Soccer in Nashville

[nashvylle]

17 minutes ago, PaulChinetti said:

They are wider but they way fewer players/staff so the sidelines are much smaller. Small goal instead of a big ole end zone, etc etc.

 

If the Titans/NashvilleSC partnered and did some creative improvements to Nissan Stadium, the game day atmosphere would improve drastically. 

#1- make the endzone seating much steeper (see Minnesota United FC as an example). 
#2- get rid of the dumb logan's roadhouse type concession stands and recreate a Broadway honky tonk atmosphere that locals and tourists can enjoy. Make these eating areas / bars multiple levels and keep them open for non-game days too to generate more revenue.
#3- add some sort of seat cover via Miami Hard Rock Stadium (which Titans owner stated she was intrigued by) or like Minnesota United below. 
#4- have a creative way to cover up the upper deck seating, via Atlanta United.

 

 

Edited February 7, 2020 by nashvylle

[titanhog]

I keep hearing people say that SMI came along after the MLS proposal was made...but I'm pretty sure SMI has been trying to get involved in this racetrack before the MLS proposal ever came about.

[UTgrad09]

8 minutes ago, titanhog said:

I keep hearing people say that SMI came along after the MLS proposal was made...but I'm pretty sure SMI has been trying to get involved in this racetrack before the MLS proposal ever came about.

Okay, say that is the case, and previous administrations did not let them get a Fair shot. 

That's fine. Make the negotiations public. Otherwise it looks like they are trying to undermine another deal.

[titanhog]

6 minutes ago, UTgrad09 said:

Okay, say that is the case, and previous administrations did not let them get a Fair shot. 

That's fine. Make the negotiations public. Otherwise it looks like they are trying to undermine another deal.

I don't disagree with you there.  Just stating that SMI has wanted to be involved there for a while now.  

[nashvylle]

1 minute ago, titanhog said:

I don't disagree with you there.  Just stating that SMI has wanted to be involved there for a while now.  

They wanted the contract to operate the track (their proposal was when Barry was mayor) but the contract was awarded to Formosas because SMI wanted $30-$60MM in improvements. 

[Melrose]

2 minutes ago, nashvylle said:

They wanted the contract to operate the track (their proposal was when Barry was mayor) but the contract was awarded to Formosas because SMI wanted $30-$60MM in improvements. 

Right.  And their losing bid was to run 25  actual races/events per year (there are about 10 now), and to be able to rent the track out for cars to practice constantly.  This was not a reasonably possible attempt at "being involved".

[DDIG]

24 minutes ago, Melrose said:

Right.  And their losing bid was to run 25  actual races/events per year (there are about 10 now), and to be able to rent the track out for cars to practice constantly.  This was not a reasonably possible attempt at "being involved".

So that begs the question what is the community input necessary there? That's a growing area with more families coming in - If we are ramping up to 25 races a year is pretty serious noise pollution. You can hear the track well into Green Hills when it is running. 

[UTgrad09]

Clay Travis is discussing the soccer stadium and racetrack at the Fairgrounds on 104.5 right now.  Think of him what you will, but I think he makes some great points. Listen to the podcast later today.

I think the majority of Nashvillians want both things to happen.  Instead of picking sides, the mayor needs to bring everyone together.

[Melrose]

2 minutes ago, DDIG said:

So that begs the question what is the community input necessary there? That's a growing area with more families coming in - If we are ramping up to 25 races a year is pretty serious noise pollution. You can hear the track well into Green Hills when it is running. 

Exactly, there needs to be community input and a transparent process.   Having only local level racing, like there has been for 40 years,  for 10 races a year and having curfews and some other community considerations in the mix are one thing. The SMI stuff is totally different and would need to be vetted out with clear limits on the front end, otherwise they are going to do whatever they want.  .  

[markhollin]

This may have been posted already, but here is info on the lawsuit to block the MLS Stadium going to trial:

https://wpln.org/post/nashville-judge-says-lawsuit-to-block-mls-stadium-will-go-to-trial/

[Armacing]

2 hours ago, nashvylle said:

that is true for some nfl stadiums, but Nissan was designed for soccer, too (field dimension wise, not seating wise)

 

2 hours ago, PaulChinetti said:

They are wider but they way fewer players/staff so the sidelines are much smaller. Small goal instead of a big ole end zone, etc etc.

