Yesterday morning it looked like $500 million in Tennessee Titans stadium funding was going to sail through the state legislature so easily that I’d already started drafting a post about it, and J.C. Bradbury had gone and updated his stadium subsidy database. Then this happened:
State funding for a new Tennessee Titans stadium hit its first roadblock on Wednesday when the state’s Senate Finance, Ways and Means Committee removed approval for $500 million in bonds from its budget appropriations….
“I think the Titans are certainly a very good asset to the city and the state,” said Sen. Joey Hensley, R-Hohenwald. “Studies have shown time and again that new stadiums do not significantly increase economic impact going forward. The Titans are worth $2.6 billion and $300 to $400 million a year in revenue … if they need a new stadium, it should built by private entities and not by the taxpayers.”
Wha happen? The Tennessean speculates that senate majority leader Jack Johnson removed the funding because he’s facing a primary challenge from a guy who seems to think the pandemic was a false flag operation and “some conservative groups” have opposed the Titans subsidies, so, sure, maybe?
In any event, this is far from the end of the road for Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee’s plans to give half a billion dollars to the Titans owners — which, let’s not forget, would come along with maybe $700 million or so in city money as well — as the state house rejected amendments to strip the money from the budget, so if things stand like this the $500 million will be hashed out in conference committee between the two legislative bodies. But it’s at least a mild speed bump, which is more than it looked like any stadium subsidies would be facing after the Buffalo Bills owners’ big win, so glass one-tenth full, that’s what I always say!