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Nashville Predators majority owner and former Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam joked that he'd received four text messages from people he hadn't "seen since college," asking if he could get them tickets to Super Bowl 64, which will be held in the Tennessee Titans' new Nissan Stadium.
Haslam was one of many dignitaries, including current Governor Bill Lee and Nashville Mayor Freddie O'Connell, present at the current Nissan Stadium for a "Super Bowl Community Celebration" on May 20.
Haslam addressed the crowd on the fourth floor with enthusiasm and some questions and answers of his own, sprinkled with some humor.
"A lot of people are like, 'Super Bowl 64? What took so long to come to Nashville?' " Haslam said. "Well, for the first 32 years we didn't have a team, so that was a little hard. ... That was a whole problem. Then, for the next 30-plus years we didn't have a place to host the Super Bowl. That took real leadership to happen."
Haslam said he understands not everyone is a football fan, and not everyone understands why the Super Bowl coming to Nashville was such a priority.
"Some folks are saying, 'Why is the city even doing this? Why are we making this a party? We have so many needs.' " he said. "The way we pay our teachers more, and the way we help people with mental health issues, and the way we build more affordable housing is we pay for all through sales tax.
"When the world comes to Nashville, we collect more sales tax. ... There really is a bigger purpose in all this. We want to have a great game here and welcome the world here, but there's more that's going to happen because of this."
NFL DOWN WITH DOWNTOWN: How Nashville's downtown footprint, compact campus, helped land Super Bowl 2030
Haslam said some money will come from a special events fund, Nashville’s Tourism Development Zones (TDZ) bill.
"It's obviously a big cost, and that's one of the reasons we wanted to get that bill passed," Haslam said.
Haslam said he's not sure how much money that will be "till we get a little further."
Haslam paraphrased a song. "From a July Saturday Night," by singer-songwriter Eric Church, who was seated not far away from him, if that's any clue.
"Our goal is to have people walk away with memories wrapped in melodies that only Nashville can do, with the promise that they're going to come back soon," Haslam said.
"You can rest assured we will lean heavily on our talent that's here. In all the stuff, pregame, during the game. It's part of who we are, and you always play to your strength. The world will have an even better feel for why Nashville is Music City after this."
Paul Skrbina is a sports enterprise reporter covering the Predators, Titans, Nashville SC, local colleges and local sports for The Tennessean. Reach him at [email protected] and on the X platform (formerly known as Twitter) @paulskrbina.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Super Bowl 2030 in Nashville reaction from Predators owner Bill Haslam
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Haslam was one of many dignitaries, including current Governor Bill Lee and Nashville Mayor Freddie O'Connell, present at the current Nissan Stadium for a "Super Bowl Community Celebration" on May 20.
Haslam addressed the crowd on the fourth floor with enthusiasm and some questions and answers of his own, sprinkled with some humor.
"A lot of people are like, 'Super Bowl 64? What took so long to come to Nashville?' " Haslam said. "Well, for the first 32 years we didn't have a team, so that was a little hard. ... That was a whole problem. Then, for the next 30-plus years we didn't have a place to host the Super Bowl. That took real leadership to happen."
Bill Haslam explains what bringing the Super Bowl to Nashville means
Haslam said he understands not everyone is a football fan, and not everyone understands why the Super Bowl coming to Nashville was such a priority.
"Some folks are saying, 'Why is the city even doing this? Why are we making this a party? We have so many needs.' " he said. "The way we pay our teachers more, and the way we help people with mental health issues, and the way we build more affordable housing is we pay for all through sales tax.
"When the world comes to Nashville, we collect more sales tax. ... There really is a bigger purpose in all this. We want to have a great game here and welcome the world here, but there's more that's going to happen because of this."
NFL DOWN WITH DOWNTOWN: How Nashville's downtown footprint, compact campus, helped land Super Bowl 2030
What Bill Haslam said about how the city is funding the project
Haslam said some money will come from a special events fund, Nashville’s Tourism Development Zones (TDZ) bill.
"It's obviously a big cost, and that's one of the reasons we wanted to get that bill passed," Haslam said.
Haslam said he's not sure how much money that will be "till we get a little further."
What Bill Haslam said about tying in the music industry with the Super Bowl
Haslam paraphrased a song. "From a July Saturday Night," by singer-songwriter Eric Church, who was seated not far away from him, if that's any clue.
"Our goal is to have people walk away with memories wrapped in melodies that only Nashville can do, with the promise that they're going to come back soon," Haslam said.
"You can rest assured we will lean heavily on our talent that's here. In all the stuff, pregame, during the game. It's part of who we are, and you always play to your strength. The world will have an even better feel for why Nashville is Music City after this."
Paul Skrbina is a sports enterprise reporter covering the Predators, Titans, Nashville SC, local colleges and local sports for The Tennessean. Reach him at [email protected] and on the X platform (formerly known as Twitter) @paulskrbina.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Super Bowl 2030 in Nashville reaction from Predators owner Bill Haslam
Continue reading...
