LP Field
Encyclopedia
LP Field is a football
stadium in Nashville, Tennessee
, United States, owned by the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County.
The stadium is used primarily for sporting events and music concerts and festivals. The stadium is the home field of the NFL
's Tennessee Titans
and the Tennessee State University
Tigers. It is also the site of the Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl
, a postseason college football
game played each December, and is occasionally used as a venue for soccer matches. The stadium is also used for large concerts such as the CMA Music Festival nightly concerts which take place for four days every June.
The stadium also has numerous public meeting facilities which are used for public events, meetings, parties and gatherings.
LP Field is located on the east bank of the Cumberland River
, directly across the river from downtown Nashville. Its seating capacity
is 68,798. Its first event was a preseason game between the Titans and the Atlanta Falcons
on August 27, 1999.
The playing surface of LP Field is Tifsport Bermuda Sod, a natural grass. However, the relatively warm climate of Nashville, combined with the wear and tear of hosting a game nearly every weekend, usually results in a resodding of the area "between the hashes" in late November. Despite the efforts to improve the field conditions, the poor quality of the grass has become a complaint of many NFL players, fans, and broadcasters.
During the 1995 NFL Preseason, the Houston Oilers faced the Washington Redskins
in an exhibition game at Neyland Stadium
in Knoxville, Tennessee
. At the game, Oilers owner Bud Adams
met Nashville Mayor Phil Bredesen
and began discussing the possibility of moving the team to Middle Tennessee
, due to Adams' discontent with the teams' lease at the Astrodome
and unwillingness of the City of Houston to build a new football-only stadium. Later that fall, Adams and Bredesen announced the team's intent to move to Nashville. The city and team decided to locate a stadium on the eastern bank of the Cumberland River
in downtown Nashville, on the site of a blighted industrial development.
In a special referendum on May 7, 1996, voters in Metropolitan Nashville/Davidson County voted to approve partial funding of the proposed stadium. The vote, which allocated US$144 million of public money to the project, passed with a 59% majority. The pro-stadium organization, known as "NFL Yes!" outspent the anti-stadium group by a ratio of 16:1 during the campaign.
The funds initially would be raised through an increase in the Metro water tax. The ongoing funding is through a 300% increase in Davidson County individual homeowner property taxes. Much of the remaining construction costs were funded through the sale of personal seat license
s. Some State of Tennessee money was allocated to the project, on the condition that the Tennessee State University
football team move its home games there, and with the request that the team be named "Tennessee" (instead of "Nashville"), which the franchise was planning to do anyway, in an attempt to appeal to the broader region.
The stadium's construction was delayed when the construction site was hit by a tornado that struck downtown Nashville on April 16, 1998 and destroyed several cranes, but the stadium opened in time for the first scheduled event.
arrangement with Adelphia Business Solutions, a subsidiary of the larger Adelphia telecommunications company. However, after Adelphia missed a required payment and subsequently filed for bankruptcy in 2002, this name was dropped and the stadium became known simply as The Coliseum for four years. (Adelphia itself was dissolved in 2006.) The current naming rights deal with Nashville-based Louisiana-Pacific
was inked on June 6, 2006. Louisiana-Pacific, which markets itself as "LP Building Products", is paying $30 million over ten years for naming rights. LP's influence inside the stadium led to the creation of the LP Building Zones in 2007, located beneath the giant scoreboards from Daktronics
at the North and South ends of the stadium. The existing concession stands and restrooms in these two areas have been decorated to look like suburban homes using LP products.
on November 12, 2000. Overall, the Titans are 45–27 in the regular season and 2–2 in playoff games at LP Field. Every Titans home game (including preseason) has been a sellout since the stadium opened in 1999. This is due to fans purchasing season tickets associated with the personal seat license
s each season ticketholder must own. The seat licenses helped finance construction of the stadium. There is a long waiting list for personal seat licenses, as well as season tickets.
to the Divisional Playoffs. It also ensured that the Titans would go undefeated in the first season in the team's new home. The victory was seen in front of a franchise-record crowd.
as well as by the women's national team
and visiting professional clubs. The venue was first used for soccer on April 20, 2004 in an exhibition game between the Los Angeles Galaxy
of Major League Soccer
and Tecos UAG of the Mexican Primera División
. Since then LP Field has been used for friendly matches
by the U.S. women versus Canada
in 2004, a return of Tecos against rival F.C. Atlas
in 2005, and the U.S. men versus Morocco
in 2006. The stadium hosted the CONCACAF
men's qualifying tournament
finals for the 2008 Summer Olympics
with the winners securing tournament berths
in Beijing, China.
