
Nashville Juggles A Cornucopia Of Sports With Its Star on the Rise NFL, NHL, MLS, MLB AAA, NASCAR want a place in Music City By Dan Daley, Audio Editor
Monday, April 21, 2025 - 10:20 am
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
Major-league sports franchises live to expand, but, as comedian Steven Wright once observed, You can't have everything. Where would you put it?
That's a problem Nashville has been experiencing, as the rapidly growing city seeks civic and cultural validation in hosting teams and leagues, buttressed by the entertainment-fueled town's already substantial broadcast and media infrastructure.
Ever since the NFL's Houston Oilers moved to Music City and Nissan Stadium (formerly Adelphia Coliseum 1999-2002 and LP Field until 2015) in 1997 and became the Tennessee Titans, the city has been racking up leagues and teams and venues. The NHL Predators arrived a year later, and MSL's Nashville SC began play in 2018 at the new Geodis Park. In the city's robust second tier are MLB's Triple-A Nashville Sounds, whose First Horizon Park opened in 2015, and the Music Women's Blue Chip Basketball League's City Icons, who play their games at the Nashville Municipal Auditorium.
That's all on top of the NCAA and other collegiate teams fielded and hosted locally by Lipscomb University, Belmont University, Vanderbilt University, Tennessee State University, and Fisk University, each with its own stadium or arena.
The city has been in the hunt for future MLB and NBA expansion teams. An ownership group called Music City Baseball is working to bring an MLB expansion franchise to Nashville, having already named its aspiration: the Music City Stars. A group of investors including Peyton Manning and music stars Tim McGraw and Faith Hill and led by Nashville Predators Chairman and former Governor Bill Haslam has submitted a bid for a WNBA expansion team to be called the Tennessee Summitt.
Nashville Predators/Bridgestone Arena's Jacob Lutz: If you're going to be able to support shows and crowds like [the NFL Draft], you need a huge infrastructure. Nashville has it, and it's only getting bigger.
The city's entertainment-industry parity with New York and Los Angeles extends to sports, according to Jacob Lutz, director, technical operations, Nashville Predators/Bridgestone Arena. The Preds, the Titans, the NFL Draft, the CMAs, the biggest July 4th broadcast in the country: if you're going to be able to support shows and crowds like that, you need a huge infrastructure, he says. Nashville has it, and it's only getting bigger.
Where to put all this sport in a city that's constantly growing - 86 people a day move there, enough to fill the Miami Marlins' new Load Depot Park or Cleveland Guardians' Progressive Field each year - is a question it continues to address. Nashville and its suburbs surged past 2 million people during the pandemic; new data from the U.S. Census Bureau shows that trend continuing. The Titans' new $2.2 billion home is being built on the site of the old one's adjacent parking lot - the same way space-challenged New York made new venues for the Yankees and Mets.
A Long Day at the Races But it might be even more challenging to relocate a motorsports track, a problem the city has been trying to figure out since the Titans were still wearing 10-gallon helmets in Texas. The city-owned Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway has not hosted top NASCAR races since 1984, and Nashville leaders have long been at odds over what to do with it, a debate that has spanned five mayors and a Metro charter amendment. Now it's first-term Mayor Freddie O'Connell's turn to wrestle with it.
Track opponents are pushing for a ban on racing, sparking a political fight pitting neighborhood leaders, affordable-housing advocates, and soccer-team owners (the track and Nashville SC's Geodis Park stadium are virtually adjacent) against pro-racing supporters and state officials, who in recent years have been legislatively chipping away at the city's political autonomy. O'Connell remains undecided, balancing his past support for the racetrack with concerns about quality-of-life issues for nearby residents.
The dispute will continue for another year, since a recent local law governing charter amendments means that the soonest a new measure could be on the ballot is August 2026.
MLS Nashville SC owner John Ingram opposes racetrack revitalization and has paused a financial commitment to an affordable-housing initiative while awaiting the outcome. Although the racetrack has not hosted top NASCAR events since 1984, second-tier races have been held there.
