Although club officials previously hoped for a 2021 debut, it was announced this week that the targeted opening of a new Nashville SC stadium is now 2022.
Set to begin MLS play in 2020, expansion Nashville SC is planning to build a new soccer-specific stadium at The Faigrounds Nashville. Ground on the new stadium has not been broken yet, as the facility is slated to be built on the site of existing fairgrounds structures. Those structures need to be replaced with new expo buildings elsewhere in the complex before being demolished to make way for the stadium.
On Thursday, Nashville SC and club CEO Ian Ayre revealed that the organization is now planning to open the new stadium at the start of the 2022 season, a move it feels is better than trying to open it in the middle of the 2021 campaign. Nissan Stadium, the home of the NFL’s Tennessee Titans, is where Nashville SC will play home matches for the 2020 and 2021 seasons. More from the Tennessean:
“We just really want to be more organized and have a bit more certainty,” Ayre said. “… We talked to our soccer guys and we looked how it would affect everyone really, all of our stakeholders. To move midway through a season, which of course some teams have done, but certainly most of the teams I spoke to that went through that situation didn’t have a lot of good things to say about that type of thing.”
The decision came after evaluating potential obstacles. One was moving season ticket-holders from their seats at Nissan Stadium to the new stadium in the middle of the season….
The decision also gives Nashville SC some leeway if there are any delays with the construction of the new stadium.
“I think what this does gives us more than enough time to complete construction and it gives us absolute certainty of when we will start and when we’ll open the doors,” Ayre said. “… I feel we made a very professional and considered decision and I feel it’s the right one for the soccer club and for the city.”
A letter from Ayre with a detailed explanation of the decision was published on the team’s website. In addition to a new home for the club, the stadium project at The Fairgrounds Nashville will include 10 acres of adjacent mixed-use development.
Renderings courtesy Nashville SC.
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