Metro has issued a lawsuit challenging a state takeover of the city’s sports authority. In the complaint, filed Wednesday in Davidson County Chancery Court, the city seeks protection from a new state law that would abolish and reconstitute the Metro Sports Authority, a 13-person body created by Tennessee Gov. Ned McWherter in 1993.
In May, Gov. Bill Lee signed the new legislation into law. The legislation would authorize the replacement of six of the body's 13 commissioners with state appointees on Jan. 1, 2024. Right now, commissioners are appointed by Nashville's mayor and approved by the Metro Council. Conservative state lawmakers pushed for control of the city’s sports authority after allotting $500 million in aid to support the construction of a new $2.1 billion stadium for the Tennessee Titans.
“The state has invested more than half a billion dollars in this project, and the state seeks to have a voice at the table as it relates to the decisions,” explained Rep. Ryan Williams (R-Cookeville) at the time.
The city seeks protection from the takeover under the Tennessee Constitution’s Home Rule Amendment, which prevents the state from passing laws meant to explicitly usurp the power of a specific local government. Tennessee’s conservative majority passed numerous laws in the 2023 legislative session that directly affected the city, including legislation to reduce the size of the Metro Council and wrest control of its airport authority. In September, a three-judge panel cited the Home Rule Amendment when it ruled in favor of the city and blocked a state attempt to manipulate the local legislative process required to get NASCAR racing at The Fairgrounds Nashville. Metro legal director Wally Dietz hopes to replicate the success with Wednesday's filing.
“We do not enjoy filing lawsuits against the State and in fact hope for an improved relationship," says Dietz in a press release. “But this statute affects only Nashville, not any other sports authority in Tennessee. We cannot sit idly by and let the State deprive the Metropolitan Government and the people who live here of their rights under our Tennessee Constitution.”
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Mayor Freddie O’Connell retained Dietz from the Cooper administration, where Dietz helped build the city’s legal strategy in response to state overreach and preemption. The city’s strained and contentious relationship with Tennessee’s conservative leadership was among the top issues for voters during the mayor’s race, which ended with O’Connell’s win in the runoff on Sept. 14. Since then, the mayor and Dietz have vowed to both protect the city’s sovereignty and improve relations with Capitol Hill.
Wednesday’s complaint names House Speaker Cameron Sexton, Lt. Governor Randy McNally and Gov. Lee as defendants. All presided over the passage of the sports authority law.
The sports authority has played a key role in coordinating the city’s relationship with professional sports teams like the Nashville Predators, the Nashville Sounds, the Tennessee Titans and Nashville SC. It is the key intermediary between the city and these teams, as well as a fiduciary agent for hundreds of millions of bonded debt related to the construction and maintenance of their stadiums: Bridgestone Arena, Nissan Stadium, Geodis Park, First Horizon Park and the new domed arena planned for the Titans. Metro officials have warned publicly and privately that state interference in these bodies could financially devastate the city, which has significant legal and financial obligations to teams and debtors.
“Since its creation in 1995, the Sports Authority’s board members — Nashvillians appointed by the mayor of Nashville — have guided the incredible growth of our city’s professional and amateur sports and recreational activities," says O'Connell in a press release. "Their able oversight is evident at every stadium, arena, and ballpark event we all enjoy."
State Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti has not yet responded to the complaint. City lawyers seek an injunction that would block the law from going into effect before Jan. 1.
