Nashville SC aims (tentatively) for May 2022 opening of new stadium
- by Paul Kennedy @pkedit, Apr 9, 2020
Nashville SC got one home game in before the current
pandemic shut down MLS play on March 12.
An announced crowd of 59,069 packed Nissan Stadium on Feb. 29 for Nashville SC's MLS debut.
But Nashville SC only hopes to make
Nissan Stadium, home of the NFL Titans, its MLS venue through the 2021 season. Just before the pandemic hit, it finally settled a dispute with new Nashville mayor John Cooper over the terms of
its deal hammered out with the city in 2017 to build a 30,000-seat soccer stadium at Nashville Fairgrounds.
The agreement allowed Nashville Soccer Holdings to start in Mid-March with
demolition work at the Fairgrounds, but construction is uncertain because of the pandemic.
In a Zoom chat with Sean Henry, the CEO of the NHL Nashville Predators, Nashville SC CEO
Ian Ayre said the club was looking at a mid-May 2022 date for the completion of the new stadium.
In a statement to the Tennessean, Ayre said "COVID-19 has not, to
date, impacted our construction plans," but he added that it was "not practical to give a firm date for completion."
Under orders from Tennessee governor Bill Lee, construction has
continued across Tennessee. It includes work at the $125 million soccer and mixed-use complex the USL League One Chattanooga Red Wolves are building in East Ridge.