On April 1, 2009, the U.S. men's national team played a World Cup qualifier beating Trinidad and Tobago
by a score of 3–0. The match saw Jozy Altidore
become the youngest American to score a hat trick
for the national team. The U.S. men returned March 29, 2011 falling to Paraguay
in a friendly before a record crowd of 29,059 – the largest to attend a soccer game in the state of Tennessee.
LP Field will kick off the 2012 Summer Olympics
' qualifying tournament
March 22, 2012 where Nashville will host the the opening rounds of the returning competition.
The main stage for the annual CMA Music Festival
, held every June, is located in the stadium.
. The flood also reached down to the locker rooms of the stadium.
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
stadium in Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
, United States, owned by the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County.
The stadium is used primarily for sporting events and music concerts and festivals. The stadium is the home field of the NFL
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
's Tennessee Titans
Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. They are members of the South Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Previously known as the Houston Oilers, the team began play in 1960 as a charter...
and the Tennessee State University
Tennessee State University
Tennessee State University is a land-grant university located in Nashville, Tennessee. TSU is the only state-funded historically black university in Tennessee.-History:...
Tigers. It is also the site of the Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl
Music City Bowl
The Music City Bowl is a post-season American college football bowl game certified by the NCAA that has been played in Nashville, Tennessee, since 1998.-Site:The first Music City Bowl was played at Vanderbilt Stadium in 1998...
, a postseason college football
College football
College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...
game played each December, and is occasionally used as a venue for soccer matches. The stadium is also used for large concerts such as the CMA Music Festival nightly concerts which take place for four days every June.
The stadium also has numerous public meeting facilities which are used for public events, meetings, parties and gatherings.
LP Field is located on the east bank of the Cumberland River
Cumberland River
The Cumberland River is a waterway in the Southern United States. It is long. It starts in Harlan County in far southeastern Kentucky between Pine and Cumberland mountains, flows through southern Kentucky, crosses into northern Tennessee, and then curves back up into western Kentucky before...
, directly across the river from downtown Nashville. Its seating capacity
Seating capacity
Seating capacity refers to the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, both in terms of the physical space available, and in terms of limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile that seats two to a stadium that seats...
is 68,798. Its first event was a preseason game between the Titans and the Atlanta Falcons
Atlanta Falcons
The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta, Georgia. They are a member of the South Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
on August 27, 1999.
The playing surface of LP Field is Tifsport Bermuda Sod, a natural grass. However, the relatively warm climate of Nashville, combined with the wear and tear of hosting a game nearly every weekend, usually results in a resodding of the area "between the hashes" in late November. Despite the efforts to improve the field conditions, the poor quality of the grass has become a complaint of many NFL players, fans, and broadcasters.
History
Washington Redskins
The Washington Redskins are a professional American football team and members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team plays at FedExField in Landover, Maryland, while its headquarters and training facility are at Redskin Park in Ashburn,...
in an exhibition game at Neyland Stadium
Neyland Stadium
Neyland Stadium is a sports stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee, USA. It serves primarily as the home of the Tennessee Volunteers football team, but is also used to host large conventions and has been a site for several NFL exhibition games. The stadium's official capacity is 102,455...
in Knoxville, Tennessee
Knoxville, Tennessee
Founded in 1786, Knoxville is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Tennessee, U.S.A., behind Memphis and Nashville, and is the county seat of Knox County. It is the largest city in East Tennessee, and the second-largest city in the Appalachia region...
. At the game, Oilers owner Bud Adams
Bud Adams
Kenneth Stanley "Bud" Adams, Jr. is the owner of the Tennessee Titans' National Football League franchise. He was instrumental in the founding and establishment of the former American Football League. Adams became a charter AFL owner with the establishment of the Titans franchise, which was...
met Nashville Mayor Phil Bredesen
Phil Bredesen
Philip Norman "Phil" Bredesen Jr. was the 48th Governor of Tennessee, serving from 2003 to 2011. A member of the Democratic Party, he was first elected Governor in 2002, and was re-elected in 2006. He previously served as the fourth mayor of Nashville and Davidson County from 1991 to...
and began discussing the possibility of moving the team to Middle Tennessee
Middle Tennessee
Middle Tennessee is a distinct portion of the state of Tennessee, delineated according to state law as the 41 counties in the Middle Grand Division of Tennessee....
, due to Adams' discontent with the teams' lease at the Astrodome
Reliant Astrodome
Reliant Astrodome, also known as the Houston Astrodome or simply the Astrodome, is the world's first multi-purpose, domed sports stadium, located in Houston, Texas, USA. The stadium is part of the Reliant Park complex...
and unwillingness of the City of Houston to build a new football-only stadium. Later that fall, Adams and Bredesen announced the team's intent to move to Nashville. The city and team decided to locate a stadium on the eastern bank of the Cumberland River
Cumberland River
The Cumberland River is a waterway in the Southern United States. It is long. It starts in Harlan County in far southeastern Kentucky between Pine and Cumberland mountains, flows through southern Kentucky, crosses into northern Tennessee, and then curves back up into western Kentucky before...
in downtown Nashville, on the site of a blighted industrial development.
In a special referendum on May 7, 1996, voters in Metropolitan Nashville/Davidson County voted to approve partial funding of the proposed stadium. The vote, which allocated US$144 million of public money to the project, passed with a 59% majority. The pro-stadium organization, known as "NFL Yes!" outspent the anti-stadium group by a ratio of 16:1 during the campaign.
The funds initially would be raised through an increase in the Metro water tax. The ongoing funding is through a 300% increase in Davidson County individual homeowner property taxes. Much of the remaining construction costs were funded through the sale of personal seat license
Personal Seat License
A personal seat license, or PSL, gives the holder the right to buy season tickets for a certain seat in a stadium. This holder can sell the seat license to someone else if they no longer wish to purchase season tickets. However, if the seat license holder chooses not to sell the seat licenses and...
s. Some State of Tennessee money was allocated to the project, on the condition that the Tennessee State University
Tennessee State University
Tennessee State University is a land-grant university located in Nashville, Tennessee. TSU is the only state-funded historically black university in Tennessee.-History:...
football team move its home games there, and with the request that the team be named "Tennessee" (instead of "Nashville"), which the franchise was planning to do anyway, in an attempt to appeal to the broader region.
The stadium's construction was delayed when the construction site was hit by a tornado that struck downtown Nashville on April 16, 1998 and destroyed several cranes, but the stadium opened in time for the first scheduled event.
Naming rights
During its construction, the stadium had no official name, though it was generally referred to as "The East Bank Stadium," a reference to the stadium's location on the eastern bank of the Cumberland River. Some in the local media jokingly called it "Bredesen-Adams Stadium". Upon its completion, it was given the name Adelphia Coliseum in a 15-year, $30 million naming rightsNaming rights
In the private sector, naming rights are a financial transaction whereby a corporation or other entity purchases the right to name a facility, typically for a defined period of time. For properties like a multi-purpose arena, performing arts venue or an athletic field, the term ranges from three...
arrangement with Adelphia Business Solutions, a subsidiary of the larger Adelphia telecommunications company. However, after Adelphia missed a required payment and subsequently filed for bankruptcy in 2002, this name was dropped and the stadium became known simply as The Coliseum for four years. (Adelphia itself was dissolved in 2006.) The current naming rights deal with Nashville-based Louisiana-Pacific
Louisiana-Pacific
Louisiana-Pacific Corporation , commonly known as "LP", is a United States building materials manufacturer. It was founded in 1973 and is currently based in Nashville, Tennessee. LP pioneered the U.S. production of oriented strand board panels. Today, LP is the world’s largest producer of OSB, and...
was inked on June 6, 2006. Louisiana-Pacific, which markets itself as "LP Building Products", is paying $30 million over ten years for naming rights. LP's influence inside the stadium led to the creation of the LP Building Zones in 2007, located beneath the giant scoreboards from Daktronics
Daktronics
Daktronics is an American company based in Brookings, South Dakota that designs, manufactures, sells, and services video board, scoreboards, digital billboards and related products. The company is best known for its electronic LED displays...
at the North and South ends of the stadium. The existing concession stands and restrooms in these two areas have been decorated to look like suburban homes using LP products.
