NFL sponsors $200M in Titans domed stadium deal after Dan Snyder deal for Commanders falls apart

News that the Tennessee Titans plan to build a $2.2 billion domed stadium wounds Washington, where Dan Snyder has vied for the same for the Commanders.

Today is a great day to be a Tennessee Titans fan as the city of Nashville throws its weight behind building a brand-new domed stadium worth $2.2 billion.

As Axios reporter Nate Rau reported, the deal still needs to be approved by the Nashville Metro Council, but it’s a valuable investment for the city to consider despite the hefty price tag. Rau details why the Titans deal could create future revenue as the city attracts key sporting and entertainment events:

"“The new stadium would tether the Titans to Nashville and position the city to host the Super Bowl, College Football Playoff games and major concert tours during the winter months. None of those tourism draws are possible at Nissan Stadium.”"

The Titans are expected to bring $800 million to the table, a massive investment by Titans ownership in a league that doesn’t always look to build renewed facilities for its players. NBC Washington’s Grant Paulsen noted that Titans ownership isn’t putting up all the money, with $500 million expected to come from local government.

Paulsen also notes that $200 million is expected to come from the NFL, who didn’t offer that kind of financial assistance to Dan Snyder and the Commanders in their desire to build a new stadium.

Titans get NFL-backed funding boost that Dan Snyder and Commanders can’t seem to land

If the difference in league treatment seems unfair, it’s only because Dan Snyder is uniquely awful. In fact, that’s exactly how Axios Richmond reporter Ned Oliver described the situation by offering insight into why Snyder wasn’t able to close his own deal.

According to Oliver, “Virginia lawmakers were poised to approve a big incentive package for a new Commanders stadium earlier this year”, but Snyder essentially ruined it by “being awful.”

Essentially, Snyder appeared unprepared when presenting his proposal to lawmakers, such as being unable to offer State Sen. Adam Ebbin any specifics about the taxpayer cost or tax revenue for the stadium.

There’s also the fact that the team planned to buy property in a county where 85 percent of residents opposed the deal. All of this adds to the Congressional hearings in which the toxic culture of the Commanders organization under Snyder has been publicly aired out, with more and more residents and lawmakers in the DMV area increasingly opposing Snyder’s deal.

Funnily enough, Snyder’s failure to find support for a stadium deal may be what fellow NFL owners use to push him out of their exclusive club.

In the scathing ESPN report that revealed just how deep the rift between Snyder and the league goes, with Snyder claiming his has “dirt” on owners and commissioner Roger Goodell. In turn, one veteran NFL owner confirmed that “all the owners hate Dan.”

The Washington deal may take a new owner and a few more years to fall into place, but it’s also true that the Titans stadium deal may not get done after all. Rau described the Metro Council as being “leery of more big spending for tourism”, which doesn’t bode well for the largest building project in Metro history.

Still, the NFL’s support speaks volumes about the environment in Nashville as opposed to Washington — and it serves as an excruciating reminder of Week 5 for the Commanders.