Taxpayers to pay $1B in interest on new Titans stadium, as team value spikes from project

In the span of one week, the Tennessee Titans team value increased $900 million, while the finalizing of bond documents show taxpayers are on the hook for nearly $1.1 billion in interest payments as part of the team’s new taxpayer-funded stadium.

Metro Nashville issued $705.4 million in bonds for the stadium, estimating they’ll pay $837.6 million in interest over 30 years. The state of Tennessee issued $452.7 million in bonds over 20 years, expecting to pay $230.2 million in interest.

The bond issuances were the final step in the deal to build a new NFL stadium for the Tennessee Titans, which state lawmakers approved in 2022 and the Metro Nashville Council cleared in April.

The stadium deal, with interest, will cost taxpayers nearly $2.3 billion.

The team and NFL are contributing $840 million to the project. The bonding documents suggest the team expects to generate $350 million of its contributions by selling personal seat licenses, a flat one-time fee ticketholders pay to have the right to buy season tickets.

What happens when a cash-poor billionaire wants a new sports stadium? Lobbying.

With an NFL loan and seat licenses, the Titans owners, Amy Adams Strunk and her family, personal contribution could be less than $200 million, or less than 10% of the projects sticker price of $2.2 billion.

The stadium deal at least partially factored into Forbes, estimating the Titans team value at $4.4 billion. Since 2019, the team’s value has doubled, according to Forbes.

NFL teams are the most valuable sports franchises because TV contracts guarantee each team a minimum of $300 million per year.