Nashville Mayor Megan Barry yesterday proposed a $250M MLS stadium project in which Metropolitan Nashville Government would "borrow to pay for most of the construction costs and a private ownership group led by businessman John Ingram would cover the majority of the city’s debt," according to Joey Garrison of the Nashville TENNESSEAN. The plan calls for Metro to issue up to $225M in revenue bonds -- for anticipated $200M in work -- for a "new, 27,500 seat soccer stadium at the Metro-owned Fairgrounds Nashville." Metro would borrow an additional $25M through "general obligation bonds to make infrastructure improvements at the fairgrounds property." Metro would also "contribute the land." The Ingram-led investor group would commit to a $25M "cash payment for the project." Metro’s bond transaction would "not go through unless Nashville is awarded a team." Under a 30-year lease between the ownership group and Metro, the team’s owners would make annual $9M lease payments to the Metro Sports Authority that would go toward $13M in "anticipated yearly debt." Metro would "own the facility." Sales tax generated by the stadium would "help retire" the additional $4M in debt following "approval last year of state legislation allowing the use of sales tax revenue in this way." Complete details of the mixed-use project are unclear, but Barry has said that it will "include an affordable housing component." A joint fair board and sports authority meeting is "set for Thursday morning for the mayor's office to introduce the proposal." Both bodies would "need to approve the transaction" (Nashville TENNESSEAN, 10/3).
EYES ON THE PRIZE: ESPNFC.com noted the Metro Council, which could "authorize a resolution on the stadium proposal as early as Oct. 17, must take action by late November to meet MLS's deadline for this year." Barry said, "We're absolutely ready for this. Nashville is a soccer city" (ESPNFC.com, 10/2). SI.com's Brian Straus noted Nashville appears to be "among the favorites to become an MLS city when the league announces its next two expansion sites in December." Only the USL Sacramento Republic’s bid is "further along in fulfilling the league’s requirements, and they’ve been at it for nearly four years." Now the council, the board that controls the Fairgrounds site and the local sports authority "must adopt their own resolutions in order to turn the proposal into reality." Nashville has "covered a lot of ground, and it has done so quickly." Meanwhile, Ingram said that an unsourced report earlier yesterday "claiming that Nashville already had been awarded a team was false." Ingram: "As much as I wish it were true ... We have a process and a big part of it is being here today." Absent a "significant turn of events in a significantly larger market over the next few months, Nashville has come from behind to lay claim to a strong position in the MLS expansion sweepstakes" (SI.com, 10/2).
