New report details Nissan Stadium upgrade costs

Metro is facing $1.87 billion in maintenance and improvements at Nissan Stadium over the next 17 years if officials don't move forward with a new stadium, according to a consultant's report provided to city leaders late Monday.

Why it matters: The cost of the existing lease obligation has been a major sticking point in talks about building a new stadium.

• Mayor John Cooper argues the city has an unfunded liability that would impact its operating budget if it continues with the current Nissan Stadium lease.

State of play: Cooper is proposing a $2.1 billion financing plan for a new indoor stadium. His plan would use a 1% hotel room tax, sales taxes collected within the new stadium and sales taxes collected in the surrounding 130-acre development to help fund the new building.

The report by Venue Solutions Group matches a March study commissioned by the Titans.

• The earlier study also found the city's liability to be $1.8 billion, but Metro Council members wanted an unbiased city-funded consultant to weigh in.
• The lease requires the city to maintain Nissan Stadium in a condition similar to other venues of approximately the same age.

• The VSG report used recent renovations at the Miami Dolphins' Hard Rock Stadium as a comparison. Over an 11-year stretch, Hard Rock's upgrades totaled $1.3 billion in 2023 dollars, according to the report.

Yes, but: Council members will want the consultant to explain in detail how its 2017 stadium upgrades estimate, which was less comprehensive, was just $293.2 million.