Thanks for the responses, guys.  Honestly, I'm blown away by this revelation.  Here we are talking about the cost of building a soccer stadium and renovating tiny race tracks and renovating flea market shacks.  All stuff that sounds ridiculous to me when I become aware of the fact that we already have an existing facility downtown that can accommodate soccer and is ready to go right now. 

I mean seriously, what is the point of building a stadium on the fairgrounds?  It doesn't even take a billionaire to bring soccer to Nashville if they use Nissan stadium.  Maybe only a millionaire could swing that deal.  Zero dollars in capital outlay - only the cost of operations.  Pay the players, pay the coaches, pay some administrative staff.  Small budget for advertising and travel.  This does not need to be a capital-intensive fiasco with publicly issued bonds and new laws passed by the council and land disputes and lawsuits and all that jazz.  Just sign a lease to use Nissan and make sure the home-game schedule doesn't conflict with the Titan's home-game schedule and you're done.  Am I wrong here?

[nashvylle]

2 minutes ago, Armacing said:

I mean seriously, what is the point of building a stadium on the fairgrounds?  It doesn't even take a billionaire to bring soccer to Nashville if they use Nissan stadium.  Maybe only a millionaire could swing that deal.  Zero dollars in capital outlay - only the cost of operations.  Pay the players, pay the coaches, pay some administrative staff.  Small budget for advertising and travel.  This does not need to be a capital-intensive fiasco with publicly issued bonds and new laws passed by the council and land disputes and lawsuits and all that jazz.  Just sign a lease to use Nissan and make sure the home-game schedule doesn't conflict with the Titan's home-game schedule and you're done.  Am I wrong here?

MLS required a soccer specific stadium for new expansion teams for several reasons:

- Did not want games to be played in huge stadiums half full
- Wanted teams to have full control of revenue from stadium
- Wanted teams to have full control of scheduling 

Those were MLS guidelines. You can agree with them or disagree, but those were their guidelines, and the council had months to review the proposal, critique the proposal, and voted to approve that proposal. $150MM expansion fee was paid based on that approval.

 

[Armacing]

2 hours ago, UTgrad09 said:

John Ingram... He has the means to bring it... It's a business transaction. I'll build you a stadium if you give me a means to finance it... he may be a billionaire, but this is business, not charity. An MLS team is beneficial to the city.

Wow, and to think of all those other investors around town who have been renovating houses and starting new restaurants and all the other things they do, all of it without any pay-back from the city!  And those things are beneficial to the city!  What a bunch of suckers those guys are.

John Ingram is the only true business man in these parts:  He knows the only money that counts as "profit" is the money you get from investing someone else's money.  Any money you earn from investing your own money is just "charity".

[UTgrad09]

Joe Rexrode has an excellent piece in The Athletic. I won't post the entire piece for obvious reasons, but this is an important excerpt from Fair Board Commissioner Jason Bergeron in regards to SMI:

 

 

Bergeron met with SMI representatives in May and July, including Jerry Caldwell, executive vice president and GM of Bristol Motor Speedway. An initial rendering of their plan for a $60 million track infringed on the soccer stadium boundaries. They came up with a new rendering, Bergeron said, that did not infringe — in other words, that did not include Parcel 8c.

“They repeatedly said, ‘We understand, that’s do-able,'” Bergeron said of SMI reps on those boundaries, which apparently are no longer acceptable.

That rendering remains the only firm details of SMI’s plan that Bergeron has received.

“I told them repeatedly ‘You guys will have to have a community benefits agreement yourself, and as far as I’m concerned your agreement will have to guarantee you won’t undermine (the agreement) that is in place for soccer,” Bergeron said. “They did not want to talk about any of that. It was ‘Yeah, sure, whatever.’ It was pretty clear they didn’t want to engage in those talks. They want control 365 days a year. They don’t want just one or two weekends (of NASCAR). They want to be racing there in varying forms for 60, 70, 80 nights a year, far more than has ever been done.”

6 minutes ago, Armacing said:

Wow, and to think of all those other investors around town who have been renovating houses and starting new restaurants and all the other things they do, all of it without any pay-back from the city!  And those things are beneficial to the city!  What a bunch of suckers those guys are.

John Ingram is the only true business man in these parts:  He knows the only money that counts as "profit" is the money you get from investing someone else's money.  Any money you earn from investing your own money is just "charity".

This response is dumb. Try harder.

