great read (long)

https://sports.yahoo.com/city-hated-nfl-...22905.html

Good article.

I remember Bud Adams trying to get the city to pay for the team's travel costs, for playing home games in Memphis! That took some balls!

Article was pretty on point, especially with the ripples of lingering indifference if not outright resentment toward the Titans stemming from the ordeal. But at least it shows the truth beyond the empty seats can come out. At the time, some folks held to the belief that only the paltry attendance would be remembered, and stain the city, and no one would care why. That has been disproven. The article could have maybe used more references to classless Adams continuing subsequent dbaggery, such as his trash double bird and the overall reputation of the Titans as one of the dirtiest in the league for a while.

And from the nadir of that experience, Memphis has risen to a time of plenty in sports, perhaps too much going on, with USL, AAF, the World Golf Championship, adding to the G League, AAA, 2 Tiger sports and, of course, the NBA, and has a better overall quality of life that seems to improve every year, especially in the outdoors

IT WAS NOT OUR FOOTBALL TEAM!!!!!!!

That is like someone expecting you to buy a house, car, food and clothing for a woman who is marrying someone else.


My favorite memory is the Steelers game being the largest crowd of the year and most of the fans were Steerlers fans.

The negative reaction to the Titans (formally Oilers) by Memphians is completely understandable and expected.

Now Nashville, to a certain extent, is rejecting the Titans, also. There are games (e.g., Steelers) when the opponents have a very strong presence and the Titans are dead last in the "NFL Fan and Brand Report 2018". The report includes overall ranking of fan bases and also reports "rankings on the fan equity, social equity and road equity measures". (Source)

just wait until they need to build a new stadium, which will be sooner rather than later

It was built too fast and resembles an erector set compared to most other NFL stadiums

(08-12-2018 10:52 AM)k2tigers Wrote:  just wait until they need to build a new stadium, which will be sooner rather than later

It was built too fast and resembles an erector set compared to most other NFL stadiums

There are murmurs already - expressed on radio - about the inadequateness of the 19 year old current stadium. In the present environment, a taxpayer funded replacement is not assured, IMO.

I remember Chris Berman and ESPN roasting the city over attendance and never looked any deeper than the numbers. Not one single sports journalist looked any deeper at the time either. There was a real story that everyone missed. I'm actually shocked that someone even remembers outside of the city and cared enough to write about what really happened.

Former Showboats & Maniax season ticket holder & even went to a Mad Dogs game or two. I always said I would be a Titans fan once Bud Adams was dead. However, I just can't bring myself to care about them.

And thanks to FedEx, I was able to attend most of the games in Memphis for free.

(08-09-2018 11:20 AM)JerryJeff Wrote:  Good article.

I remember Bud Adams trying to get the city to pay for the team's travel costs, for playing home games in Memphis! That took some balls!

Adams was also a freaking LIAR!. I saw a TV interview he did shortly after a sold out Oilers exhibition game in Memphis that was a sellout. When asked in the interview what he thought about the sellout he said he was impressed and he would vote for Memphis to get an expansion team. Of course Memphis didn't get a single vote, thereby proving he lied.

(08-09-2018 10:55 AM)k2tigers Wrote:  great read (long)

https://sports.yahoo.com/city-hated-nfl-...22905.html

(08-12-2018 11:27 AM)Tiger1983 Wrote:  

(08-12-2018 10:52 AM)k2tigers Wrote:  just wait until they need to build a new stadium, which will be sooner rather than later

It was built too fast and resembles an erector set compared to most other NFL stadiums

There are murmurs already - expressed on radio - about the inadequateness of the 19 year old current stadium. In the present environment, a taxpayer funded replacement is not assured, IMO.

St. Louis is STILL paying for the TWA/Ed Jones Dome, last I heard...

(08-12-2018 05:49 PM)tigerlands Wrote:  

(08-09-2018 11:20 AM)JerryJeff Wrote:  Good article.

I remember Bud Adams trying to get the city to pay for the team's travel costs, for playing home games in Memphis! That took some balls!

Adams was also a freaking LIAR!. I saw a TV interview he did shortly after a sold out Oilers exhibition game in Memphis that was a sellout. When asked in the interview what he thought about the sellout he said he was impressed and he would vote for Memphis to get an expansion team. Of course Memphis didn't get a single vote, thereby proving he lied.

