Tennessee Titans' new enclosed stadium on track for February 2027 completion

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The countdown is on for the completion of the Tennessee Titans ' new enclosed stadium with the project on target to meet its three-year timeline.

Time is ticking away fast.

"We’re going to get keys to this building in February,” Titans President and CEO Burke Nihill said Tuesday.

The Titans took reporters on tours Tuesday showing off the progress that has been made and update what remains to be done on the new Nissan Stadium project that broke ground Feb. 29, 2024, with the target of the NFL team moving in for the 2027 season.

The locker room has metal walls in place now with space for 68 fixed lockers along with showers, a trainers' area and equipment storage. Builders designed the room with an extra beam to avoid a column in the middle of that locker room to keep the space open.

The result is about 50% more space than the Titans currently have in the stadium that opened in 1999 for a cost much cheaper than the $2.1 billion tab, including $1.2 billion combined in state and local bonds, for this stadium.

“We also have dedicated offense meeting room, defense meeting room,” said Kellen DeCoursey, the Titans’ project manager. “Something that we didn’t have in the current locker room, and I know that we’re first class in the league as far as female coaching locker facilities as well, so we’ve set the bar really high on that as well.”

The players will be able to park underground, take a short walk to the locker room and then the field itself. The Titans also have an area for players’ families and children bigger than what’s available in the current stadium along with nanny services available during games.

What fans will notice are the 44 escalators and 27 elevators, compared to only six elevators at the current stadium. All designed to get them to their seats faster.

“We wanted it to look awesome,” Nihill said of the stadium. "We wanted Nashville to be proud of it. But we really kind of (integrated) the fan experience and the player experience every step of the journey.”

Cables about 3 inches in diameter weighing about 40 pounds per foot have been laid in a grid across the floor of the stadium and are being strung through ports in the compression ring along the top. The plan is to start raising the cables into place starting in May with all translucent roof panels installed in October at the latest.

“That’s one of the big challenges of trying to keep water, Mother Nature, out,” DeCoursey said. “Hence, you see the boat wrap lining the bowl. That keeps the water out, that allows us to do the finishes on the inside.”

The sheeting protects workers busy installing metal studs, insulation, drywall and wiring on the interior on all levels.

Once completed, the new Nissan Stadium roof panels will feature two layers like Allegiant Stadium, home of the Las Vegas Raiders. SoFi Stadium, home to the Los Angeles Rams and Chargers, has a one-layer roof paneling.

“We’re the second building that’s fully enclosed," DeCoursey said.

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Tennessee Titans president Burke Nihill leads a construction tour of the NFL football team's new enclosed stadium Tuesday, March 24, 2026, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

Construction continues on a new enclosed stadium for the Tennessee Titans NFL football team, Tuesday, March 24, 2026, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

Construction continues on a new enclosed stadium for the Tennessee Titans NFL football team, Tuesday, March 24, 2026, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

Construction continues on a new enclosed stadium for the Tennessee Titans NFL football team, Tuesday, March 24, 2026, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

Construction continues on a new enclosed stadium for the Tennessee Titans NFL football team, Tuesday, March 24, 2026, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — The University of Southern California canceled a gubernatorial debate planned for Tuesday after candidates of color who would have been excluded accused the school of discrimination.

Republicans Steve Hilton and Chad Bianco, and Democrats Tom Steyer, Katie Porter, Eric Swalwell and Matt Mahan, who are all white, were slated to participate in the debate hosted by the University of Southern California's Dornsife Center for the Political Future and KABC-TV. But four established Democratic candidates of color, Antonio Villaraigosa, Xavier Becerra, Betty Yee and Tony Thurmond, didn't meet the criteria to participate.

No clear front-runner has emerged in the crowded race ahead of the June 2 primary. Ballots will go out in early May.

The university has defended a formula used to select the participants and denied allegations of bias. A public policy professor independently developed the criteria based on candidates’ polling and fundraising, the university said in a statement Friday.

A group of 50 public policy and social science scholars from across the country defended the professor in a letter to the university’s president on Monday.

“We urge USC to stand firm in rejecting all efforts to apply political pressure on its faculty and its overall academic mission,” they wrote.

But the university reversed course Monday night, saying that the debate co-hosts couldn’t agree on a solution.

The "data-driven candidate viability formula is based on extensive research and enjoys broad academic support,” it said in a statement. “At the same time, we recognize that concerns about the selection criteria for tomorrow’s gubernatorial debate have created a significant distraction from the issues that matter to voters.”

The debate cancellation comes weeks after state Democratic Party Chair Rusty Hicks urged candidates to drop out of the race if their campaigns were no longer viable, citing the possibility that the two leading Republicans could advance to the general election. The all-GOP general election is possible under California’s unusual top-two primary system, which puts all candidates on one ballot and only the top two vote-getters advance to November, regardless of party.

Hicks on Tuesday unveiled the results of a poll commissioned by the party that shows Hilton, Porter, Bianco, Swalwell and Steyer in close competition, and the other candidates trailing behind them. It's consistent with other recent polling.

“These results confirm the possibility, albeit a low one — the possibility of Democrats being locked out of the general election,” Hicks said. “More importantly, it’s yet another reminder of the undeniable fact that all candidates must honestly assess their viable path to win.”

Much of the criticism is targeted at Mahan’s inclusion over other candidates. Mahan, the San Jose mayor, joined the race months after his competitors, but has outraised some of them thanks in part to contributions from ultrawealthy donors in Silicon Valley.

He said he was disappointed the debate was canceled and that the other established candidates should have been allowed to participate.

“The best way to promote democracy is to have every voice included and have forums like this for debate,” he said in an interview.

The controversy escalated Monday when legislative leaders, including chairs of the Black and Latino caucuses, called on organizers to open up the debate to more candidates.

“If USC does not do the right thing, we call on California voters to boycott this debate," they wrote. "If the university will not give voters a fair shot at evaluating everyone running for governor, voters should find other ways to learn about the candidates.”

Villaraigosa, a former Los Angeles mayor who is Latino, celebrated the university's decision to cancel the debate.

“USC made the right call, even if it came late and under pressure,” he said in a statement.

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Associated Press writer Trân Nguyễn contributed.

FILE - California gubernatorial candidate Xavier Becerra speaks at the 2026 California Democratic Party State Convention in San Francisco, Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)

FILE - California gubernatorial candidate Betty Yee speaks at the 2026 California Democratic Party State Convention in San Francisco, Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)

FILE - California gubernatorial candidate Antonio Villaraigosa speaks at the 2026 California Democratic Party State Convention in San Francisco, Feb. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)