Blue-Collar Tennessee Titans Fans Getting Priced Out Of Seats At New Nissan Stadium

Image Credit: Tennessee Titans & Canva

The Center Square [By Jon Styf] –

Frank Stiner was excited when he received the invitation to Titans House in late October along with his cousin as they prepared to buy seats at the new Nissan Stadium.

They are original seat holders from the first hour tickets in Nashville went on sale, in the fifth row of the end zone, and were excited to continue that family tradition by expanding their ticket base from two to four.

Instead, they received sticker shock.

Their $750 PSLs, which grant the holder the right to buy tickets for that seat, now would cost $10,000 per seat. They voiced concern over the price increase to a Titans sales representative and, instead of that being the start of a conversation, it was the end.

Stiner and Shea Lee were shown the door after less than 15 minutes and were told they would receive a follow-up email.

“It was kind of unbelievable,” Stiner said. “… We were prepared for an increase, absolutely, we knew they were going to triple or whatever. But when he said that you’re going from $750 a seat to $10,000 a seat, that was just nuts. And there’s no concession for legacy customers or long-time PSL holders.”

If the money was paid right away, the Titans would give the PSL holder 10% off. If not, the PSL can be financed for what Stiner said would have cost $60,000 including interest.

He was later offered a chance at PSLs in a lower price range when the third wave of PSL sales begin.

Stiner said the people who currently sit next to him at Nissan Stadium are teachers and blue collar workers.

“They’re not going to be able to afford that,” Stiner said.

That conversation is one many current Titans ticketholders are having heading into the opening of the new $2.2 billion Nissan Stadium in 2027.

The stadium is paid for through $500 million from the state of Tennessee, $760 million of construction funding through Nashville’s Sports Authority and $975 million from the Titans.

The sport authority funding comes from an estimated $3.1 billion tax capture in the stadium, surrounding area and beyond that will also fund ongoing maintenance and upgrades to the facility over the 30-year lease.

The Titans’ portion will include an estimate $200 million NFL G-4 loan and the money the team makes from naming rights, corporate sponsors and PSL sales.

That’s why it was key for the Titans to sell out of the 137-seat allotment of premium $75,000 PSLs with the best seats, all-inclusive fine dining and a view “so close you can tell if Coach Callahan is wearing cologne,” Titans CEO Burke Nihill told Ramon, Kayla and Will on 104.5 The Zone.

Stiner said that he knows someone who was giving a $108,000 price tag for four club level PSLs.

The team, meanwhile, says that the PSLs will fall in more than 30 different price groups between $750 to $75,000 with more than 40% of the PSLs priced below $3,500.

“The long term loyal fans, the true Titan fans, the guys that tailgate and go out there when it’s 10 degrees outside, those guys are getting pushed out,” Stiner said. “It’s just super disappointing and sad. It’s really a travesty.”

PSLs at the current Nissan Stadium range in price from $250 to $64,000 per seat.

PSL prices do not include the cost of purchasing season tickets each year and do not include parking, which will be limited at the new stadium.

The team announced on Sept. 4 that it had sold out the highest priced premium seat PSLs in three months and would begin selling what it called Wave 2 on the club level and the lower level between the 15-yard lines and end zones.

After Wave 2 is sold, the team will begin selling upper deck seat licenses.

Tennessee Rep. Larry Miller, D-Memphis, confirmed that he is working on a new version of a bill to cap PSL price increases after he proposed a bill earlier this year, which later died in committee, that would have capped PSL price increases to 20% for those who have held PSLs for more than 10 years at the current stadium.

The bill was met with opposition from the Titans, their lobbyists at the state capital and fellow legislators like Rep. Kevin Vaughan, R-Collierville, who said “I can’t support this bill moving forward because it does limit their business opportunities.”

At that point, the Titans had not revealed PSL prices but did tell Miller that 24% of PSL holders are Nashville residents and the other 76% are Tennessee residents.

The Titans have not said how much they plan to make on PSL sales, but it was projected at $270 million at one point during a sports authority work session.

The 137 premium PSLs would bring in nearly $10.3 million. That would mean, on average, the Titans would need to make more than $4,343 per PSL for the new stadium’s other estimated 59,863 seats to make $270 million.

Current PSL holders will receive a credit for the value of their current PSL off the new stadium PSL price that also would be factored into the Titans’ PSL revenue equation. The new PSLs are advertised as being valid for only the 30 years of the new stadium lease.