New Tennessee Titans Stadium Listed As $2.2B Expense In Nashville Budget Document
Photo: Nissan Stadium, Nashville, TN Photo Credit: Nicolas Henderson / CC
The Center Square [By Jon Styf] –
A new Metro Nashville budget request includes $2.2 billion for a new Tennessee Titans stadium.
The project will not be funded by general obligation bonds but instead will be funded through revenue bonds based on sales and use taxes, $500 million from the state of Tennessee and unnamed funding from Titans ownership that would amount to an estimated $700 million.
The Capital Improvements Budget is a wish list of projects that was filed by Nashville Mayor John Cooper and requires approval by the Metropolitan Council.
The budget document said that funding sources would include contributions from the state and team, and revenue bonds from the Sports Authority. This debt service would be backed by user-generated sales tax, tourism-oriented sources such as the Hotel Occupancy Tax and related funds.
The $2.2 billion matches the high range of project estimates that were distributed within the General Assembly in April on a 1.7 million square foot stadium that would be ready for the 2026 NFL season.
Cooper recently wrote an op-ed in the Tennessean about funding for the project, claiming “Under no circumstances will property tax or sales tax increases pay for stadium construction or future stadium maintenance or renovations. The primary funding source for stadium construction will be the Titans and visitors to Nashville and the stadium campus. Taxpayers will be protected in the event of construction overruns.”
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Kennesaw State University (Georgia) economist J.C. Bradbury explained that using specific sales tax is no different than using general fund dollars from the city because it will have the same impact on the city’s budget. Research has shown that replacing the current Titans stadium with a new stadium and building a mixed-use development around that stadium will not increase overall taxable spending in the city.
Instead, it will divert spending from other parts of Nashville to the new development.
“It’s really just sloshing money around like sloshing water in a bucket,” Bradbury explained. “One side becomes deeper, one side shallower.”
He also objected to how the taxes were described in the budget document.
“To describe these funds as deriving from ‘user-generated’ taxes is disingenuous,” Bradbury said. “Are the taxes being collected 8 or 365 days of the year? Are hotel taxes being charged only to out-of-town game patrons? Such phrasing is intentionally deceptive.
“This isn’t a ticket tax. And of course they don’t propose a ticket tax, because that is no different than the team just charging higher prices on its own. The reason other taxes are used is because they need non-customer taxpayers to subsidize the stadium.”
Bradbury called the report on economic impact that lawmakers used while pushing through $500 million in state funding and the new Davidson County hotel tax “hot garbage,” “not credible whatsoever” and a “predatory study” because it was not peer reviewed and it was conducted by an unnamed “predatory consulting firm” that he says was paid to give positive feedback on the economic impact of a new stadium and the current Nissan Stadium.
If a potential $2.2 billion stadium receives just $700 million in funding from Titans ownership, then it would include $1.5 billion of public funding.
“For the past 10 years, the average has been a little bit below half (publicly funded),” Bradbury said. “So, it’s not a great deal. But, what makes this deal even worse is you’re replacing a relatively new stadium.”
Cooper wrote in his op-ed that “Both Nashville and the entire state have benefited tremendously from having the Titans here, and now, we have the opportunity to expand those benefits by getting the city out of the stadium maintenance business.”
Cooper then pointed out that the lease signed by the city for that stadium included taxpayer-funded maintenance on the stadium through 2038.
Bradbury objected to Nissan Stadium being considered a success.
“It’s not a success if it’s already costing you money after 25 years,” Bradbury said. “You can’t say that.”
About the Author: Jon Styf, The Center Square Staff Reporter – Jon Styf is an award-winning editor and reporter who has worked in Illinois, Texas, Wisconsin, Florida and Michigan in local newsrooms over the past 20 years, working for Shaw Media, Hearst and several other companies. Follow Jon on Twitter @JonStyf.
Great article – thank you Jon Styf and TN Conservative News.
Kennesaw State University (Georgia) economist J.C. Bradbury is smart.
I’m not surprised that Nashville is dumb enough to pay for a new stadium, but I’m surprised that Gov. Lee is donating $500 million of TN taxpayers money. As for his claims that “revenues” will pay the cost, I checked the revenue projections and they aren’t credible – I think they were made up – please ask J.C. Bradbury to take a look at them. I’m upset that Gov. Lee is having TN taxpayers pay for $500 million of a stadium.
25 years ago we left Nashville because Bredesen was building a new Downtown Arena and a $100 million library, but the school our son attended didn’t have enough money to buy books – Nashville had the wrong priorities then and still does. When people have kids, those who can will leave Nashville. Private schools are now $30,000 per student and very competitive.
It’s not a expense It’s a bottomless PIT on Tax Payers.
What do the taxpayers really get for their money? Only one answer- NOTHING! The average person can’t even afford one ticket to a game let alone for an entire family. Especially with a recession on the horizon. I for one have stop watching the nfl a few years ago. And I don’t even miss it. When they basically say I’m a racist with their claim that America is inherently racist. Then their support of blm and the painting on the fields with slogans as “end racism”. That was the nail in coffin for them. Why are most of the players in the nfl millionaires, if America is so racist. Let the team owner pay for the new stadium. They have more than even money. Look how much they pay the players. They reap the benefits and the taxpayer gets stuck with the Huge bill! Kennesaw State University (Georgia) economist J.C. Bradbury is absolutely correct with his assessment. Sad that every single taxpayer in Tennessee is paying for this and not even seeing a return on their investment.
In God we trust nongovernment or man.
Here again we have a RINO like Bill Lee out serving private National Felon League Interests at the expense of taxpayers . I totally agree and appreciate the assessment of Economist J.C. Bradbury . I say if the Communist NFL wants a new stadium let them pay for it themselves . Leave me out . I will never ever go to a National Felon League game anyway with their filthy ” woke agenda ” . If the State of Tennessee has that much money to waste on a stadium for all the millionaire communists in the NFL , I say use that money and subsidize private schools in order to get our children out of the Public School System’s Communist Indoctrination Centers .