ORLANDO – A historic moment for the Titans, and the city of Nashville, took place last month with the groundbreaking on a new, domed stadium.
Expected completion date: 2027.
Could a Super Bowl in Music City be far behind?
The Titans are super excited about their chances.
"I feel very optimistic about it," Titans President and Chief Executive Office Burke Nihill said from the NFL owners meetings. "I think the NFL loves Nashville, and they love the design of the new stadium. That doesn't mean there aren't many, many details to work out to ultimately get awarded a Super Bowl.
"But I am absolutely optimistic that at some point the Super Bowl will (be) in Nashville."
Dates for the next three Super Bowls are already on the schedule:
LIX, 2025: Caesars Superdome, New Orleans
LX, 2026: Levi's Stadium, Santa Clara, California
LXI, 2027: SoFi Stadium, Inglewood, California
Nihill believes the most realistic first opportunity for a Super Bowl in Nashville would be in 2029.
"Traditionally, the league doesn't award a new stadium (a Super Bowl) until it has had two full seasons of operation," Nihill said, "which means the earliest they would consider us, if they start with that same line of thinking, would be 2029."
The seating capacity for new Nissan Stadium is expected to be around 60,000, although standing room only tickets would allow for more.
The attendance for Super Bowl LV at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas in February was 61,629. Attendance for Super Bowl LIV at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens in 2020 was 62,417.
Nihill said the Titans remain in dialogue with league officials about the possibility of a Super Bowl in Nashville.
"We have great relationships with (the NFL)," Nihill said. "We have been talking with them from the beginning about this being a stadium where the NFL should host a Super Bowl and we are very active in those conversations in trying to put ourselves in the best position to get a Super Bowl as soon as possible."
Nihill said the city is always looking for ways to bring big events to town. In addition to Super Bowls, Final Fours, College Football Playoff games and Wrestlemania are also desired events.
The 2019 NFL Draft in Nashville holds records for both attendance and economic impact for a host city. When the new stadium is completed, the Titans will look to host the draft again at some point, but the pursuit of a Super Bowl is now on center stage.
"We'll recruit all NFL events, the draft again, Pro Bowl, (NFL) Combine," Nihill said. "We sent a group to (Indianapolis) for the combine (recently) to learn more about it, and put ourselves in a position to make a solid run at it when the new stadium opens up. We're interested in all NFL events, big events."