Speedway Motorsports, which owns Bristol Motor Speedway, host to several key NASCAR races, had a public/private partnership to finance a renovation plan that would see top NASCAR races return to Nashville's fairgrounds. That concept never advanced, as mayors like O'Connell focused on quality-of-life issues while racing opponents, led by Nashville SC's Ingram, who reiterated his opposition to a racetrack-revitalization plan and has voiced concern that a renovated racetrack would compete with Geodis Park - each venue seats approximately 30,000 - for concerts and other events. He has also echoed, somewhat disingenuously, community concerns about noise.
(If Nashville wins an NWSL nod, the team intends to play at Geodis Park, the Nashville Business Journal reports. That venue is also scheduled to host three games of the FIFA World Cup this year.)
On the other hand, Speedway Motorsports has promised to include noise-blocking technology, limit the racetrack's use for practice runs, and provide neighbors a list of dates when races will be booked.
Racing enthusiasts view the 121-year-old track, where legends like Dale Earnhardt got the
More from Sports Video Group
23/05/2025
Live From the Indy 500: For IMS Productions and HD-5 Truck Revamped With IP and ...
23/05/2025
Live From the Indy 500: FOX Sports' Mike Davies on a Historic Production Eff...
23/05/2025
Live From the Indy 500: FOX Sports Revs Up the Audio for Its First Time Covering...
23/05/2025
SVG College Summit 2025: Technology Exhibits Preview, Part 2 By Brandon Costa, Director of Digital
Friday, May 23, 2025 - 9:01 am
Print This Story | Subsc...
23/05/2025
Live From the Indy 500: FOX's Zac Fields Says AR Is Set To Help Celebrate th...
23/05/2025
Live From the Indy 500: FOX's Motor Sports Engineering Team Is Ready To Shin...
23/05/2025
UEFA Women's Champions League Final 2025: DAZN on plans and challenges for t...
23/05/2025
Live from the Indy 500: IMS Productions Revamped HD5 Unit, with IP and HDR, All ...
23/05/2025
Live from the Indy 500: Mike Davies of Fox Sports on a Historic Production Effor...
23/05/2025
Prime Video Hits the Gas on First Season of NASCAR Cup Series Action On the agenda: pre/post-race shows, 70+ cameras, double-box ads, Key Moments, Rapid Recaps ...
22/05/2025
Live From the Indy 500: NEP Specialty Camera's Sean Seavers on a Historic RF...
22/05/2025
PWHL Wraps Up Sophomore Season With Focus on Storytelling, Graphics Presentation...
22/05/2025
MSG Network's XR Studios Heat Up Manhattan as Knicks Heat Up the NBA Playoff...
22/05/2025
The triangle: Bringing the International Northwest 200 motorcycle race to BBC Sp...
22/05/2025
SVG College Summit 2025: Technology Exhibits Preview, Part 1 By SVG Staff
Thursday, May 22, 2025 - 12:15 pm
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlight...
22/05/2025
2025 Sports Emmys: NBC Sports' Chad Hudson & Wade Echer on the 2024 Paris Ol...
22/05/2025
2025 Sports Emmys: FOX Sports' Bardia Shah-Rais on FOX MLB: The Postseason By Jason Dachman, Editorial Director, U.S.
Thursday, May 22, 2025 - 1:08 pm
...
22/05/2025
2025 Sports Emmys: NBC Sports' John Jelley on the 2024 Paris Olympic Games By Jason Dachman, Editorial Director, U.S.
Thursday, May 22, 2025 - 1:14 pm
...
22/05/2025
2025 Sports Emmys: UFC's Craig Borsari on For Mexico, For All Time with Noch...
22/05/2025
SVG College Sports Media Awards 2025: Outstanding Social Media Video, Outstandin...
21/05/2025
PGA TOUR's Live Drone AR Snags the George Wensel Technical Achievement Award...
