Report: Nissan Stadium Needs $293.2M in Upgrades

The Tennessean is reporting that a study commission by the City of Nashville is indicating that Nissan Stadium is in need of $293.2M worth of improvements over the next 20 years to extend the life of the stadium.

The recent updates to the stadium have helped, but more is going to be needed if the Titans want to keep pace with modern NFL stadiums and earn more chances to attract major events. A Super Bowl would be fantastic here, but the city still has some way to go to reach the minimum available hotel room threshold as well as improving the stadium itself.

Dan Bradley, a writer for the Predators SB Nation site On The Forecheck, suggested updating Nissan Stadium and setting it up to serve as a professional soccer stadium as well.

Nashville is currently in the very preliminary stages of finding a site for a new stadium to house a pro soccer team with the hopes of eventually landing an MLS team here. Mayor Barry recently proposed the old Nashville Fairgrounds as a site for the new stadium, but a soccer only stadium could cost the city up to $150M based on the most recent stadium built in Minnesota, but many other cities are opting for dual-purpose stadiums for both NFL and MLS teams such as Seattle, Atlanta, and Foxborough (New England). Its an idea that could save the city quite a bit of money.

The Titans replaced all of the seats in the stadium last offseason as well as adding some new paint and cosmetic features to both the exterior and interior of the building, but this report goes further with its recommendations. The Tennessean article specifically points to a few areas of improvement that were recommended in the 200 page document. Broadcast cables, available camera locations, lighting, and architectural features are all major points in the article in addition to general mechanical, electrical, and plumbing upgrades.

A few items that I would love to see improved:

1. Add a roof or shades of some kind

Day games played in August, September, October, and part of November are often extremely hot with little to no shelter from the sun available. Last season’s game against the Raiders was the hottest kickoff in the history of the stadium and it helped contribute to a less than enthusiastic atmosphere. The Vikings and Colts games were similarly sweltering. All three of those games featured a lot of fans in the club lounge or concourses avoiding the heat. Enclosing the stadium may be prohibitively expensive, but adding shades similar to what the Dolphins did before last season seems like a good alternative.

Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports

2. Get rid of the dollhouses

Seriously, what’s up with those? They just seem out of place and don’t tie in to anything related to the Titans or Nashville. Can we do something else with that prime real estate?

Jim Brown-USA TODAY Sports

3. Add some sort of distinguishing feature

This could tie in with either item #1 or #2, but Nissan Stadium is very plain as it stands now. It was originally built under a very tight budget and it shows. It’s not that the stadium looks bad, its just that it is generic. The new red paint on the outside of the stadium and the “TITANS” word logo in the east bowl are cool, but the stadium needs something that makes it unique.

What would you like to see changed at Nissan Stadium?