The NFL’s Tennessee Titans announced that Manica Architecture will prepare the concept for their new stadium. The Kansas City-based firm already has some experience designing impressive sports venues, including a stadium in Las Vegas and an indoor arena in San Francisco.

New home for the Titans

Since 1999, the football team from Nashville has played its home games at Nissan Stadium, which can accommodate 69,143 spectators. The facility is owned by the Metro, which leases it to the Titans. Interestingly, the current deal with the franchise, lasting until 2028, obliges taxpayers to bear the costs of maintaining and upgrading the arena. Titans’ officials regularly meet with Nashville officials to work together to resolve these complicated issues.

© Steven Tilton

Initially, there were plans to renovate Nissan Stadium, but those were abandoned when the estimated costs doubled to $1.2 billion. The new arena is expected to cost about $1.9-2.2 billion to build. The Titans' owners, the Adams family, are expected to contribute $700 million. Tennessee state lawmakers just approved $500 million in bonds to co-finance the investment. 

As it is easy to count, there is still a considerable sum missing to wrap up the budget for the entire project. The city is expected to contribute to the construction, but the Nashville authorities have not yet presented any estimates as to the value of their involvement in the investment or how it will be financed. As one may recall, a similar project in Buffalo was backed by substantial public funding. Other unresolved issues at this stage are: who will own and who will bear the maintenance costs of the proposed new stadium.

© Tim Kernell

Experienced firm to design the venue

Meanwhile, it was announced that Manica Architecture will be responsible for the architectural concept of the new arena. The studio has already designed such venues as the 65,000-seat Allegiant Stadium, where the Las Vegas Raiders play their home games in the NFL, and Chase Center, where the NBA’s Golden State Warriors reside.

The facility would be built where the current parking lots are located between the current home of the Titans and Interstate 24. Team officials hope to have renderings and a design by this fall to determine whether the stadium would have a retractable roof along with the capacity of the auditorium and the final cost. The domed arena would be about 1.7 million sq. ft. (160 000 m2) and would be ready by the start of the 2026 NFL season.

© Paul Nicholson (cc: by-nc)

The construction of the canopy, retractable or not, would allow Nashville to host major sporting events such as Super Bowl and the NCAA Final Four. It's worth remembering that in recent years, the NFL has chosen cities where new arenas have just been completed to host the season's most important contest. In 2018, the Super Bowl took place at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis; a year later, at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta; while the most recent one was played at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood.