Monica Fawknotson who is very slow and steady with her observations is in a top role with the Metropolitan Nashville Sports Authority, US. She tells Heather Hill that the Titans “have done a great job” with the New Nissan Stadium.
Monica Fawknotson stands at the intersection of Sports, Facility Management, Government and Sports Tourism where, for the last decade, she’s served as the Executive Director of the Metropolitan Nashville Sports Authority, the public entity that owns the Nissan Stadium.
With 19 years of experience in the construction industry, Heather Hill has established herself as a trusted advisor and dynamic project leader, particularly within the hospitality sector. As the Vice-President at Cumming Group, Hill serves as a strategic partner to the clients leading multiple project teams with precision, care and a solutions-driven mindset – no task is too large or too small.
In a conversation exclusively for Coliseum with Heather Hill, VP, Cumming Group (a privately-held international project management and cost consulting firm), US, Monica Fawknotson, Executive Director, Metropolitan Nashville Sports Authority, US, discusses the National Football League (NFL) team Tennessee Titans – the 60,000-seat New Nissan Stadium which is presently under construction in Nashville, Tennessee, US. And Fawknotson asserts that as a public entity “one of the major considerations for us is always going to be the taxpayers, the public”. Moreover, the Tennessee Titans are going to retain the entire stadium and be responsible for all of the operating expenses of their brand-new facility.
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 (AFC) South Division. They play their home games at the 69,143-capacity Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tennessee, US.
New Nissan Stadium
The 60,000-capacity New Nissan Stadium is an indoor multipurpose stadium under construction in Nashville, Tennessee (US). In 2027, it is to replace the Nissan Stadium as the home venue for the Tennessee Titans of the National Football League (NFL).
Heather Hill said, “We are very proud of our City Nashville and always like to show it off.” She wanted to know from Monica Fawknotson about the considerations as the discussions were happening from the renovation to the new stadium.
Monica replied – “As far as the renovations of the Nissan Stadium are concerned the Titans have done a great job. Just explaining the original intent and the expectation from the beginning was in sync with the renovation. And so it really wasn’t renovation vs. new construction. It was we are living forward and we are planning for renovation and so the Titans had their own internal processes, the Mayor’s Office, the former Mayor John Cooper, his administration was going through the same thing and so was the Sports Authority. So, the Sports Authority the first question we had was what is the total obligation for renovation under the lease? Can you qualify, can you forecast it out the number and not just for the lease but as the lease ended which has been set in 2029 but it seems there was going to be an option to extend the lease and it was going to 2038. So, what’s the number to 2038 we would be obligated for. It was really important because our lease with the Titans did the obligation for all capital expenditures on the City, the Sports Authority. That was really the question we had. The other considerations there were a shift and we saw a living to a new construction and then, of course, what’s the number there. The renovation was jaw-dropping.”
Wrap-up
Monica Fawknotson wrapped up by telling Heather Hill, “The Titans was going to retain the entire stadium (New Nissan Stadium) rather than unto the new agreement that they did before and they were also going to be responsible for all of the operating expenses. So, that also stays the same under this and probably the biggest change is that now the capital shifts to the team as opposed to the City and that is a big deal for us because the agreement has a first-class requirement under the lease and so worth it to define comparable stadiums and I am really going to track what’s going on there (New Nissan Stadium) maybe technology and other improvements and there is a requirement that we keep pace with that.”
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