21/05/2025
2025 Sports Emmys: ABC/ESPN's Phil Dean on SEC on ABC By Jason Dachman, Editorial Director, U.S.
Wednesday, May 21, 2025 - 2:33 pm
Print This Story | ...
21/05/2025
2025 Sports Emmys: NBC Sports' Molly Solomon on the 2024 Paris Olympic Games By Jason Dachman, Editorial Director, U.S.
Wednesday, May 21, 2025 - 2:40 pm...
21/05/2025
2025 Sports Emmys: FOX Sports' Matt Gangl on Rickwood Field: A Tribute to th...
21/05/2025
Paris 2024 Olympics Top 46th Sports Emmy Awards With 10 Wins; NBC and ESPN Lead ...
20/05/2025
NBA Western Conference Finals: ESPN's InsightCast' Features Avatar Shot...
20/05/2025
Broad strategy: DAZN on creating the perfect ecosystem between broadcasters, spo...
20/05/2025
Storytelling, monetisation and engagement: Making the pitch for AI in sports bro...
20/05/2025
FanDuel Sports Network Rolls Out WireCam in Cincinnati; Milwaukee Is Next, With ...
20/05/2025
UEFA Europa League Final 2025: Broadcast facts and camera plan for Tottenham Hot...
20/05/2025
NBA Eastern Conference Finals: TNT Sports Bids Farewell With Upgraded Tech, Onsi...
20/05/2025
NBA Western Conference Finals: ESPN's InsightCast' Features Avatar Shot...
19/05/2025
F1's Dean Locke on getting closer to the action with drones, new camera angl...
19/05/2025
F1 continues IP advances and centralises AR tracking and RF control By George Bevir
Friday, May 16, 2025 - 10:29
Print This Story
Away from the MTC and in...
19/05/2025
F1's new Ghost Car comparison feature aids broadcaster race analysis By George Bevir
Friday, May 16, 2025 - 10:18
Print This Story
Max Verstappen and ...
19/05/2025
F1 TV Premium offers UHD HDR and multiview in new era of personalised race viewi...
16/05/2025
The FA Cup Final: Telling the Story With Graphics Technology Manchester City meets Crystal Palace on Saturday in this years FA Cup Final By SVG Staff
Friday,...
16/05/2025
PBR's Wild 11-Day Stretch Culminates in World Finals at AT&T Stadium The operation will have produced 250 streams and broadcasts across 10 platforms By Mar...
16/05/2025
SVG Cloud Production Forum Draws 200 to NYC to Tackle One of the Industry's ...
16/05/2025
Eurovision Song Contest: Behind the scenes with Eurovision Services By Jo Ruddock
Thursday, May 15, 2025 - 09:41
Print This Story
Credit: SRG SSR
The 69t...
16/05/2025
NEP mobilises European network for Eurovision Song Contest 2025 By George Bevir
Thursday, May 15, 2025 - 10:29
Print This Story
NEP camera operator Tomas ...
16/05/2025
WNBA Tip-Off 2025: ESPN Elevates Coverage Through Expanded Remote-Production Wor...
16/05/2025
WNBA Tip-Off 2025: Scripps Sports' Friday Night Spotlight' Features Mor...
16/05/2025
FloSports Debuts The Athlete's Lounge' Alternate Broadcast for Wanda Di...
15/05/2025
PGA Championship: CBS Sports Rolls Out 5G-Powered AR, FlyCams, RailCam, 4K Bunke...
15/05/2025
PGA Championship: ESPN To Produce 225+ Hours of Live Play on Multiple Platforms Expanded ESPN BET' telecast, live SportsCenter' segments add to a full...
15/05/2025
This City Is Ours: The Continuing Evolution of Manchester City's City Studio...
14/05/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Live Media Group's Ryan Jones on Exponential Growth, New Produ...
14/05/2025
PGA Championship: T-Mobile's 5G Advanced Network Powers Wireless Cameras on ...
14/05/2025
NBC Sports Shows Off Features For NBA Streaming Experience on Peacock The NBA returns to NBC Sports this fall By Brandon Costa, Director of Digital
Wednesday...