Nashville SC and Major League Soccer on Thursday expressed "deep disappointment" with Mayor John Cooper over the delay in the construction of the soccer club's proposed new stadium at The Fairgrounds Nashville.
In a joint statement, the team and the league said their officials met Thursday with Cooper at the league's offices in New York City to discuss the status and possible solutions to the project.
“The new stadium and ancillary development have very broad support throughout Nashville and has been overwhelmingly approved multiple times by Metro Council,” say MLS and Nashville SC officials in their statement. “For the past four months, Nashville SC has worked to make the stadium deal even better and has proposed a number of new solutions to satisfy his concerns.”
Metro Council members in November 2017 approved $275 million in public spending for a stadium. Of that number, $25 million was earmarked for overhauling the current Fairgrounds complex. A great deal of work has been done in the area, but Cooper has not signed off on the demolition of the old expo centers, saying that infrastructure cost overages — on Monday, he said they were at double their expected total — mean the city needs to negotiate a better deal.
In the statement, MLS says it would not have awarded Nashville an expansion franchise had the city not committed to the new stadium. The sides are continuing to talk, and the league and Nashville SC say they hope to have an update on the situation a week from today. A spokesman for the mayor could not be reached for comment regarding the joint statement Thursday afternoon.
Nashville SC’s leaders last summer said they were expanding their vision for the stadium to 30,000 seats from 27,500 while also revamping a number of design elements. That pushed the targeted opening date to early 2022, a time frame that hangs in the balance with the delays since then.
This story was first reported by the Nashville Post.
Update: Mayor Cooper issued the following statement late Thursday afternoon:
Since entering office four months ago, I’ve worked towards a complete solution for the Fairgrounds that is both financially sustainable and results in a successful, unified site plan. This past week, I met with racing advocates as well as MLS. I appreciate MLS and its advocacy for professional soccer in Nashville. I also appreciate all parties are working together to improve the plan for the entire Fairground, both in design and financing. I will continue to chart a path forward that makes good financial sense for all of Nashville’s taxpayers.