Tennessee Titans
The Titans have posted an impressive record at LP Field since moving there in 1999, including winning their first 16 games before losing to the Baltimore RavensBaltimore Ravens
The Baltimore Ravens are a professional football franchise based in Baltimore, Maryland.The Baltimore Ravens are officially a quasi-expansion franchise, having originated in 1995 with the Cleveland Browns relocation controversy after Art Modell, then owner of the Cleveland Browns, announced his...
on November 12, 2000. Overall, the Titans are 45–27 in the regular season and 2–2 in playoff games at LP Field. Every Titans home game (including preseason) has been a sellout since the stadium opened in 1999. This is due to fans purchasing season tickets associated with the personal seat license
Personal Seat License
A personal seat license, or PSL, gives the holder the right to buy season tickets for a certain seat in a stadium. This holder can sell the seat license to someone else if they no longer wish to purchase season tickets. However, if the seat license holder chooses not to sell the seat licenses and...
s each season ticketholder must own. The seat licenses helped finance construction of the stadium. There is a long waiting list for personal seat licenses, as well as season tickets.
Music City Miracle
On January 8, 2000, one of the most memorable and debated plays in NFL history took place at then-Adelphia Coliseum. The "Music City Miracle", as it has come to be known, was a last-minute trick play on a kickoff return that resulted in a touchdown and catapulted the Titans past the Buffalo BillsBuffalo Bills
The Buffalo Bills are a professional football team based in Buffalo, New York. They are currently members of the East Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
to the Divisional Playoffs. It also ensured that the Titans would go undefeated in the first season in the team's new home. The victory was seen in front of a franchise-record crowd.
Soccer
LP Field regularly hosts soccer matches featuring the United States men's national teamUnited States men's national soccer team
The United States men's national soccer team represents the United States in international association football competitions. It is controlled by the United States Soccer Federation and competes in CONCACAF...
as well as by the women's national team
United States women's national soccer team
The United States women's national soccer team represents the United States in international soccer competition and is controlled by U.S. Soccer. The U.S. team won the first ever Women's World Cup in 1991, and has since been a superpower in women's soccer. It is currently ranked first in the world...
and visiting professional clubs. The venue was first used for soccer on April 20, 2004 in an exhibition game between the Los Angeles Galaxy
Los Angeles Galaxy
The Los Angeles Galaxy are an American professional soccer team, based in the Los Angeles suburb of Carson, California, which competes in Major League Soccer , the top professional soccer league in the United States and Canada. It is one of the ten charter clubs of MLS, and the league's second...
of Major League Soccer
Major League Soccer
Major League Soccer is a professional soccer league based in the United States and sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation . The league is composed of 19 teams — 16 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada...
and Tecos UAG of the Mexican Primera División
Primera División de México
The Primera División Profesional , known simply as the Primera División, is the top level of the Mexican football league system and is administered by the Mexican Football Federation. It was established in 1943 and as of 2011 has 18 clubs. Up to June 2011, it was divided into three groups competing...
. Since then LP Field has been used for friendly matches
Exhibition game
An exhibition game is a sporting event in which there is no competitive value of any significant kind to any competitor regardless of the outcome of the competition...
by the U.S. women versus Canada
Canada women's national soccer team
The Canada women's national soccer team is overseen by the Canadian Soccer Association. The team reached its all-time high of 6th in the March 2011 rankings. The team reached international prominence finishing in 4th place at the FIFA Women's World Cup 2003, losing to their archrival American team...
