The Titans, playing in their fourth stadium in as many
years, made their debut at Adelphia Coliseum on Friday night
in front of a sellout crowd of 65,729 and a national ESPN
audience. In Nashville, Jon Yates called Adelphia's grand
opening a "smashing success," as traffic and parking around
the stadium ran "smoothly and efficiently" before and after
the game. But there were problems, as water pressure on the
east side of the stadium "dipped to about 40 pounds" during
the second quarter, and several of the stadium's elevators
had problems, as some of them "ran slowly or, in some cases,
not at all" (Nashville TENNESSEAN, 8/29). Titans Owner Bud
Adams: "We're at home now, finally after four years"
(TENNESSEAN, 8/28). In Houston, John McClain wrote that
"fans are so close to the field they can almost converse
with the players" (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 8/28).
AD MONITOR: Adelphia signage, placed on the outside of
the stadium's upper bowl, was first seen on-air 30 seconds
into ESPN's broadcast and was on-screen a total of 22
seconds prior to the first commercial break (THE DAILY).
ESPN's Paul Maguire, on the coliseum's scoreboard: "I've
been looking at this scoreboard. Two of the most
magnificent scoreboards, they've got all the advertisements
you can possibly get, and I can't find out anyplace on that
scoreboard where it says if there are any time-outs" (ESPN,
8/27). The TENNESSEAN's Leon Tucker wrote that "business
was booming" at merchandise and concession stands throughout
the stadium (TENNESSEAN, 8/28). Scott Douglas, self-
proclaimed creator of the "Flame Pit," a section of Adelphia
Coliseum behind one end zone, was interviewed by ESPN's
Solomon Wilcots during Friday's game, but made no mention of
his current trademark dispute with NFLP (THE DAILY).
LOCAL RATING: The game received a 19.4 local Nielsen
rating in Nashville with a 32 share (TENNESSEAN, 8/29).
