Nashville's top tourism exec "very optimistic" about hosting Super Bowl
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Lower Broadway during the 2019 NFL Draft. Photo: Danielle Del Valle/Getty Images
Nashville Convention and Visitors Corp. president and CEO Deana Ivey is in New Orleans this week, and it's not for the beignets and gumbo.
Why it matters: Ivey's visit to New Orleans is a business trip. Ivey and her team are getting a closer look at how the city puts on a Super Bowl as she spearheads Nashville's efforts to host the big game.
State of play: What once fell somewhere between an impossibility and a hail mary is now within reach for Nashville.
- "I'm very optimistic that we'll have a Super Bowl," Ivey says, mentioning the CVC's "very strong" relationship with the NFL.
- "We've put in a letter of interest and we've been in discussions with them."
The big picture: Nashville's sales pitch has been building over years, Ivey says.
- It started with the large crowds that gathered downtown for the Predators watch parties during their Stanley Cup run in 2017.
- Then came the NFL Draft in 2019, which helped the city win a bid to host the FIFA Club World Cup this summer.
Flashback: When Tennessee Titans executives and other backers pitched a new indoor stadium, they said it could attract major events like the Super Bowl.
- Ivey says the domed stadium "gives us an advantage that we didn't have before because of weather related issues."
- Nashville Mayor Freddie O'Connell said last week that the new stadium likely "puts Nashville on the map for consideration."
Behind the scenes: The NFL's process for selecting a Super Bowl site is famously opaque, so there isn't a clear sense of when the next host city might be announced. Santa Clara will host next year, followed by Los Angeles in 2027 and Atlanta in 2028.
- New Nissan Stadium is expected to open in time for the 2027-28 NFL season, which seems to make the 2029 Super Bowl the earliest possibility.
By the numbers: One requirement that eluded Nashville in the past was its stock of hotel rooms. That's no longer a problem.
- In 2015, Nashville had 26,516 hotel rooms, according to STR data provided by the Convention and Visitors Corp.
- That number exploded to 41,215 last year with another 14,000 rooms in the pipeline for the region.
The bottom line: Nashville's bid centers around its downtown hotels, the new stadium and a world renowned entertainment district all within close proximity, Ivey says. She recalled the spectacle of the draft, when throngs of fans crowded the stage on Lower Broadway.
- "You look at it on television, and that shot of the neon on Broadway, it's not something any other destination can really deliver on."
The intrigue: It's not just the Super Bowl Nashville is targeting.
- Ivey says the CVC has been talking to the NCAA about bringing a Final Four to the new stadium as well.