in 2004, a return of Tecos against rival F.C. Atlas
F.C. Atlas
Club Social y Deportivo Atlas de Guadalajara is a Mexican football club. Atlas is one of three teams that play in Guadalajara, Mexico, along with Club Deportivo Guadalajara and Estudiantes Tecos in the Primera División de México...
in 2005, and the U.S. men versus Morocco
Morocco national football team
The Morocco national football team , nicknamed أسود الأطلس , is the national team of Morocco and is managed by Eric Gerets. Winners of the African Nations Cup in 1976, they were the first African team to win a group at the World Cup, which they did in 1986, finishing ahead of Portugal, Poland, and...
in 2006. The stadium hosted the CONCACAF
CONCACAF
The Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football is the continental governing body for association football in North America, Central America and the Caribbean...
men's qualifying tournament
2008 CONCACAF Men's Pre-Olympic Tournament
The 2008 CONCACAF Men Pre-Olympic Tournament was an association football tournament that took place in three venues in the United States from March 11 to March 23, 2008....
finals for the 2008 Summer Olympics
2008 Summer Olympics
The 2008 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, was a major international multi-sport event that took place in Beijing, China, from August 8 to August 24, 2008. A total of 11,028 athletes from 204 National Olympic Committees competed in 28 sports and 302 events...
with the winners securing tournament berths
Football at the 2008 Summer Olympics
Football at the 2008 Summer Olympics was held in Beijing and several other cities in the People's Republic of China from 6 August to 23 August. Associations affiliated with FIFA were invited to send their full women's national teams and men's U-23 teams to participate...
in Beijing, China.
On April 1, 2009, the U.S. men's national team played a World Cup qualifier beating Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago national football team
The Trinidad and Tobago national football team, nicknamed The Soca Warriors, is the national team of Trinidad and Tobago and is run by the Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation. It reached the first round of the 2006 FIFA World Cup Finals...
by a score of 3–0. The match saw Jozy Altidore
Jozy Altidore
Josmer Volmy "Jozy" Altidore is an American soccer player currently playing for Eredivisie side AZ Alkmaar, and for the United States national team....
become the youngest American to score a hat trick
Hat Trick
Hat trick, hat-trick or hattrick may refer to:* hat-trick — in various sports, achieving three goals, wickets, etc. in a single match* Hattrick — online football management game** Hattrick Limited — producers of this game...
for the national team. The U.S. men returned March 29, 2011 falling to Paraguay
Paraguay national football team
The Paraguay national football team is controlled by the Paraguayan Football Association and represents Paraguay in men's international football competitions. The team has reached the second round of the World Cup on four occasions . The 2010 trip also featured their first appearance in the...
in a friendly before a record crowd of 29,059 – the largest to attend a soccer game in the state of Tennessee.
LP Field will kick off the 2012 Summer Olympics
2012 Summer Olympics
The 2012 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the "London 2012 Olympic Games", are scheduled to take place in London, England, United Kingdom from 27 July to 12 August 2012...
' qualifying tournament
2012 CONCACAF Men's Pre-Olympic Tournament
The 2012 CONCACAF Men Pre-Olympic Tournament will be an association football competition to determine the two participants at the 2012 Summer Olympics...
March 22, 2012 where Nashville will host the the opening rounds of the returning competition.
Concerts and events
LP Field also doubles as a large concert venue, although very few concerts are scheduled there due to attendance at some previously scheduled shows that did not approach capacity and the site's operating arrangements, which make it difficult for concert promoters to make their usual profit margins on events held there.The main stage for the annual CMA Music Festival
CMA Music Festival
The CMA Music Festival is a four-day music festival centered around country music hosted each June by the Country Music Association in Nashville, Tennessee...
, held every June, is located in the stadium.
May 3, 2010 floods
On May 3, 2010, LP Field's playing surface was covered with six feet of water due to the heavy rains and flooding from the Cumberland RiverCumberland River
The Cumberland River is a waterway in the Southern United States. It is long. It starts in Harlan County in far southeastern Kentucky between Pine and Cumberland mountains, flows through southern Kentucky, crosses into northern Tennessee, and then curves back up into western Kentucky before...
. The flood also reached down to the locker rooms of the stadium.
External links
- LPField.com – official site
- LP Field – Tennessee Titans