Tennessee taxpayers shouldn’t foot the bill for the Titans’ new stadium |Opinion

Nashville has more pressing issues than handing hundreds of millions of dollars to replace a perfectly good stadium.

Tori Venable
Guest Columnist
  • Tori Venable is a Nashville native and state director of Americans for Prosperity-Tennessee.

Just a few months ago, the Tennessee Titans were discussing $600 million worth of renovations to their 23-year-old stadium, with the taxpayers of Nashville picking up part of the tab. In the blink of an eye, that figure has doubled, to at least $1.2 billion, as the team and the city contemplate not a refurbishment of Nissan Stadium, but instead building an entirely new facility.  

The price tag is now approaching $2 billion, with Gov. Bill Lee apparently asking the state to kick in $500 million.

During a time of soaring inflation and record-high gas prices, the governor has proposed a one-month grocery sales tax holiday. This might save the average family a few bucks, but it's insulting to, at the same time, propose giving away millions, if not billions of taxpayer resources to a select few beneficiaries.

The team, the owners, the developers, and government stand to benefit. You’ll foot a large part of the bill and get …well, not much in return except a larger tax bill and reduced public services. 

Taxpayer-funded sports arenas are a boondoggle, and Tennesseans know it. 

Whatever the sport, wherever the location, it’s true across major league and minor league cities, from Tampa Bay to Chicago, from Des Moines to Albuquerque, from Chicago (again) to, yes, Nashville. 

Study after study over several years have found that new stadiums, ballparks, and arenas do not contribute to economic growth. Costs outweigh benefits, profits are privatized while losses are shared, and taxpayers are left holding the bag. 

“A new empirical study for the Mercatus Center at George Mason University finds that there is still little evidence that building stadiums or arenas for professional sports franchises leads to significant economic benefits,” writes University of Maryland researcher Dennis Coates. “Sports-initiated development is unlikely to make a community wealthier, and subsidizing professional sports teams may actually reduce economic growth.” 

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New stadium is the Titans' responsibility

The Titans are worth an estimated $2.6 billion. The team’s revenue for the 2020 season totaled $354 million. They have enough capital and enough cash flow — and the monopolistic protection of the National Football League to boot — to renovate Nissan Stadium or build a new stadium if the team’s owners think that’s the best way to go.  

Titans fans cheer during the AFC divisional playoff game against the Bengals at Nissan Stadium Saturday, Jan. 22, 2022 in Nashville, Tenn.

But if they think so, then they need to be willing to foot the bill. 

I’m a football fan. I’d love to watch the Titans play in a shiny new stadium. It would be great to see such a stadium host a future Super Bowl. Maybe Ryan Tannehill could lead the Titans to a homefield Lombardi Trophy, as Tom Brady and Matthew Stafford have done the last two seasons in Tampa and Los Angeles. 

But I would not like to see the taxpayers of Nashville, Davidson County, or Tennessee forced to pay for that stadium. That’s the responsibility of the team’s owners, just as it should be for any business that wants to improve or expand its facilities. 

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Tennesseans have better things to worry about

The reality is that Nashville has more pressing issues than handing hundreds of millions of dollars to the owners of a private business to replace a perfectly good stadium. 

We have a homelessness problem that multiple city officials claim is their top priority.  We have some of the worst public schools in the state.  We have skyrocketing housing costs. We have a soaring violent crime rate.  

Tori Venable

These are the priorities the city government should focus on. Taxpayer money should be used to address the problems of ordinary citizens and to pay for the real responsibilities of the government like education and public safety.   

Government should not be in the business of subsidizing billionaires. 

Look, if I owned the Titans, I’d be asking the city to subsidize me, too. Who wouldn’t? The problem here is not “greedy” owners; it’s profligate politicians. The owners are looking out for themselves. The politicians are supposed to be looking out for you. 

Are they? Does spending hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars on a football stadium sound like good stewardship of your hard-earned money? 

The Titans are a civic treasure. But they are not a civic responsibility.  

If they want a new stadium, let them find the revenue to pay for it without further burdening Tennessee taxpayers. 

Tori Venable is a Nashville native and state director of Americans for Prosperity-Tennessee.