions will need to be reviewed and approved by the Nashville Sports Authority.

Steven Boero