New Nissan Stadium food-for-soul hospitality

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Dan Werly always wears a smile on his face, talks with great panache and is well-versed on the subject of venues. He is brimming with enthusiasm and excitement as the National Football League (NFL) team Tennessee Titans is all set to move to their new home – the New Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tennessee, US – in 2027.

Werly is a part of the Titans’ top-brass and in his role as the Chief Operating Officer (COO) he oversees the construction of the New Nissan Stadium and the operation works going on in the new building to ensure efficient and effective execution.

Dan Werly is the Senior Vice-President (SVP) and Chief Operating Officer (COO) of the National Football League (NFL) team Tennessee Titans. Werly joined the Titans in 2020 and has held several other roles including General Counsel and Chief of Staff. Werly currently oversees the Legal, Corporate Partnerships and Strategy and Analytics Departments for the Tennessee Titans and the Nissan Stadium. He also spends a good portion of his time focusing on the construction of the New Nissan Stadium.

Charles Adkinson has been a Senior Member of the technology consulting and design firm Wrightson, Johnson, Haddon & Williams (WJHW) since 2015 and brings his extensive background to focus on technology leadership for critical large-scale projects.

In a heart-to-heart conversation with ‘Coliseum’, Dan Werly, SVP/COO, Tennessee Titans, US, tells Charles Adkinson, SVP of Sport & Entertainment, Wrightson, Johnson, Haddon & Williams (WJHW), US, that the Titans are “very nostalgic” about their present home – the Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tennessee (US) – and has “tears in one’s eye” that they will be leaving the building soon and, at the same time, they are all agog that they will soon be moving to their new abode – the head-turner New Nissan Stadium in Nashville – which will mirror the ‘Music City’s’ spirit and character and offer heightened hospitality. Werly also underscored that “the venues are the business of making memories, the business of making dollars and also creating lasting memories and passion.”
 

Tennessee Titans

The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee (US). The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference South Division. The 69,143-capacity Nissan Stadium serves as their home ground.
 

New Nissan Stadium

The 60,000-capacity New Nissan Stadium is a domed American football stadium under construction in Nashville, Tennessee (US) and will serve as the new home of the Tennessee Titans. The venue is set get off the ground in 2027 with a total project cost of $2.1 billion USD.

The outstanding features of the venue are a wrap-around, 21-foot tall halo display (‘Ring of Fire’) connecting the primary video screens on either endzone, the Touchdown Suites which is en vogue in the sports venues’ premium spaces and the design of the facility is not kitschy or loud but will boast an inviting ambience.

Charles Adkinson opined that “a lot of people forge long-term relationships with the venues and does not just look at them as performing assets” and Dan Werly seconded him by stating, “We put all the hard work in constructing the venues to build memories for our fans and the patrons.”

Werly further narrated that the Titans decided to construct a new venue in order to make space for more events in the concert-rich ‘Music City’ Nashville.

Adkinson wanted to know about the “pain points” in the design of the Nissan Stadium to which Werly replied, “In the Nissan Stadium we do have some significant pain points and that limits our ability to efficiently put on events. None of our concourses actually have a view on to the field. Other than our main concourse none of them can connect 360. But, the New Nissan Stadium concourses connect 360. The entire concourses have views to the field. The concessions have been set up in a way that will have essentially zero lines with doubling backrooms in the building. All of these things again are through the lens of providing the best fan experience in the building as we accord topmost priority to an enchanting fan experience.”

Adkinson was interested in knowing about the “North Star of the new venue, what is the key element that everybody thinks about? A super intimate bowl, a really intimate place to play, super family-friendly?”

Werly replied that the New Nissan Stadium would “like to offer Southern Hospitality (warm, welcoming and generous treatment)” which would surely become the talk of the town as well as people to people interaction in the building – something which is super critical, a great food and beverage (F&B) experience, a great view to the field regardless of what seat you have. All our seats are 34 percent close to the field so the Bowl is just on the top of the field. We have a smart (LED) Board termed the ‘Ring of Fire’ and it is along the top edge of the seating bowl which is going to really bring this fan experience and the New Nissan Stadium will be one of the biggest square foot inches in the National Football League (NFL).

Werly further informed that another unique feature of the Titans new home is that it is a domed building – “We really wanted to lend an outdoor feel to the structure. The New Nissan Stadium boasts significant rooftop bar and porches many lodged outside the building. Those are not exclusive spaces. They are going to be open to anyone in the building. We will have a really cool setup and will offer a great F&B experience.”
 

Conclusion

Dan Werly summed up by stating, “We have been in a business relationship with the Major League Baseball (MLB) team Chicago Cubs and one of the first pieces of advice that they gave us – ‘You need an in-house person who understands the ABC of construction’. I think we have been able to have great partnerships with everyone in our team and work through everything that comes up. So, it has been a great setup and we are super excited about the New Nissan Stadium.”

The ‘Made for Nashville’ New Nissan Stadium promises to be an extraordinary stage for the Tennessee Titans.

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