[nashvylle]

5 minutes ago, Armacing said:

Wow, and to think of all those other investors around town who have been renovating houses and starting new restaurants and all the other things they do, all of it without any pay-back from the city!  And those things are beneficial to the city!  What a bunch of suckers those guys are.

John Ingram is the only true business man in these parts:  He knows the only money that counts as "profit" is the money you get from investing someone else's money.  Any money you earn from investing your own money is just "charity".

Bringing a major league soccer team to Nashville is different from a house renovation and a new restaurant in dozens of ways, one of which is a $150MM expansion fee is not required to renovate a house or start a restaurant. Also, tons and tons and tons of people make a profit using other people's money... especially those renovated homes and starting restaurants. 

[DMilner]

If they think they’re going to race 80 nights a year, they have another thing coming. 

[DDIG]

5 minutes ago, DMilner said:

If they think they’re going to race 80 nights a year, they have another thing coming. 

Absolutely hilarious that the Mayor said signs at Nashville Yards would turn Nashville into a carnival but is OK with the sounds of engines firing pouring through Nashville neighborhoods 80 days a year.

[Armacing]

11 minutes ago, DMilner said:

If they think they’re going to race 80 nights a year, they have another thing coming. 

The city needs to specify all races must be with 100% electric vehicles!

14 minutes ago, nashvylle said:

 Also, tons and tons and tons of people make a profit using other people's money... especially those renovated homes and starting restaurants. 

Really?  How do they get ahold of other people's money to use in their investments?

[nashvylle]

2 minutes ago, Armacing said:

Really?  How do they get ahold of other people's money to use in their investments?

We are getting of track of subject here, but it's called a fund. A General Partner (GP) will put together a pitchbook and send it out to family, friends, or more institutional investors to become a Limited Partner (LP). The pitch book states what the investment is (build a home, renovate a home, start a restaurant) and how the GP is going to use the LP's money and how are they are going to make more money for the LP.

Please message me personally if you want to continue this conversation so others don't have to read off topic issues. 

[Armacing]

4 minutes ago, nashvylle said:

We are getting of track of subject here, but it's called a fund. A General Partner (GP) will put together a pitchbook ...

OK, you make it sound so complicated, but the simple answer is "they find investors".  Don't worry, we'll bring it right back on topic here.  Either A) Ingram is philosophically opposed to finding investors to help fund his project, or B) every investor he approached said "No".  Those are relevant pieces of information that need to be tacked on to that commentary about how the soccer stadium is just "a business transaction".

[UTgrad09]

3 minutes ago, Armacing said:

OK, you make it sound so complicated, but the simple answer is "they find investors".  Don't worry, we'll bring it right back on topic here.  Either A) Ingram is philosophically opposed to finding investors to help fund his project, or B) every investor he approached said "No".  Those are relevant pieces of information that need to be tacked on to that commentary about how the soccer stadium is just "a business transaction".

I'll go with C) you're clueless.

[nashvylle]

1 minute ago, Armacing said:

OK, you make it sound so complicated, but the simple answer is "they find investors".  Don't worry, we'll bring it right back on topic here.  Either A) Ingram is philosophically opposed to finding investors to help fund his project, or B) every investor he approached said "No".  Those are relevant pieces of information that need to be tacked on to that commentary about how the soccer stadium is just "a business transaction".

He has market street enterprises and the wilf family as his partners/investors. They are all paying down 100% of the financing of the stadium, 100% of the mixed used development funding, 100% of the expansion fee, and 100% of the soccer operations. 

This is all public information that can be found online. 

If you do not like the deal that was made with council, that's fine! but find your council member, see how he or she voted, and remember that when you vote next time. 

 

[Armacing]

10 minutes ago, nashvylle said:

He has market street enterprises and the wilf family as his partners/investors. They are all paying down 100% of the financing of the stadium, 100% of the mixed used development funding, 100% of the expansion fee, and 100% of the soccer operations. 

And yet, they couldn't come up with enough financing to buy the land it all sits on.  What a shame.... so close.

[UTgrad09]

1 minute ago, Armacing said:

And yet, they couldn't come up with enough financing to buy the land it all sits on.  What a shame.... so close.

I don't know if you're purposefully being dense or just trying to create some revisionist history.

[nashvylle]

2 minutes ago, Armacing said:

And yet, they couldn't come up with enough financing to buy the land it all sits on.  What a shame.... so close.

They didn't need to- they got it approved without having to purchase it.