In the early hours of Wednesday, the Tennessee Titans’ new $2.1 billion stadium cleared its second of three hurdles from the Metro Nashville Council.
The vote was 25 for the stadium and 11 against.
But before the council’s final vote on Tuesday, the body will hold a public hearing that day for stadium proponents and opponents to voice their views.
A similar attempt to trigger a public hearing two weeks ago failed by a single vote. This time seven council members — Jonathan Hall, Tonya Hancock, Kevin Rhoten, Mary Carolyn Roberts, Robert Swope, Brett Withers and Zach Young — stood in the way, while 26 supported a hearing.
(READ MORE: Chattanooga Lookouts stadium site picked on old foundry land)
Broad strokes of the stadium deal have been in place for over a year. The state will contribute $500 million, Metro Nashville $760 million and the Titans/NFL $840 million to the multibillion-dollar project. At $1.26 billion, it’s the most expensive public subsidy for a sports stadium ever.
The public has had some opportunity to comment on the deals during several public hearings held by a council committee last year. But the hearing on Tuesday will give residents one last chance to weigh in.
A poll released by Vanderbilt University on Wednesday showed 52% of respondents in Nashville were against the deal.
Nashville Mayor John Cooper’s administration and the Titans negotiated the new stadium deal after a report they commissioned showed building a new stadium was more cost-effective than remodeling the current one, which they said would cost an estimated $1.8 billion.
Several council members and economists have cast doubt on these claims, pointing to remodels of stadiums built around the same time as the current facility costing significantly less.
To pay for the stadium, Nashville and the state agreed to raise the city’s hotel-motel tax by 1% and set aside a significant portion of the sales tax revenue from the stadium and the surrounding 130 acres in a special fund to pay for it.
(READ MORE: Pork Report hits planned Chattanooga Lookouts stadium)
By using sales and a hotel-motel tax to pay for the stadium, the deal will require 21 votes to pass the council rather than the usual 27 votes.
The Titans’ portion of the money will come from personal cash, personal seat license sales and an NFL contribution. In the past, the NFL has contributed $200 million to other stadium projects.
Personal seat licenses have been known to generate additional revenue; the Las Vegas Raiders’ new stadium brought in $549 million in seat license fees.
Rent changes
The biggest contention at the second hearing was over an amendment by council member Brandon Taylor. The amendment restructures the team’s rent from $3 for every ticket sold at non-NFL events to a 3% fee that would eventually rise to 10% over the course of seven years.
It would also direct the money into the city’s general fund, bringing in $470 million by some estimates over 30 years.
Lobbyists for the team and concert promoters fought to remove the amendment, eventually pushing through their own amendment to establish a 3% fee for tickets over $100 and $3 for those under.
(READ MORE: Chattanooga Red Wolves growing stadium capacity, adding amenities)
The new amendment, crafted by council member Jennifer Gamble, also exempted many events from the fee that weren’t in the original amendment, such as college events like the SEC football championship, Final Four and Music City Bowl, as well as any Country Music Association event, Academy of Country Music event, Grammy Awards and WWE special event.
The council passed the amendment by a 23-13 vote.
Gamble initially wanted the money to go into the Nashville Impact Fund, but an approved amendment from council member Freddie O’Connell would direct it into the city’s main fund.
Estimates are it could generate $120 million over 30 years.
Read more at TennesseeLookout.com.