Expanded Tennessee Titans Sales Tax Deal Goes To Lee For Approval
Photo: Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tennessee
Photo Credit: Public Domain
Published May 3, 2021
By Jon Styf [The Center Square contributor] –
A sales tax deal that eventually could be worth an estimated $10 million annually for the Tennessee Titans unanimously passed the Tennessee Senate and is headed to Gov. Bill Lee.
The Titans already were able to use sales tax revenue from sales at all Nissan Stadium events to pay debt service on the stadium’s 30-year bonds. The legislation, which cleared the Senate on Thursday, will allow for an additional $2 million in tax dollars each year to go back to the Titans for stadium improvements.
That amount will rise to an estimated $5.4 million annually after fiscal year 2029, when the bonds are paid off.
Sen. Jack Johnson, R-Franklin, said the deal will put the Titans in line with the state’s other professional sports franchises.
The Titans, however, also will be able to retain 50% of the sales tax from a proposed East Bank development on its 130 acres of land near Nissan Stadium.
The bill said plans for the 130 acres around the stadium could “include hotels, retail establishments, eating and drinking places, and other similar establishments.” Once those are in place, the annual sales tax amount given back to the team is estimated to be $10 million.
Sen. Bo Watson, R-Hixson, compared the deal with one approved last week for the minor league baseball Tennessee Smokies’ new stadium and multi-use development surrounding it in East Knoxville.
“We have created templates that will now guide us in the future with these complexes,” Watson said.
The state takes in an average of $5.4 million a year from sales tax revenue at Nissan Stadium. Of that, $3.6 million has been used for stadium bond debt repayment, and the rest has remained in the state account for repayment.
A 2017 study suggested Nissan Stadium, which opened in 1999, is in need of $300 million in upgrades. The tax deal was the result of talks between Lee and his staff, the Titans and the sports authority that oversees the stadium.
The bill keeps the sales tax plan in place as long as the Titans continue their lease at Nissan Stadium.
No special deal for the National Felony League. NO SUBSIDIZING of disrespectful disgusting overpaid professional athletic idiots.
If someone wants to watch this kind of crap they should pay the full cost of seeing it as in a user fee for entrance to games or to see such a mess on TV. I want nothing to do with professional sports, EVER !!!
I don’t want my tax dollar supporting such a bunch of useless Marxist idiots so they can show their disrespect for my country
WHY MUST CITIZENS WHO DO NOT USE THE FACILITIES OR GO TO THESE SPORT EVENTS HAVE TO SUFFER AND PAY TAXESFOR THESE PLACES? IF THEY NEED MONEY CUT OUT SOME OF THE OUTRAGEOUS SALARIES OF ALL PLAYERS CONCERNED NO MATTER THE GAME. STOP BUILDING STADIUMS. OUR EDUCIATION SUSTEM SUCKS. PEOPLE OUT OF WORK. FAMILIES RELYING ON FOOD BANKS TO LIVE. SEEMS TO ME MORE CONCERN FOR AVERAGE CITIZENS AND LESS FOR THE BIG MONIED LEAGUES WOULD BE MORE BENIFICIAL TO TN.