In all fairness, if the other four contenders are offering new stadiums (three brand new and one which was a complete rebuild) and all the existing NFL franchises would exploit these offers of new stadiums to get their own new stadiums, why would any other them vote for the Memphis proposal?

Bud Adams first choice for relocation was Jacksonville. When Jacksonville was up for a team (when Charlotte was the obvious first choice), why would Bud Adams vote for Memphis over the place he would have chosen to go if he had to leave Houston. Adams was trying to get a new stadium and he was going to vote for a proposal with a stadium which wasn't better than the stadium he wanted to replace?

(08-12-2018 07:39 PM)kabluey Wrote:  

(08-09-2018 10:55 AM)k2tigers Wrote:  great read (long)

https://sports.yahoo.com/city-hated-nfl-...22905.html

(08-12-2018 11:27 AM)Tiger1983 Wrote:  

(08-12-2018 10:52 AM)k2tigers Wrote:  just wait until they need to build a new stadium, which will be sooner rather than later

It was built too fast and resembles an erector set compared to most other NFL stadiums

There are murmurs already - expressed on radio - about the inadequateness of the 19 year old current stadium. In the present environment, a taxpayer funded replacement is not assured, IMO.

St. Louis is STILL paying for the TWA/Ed Jones Dome, last I heard...

I've read people critical of the NFL leaving before the dome was paid off, but they built that stadium before they ever had an NFL team. They built it to lure a team (which worked until they agreed to a bad lease).

(08-12-2018 11:27 AM)Tiger1983 Wrote:  

(08-12-2018 10:52 AM)k2tigers Wrote:  just wait until they need to build a new stadium, which will be sooner rather than later

It was built too fast and resembles an erector set compared to most other NFL stadiums

There are murmurs already - expressed on radio - about the inadequateness of the 19 year old current stadium. In the present environment, a taxpayer funded replacement is not assured, IMO.

Other than a retractable dome, what amenities does Nissan Stadium lack that can't be updated in a modest renovation?

Nothing really.

The joint is laughable in outward appearance but it is not inadequate or nearing obsolescence.

(08-13-2018 10:22 PM)Latilleon Wrote:  

(08-12-2018 07:39 PM)kabluey Wrote:  

(08-09-2018 10:55 AM)k2tigers Wrote:  great read (long)

https://sports.yahoo.com/city-hated-nfl-...22905.html

(08-12-2018 11:27 AM)Tiger1983 Wrote:  

(08-12-2018 10:52 AM)k2tigers Wrote:  just wait until they need to build a new stadium, which will be sooner rather than later

It was built too fast and resembles an erector set compared to most other NFL stadiums

There are murmurs already - expressed on radio - about the inadequateness of the 19 year old current stadium. In the present environment, a taxpayer funded replacement is not assured, IMO.

St. Louis is STILL paying for the TWA/Ed Jones Dome, last I heard...

I've read people critical of the NFL leaving before the dome was paid off, but they built that stadium before they ever had an NFL team. They built it to lure a team (which worked until they agreed to a bad lease).

The first-tier standard was just sad and desperately naive.

From a 2016 Reuters article, pertaining to other obsolete facilites: "Seattle’s Kingdome bonds were retired only last year, 15 years after the facility was imploded in 2000. Philadelphia has $160,000 left to pay on Veterans Stadium, more than a decade after the facility was torn down. Debt from Indianapolis’ Hoosier Dome - demolished in 2008 - still hadn't been paid off in 2013, according to state filings." (Reuters)

Puts into context the Pyramid afterlife (which I have been critical and complimentary of) and FedExForum's deal.

(08-13-2018 10:20 PM)Latilleon Wrote:  

(08-12-2018 05:49 PM)tigerlands Wrote:  

(08-09-2018 11:20 AM)JerryJeff Wrote:  Good article.

I remember Bud Adams trying to get the city to pay for the team's travel costs, for playing home games in Memphis! That took some balls!

Adams was also a freaking LIAR!. I saw a TV interview he did shortly after a sold out Oilers exhibition game in Memphis that was a sellout. When asked in the interview what he thought about the sellout he said he was impressed and he would vote for Memphis to get an expansion team. Of course Memphis didn't get a single vote, thereby proving he lied.

In all fairness, if the other four contenders are offering new stadiums (three brand new and one which was a complete rebuild) and all the existing NFL franchises would exploit these offers of new stadiums to get their own new stadiums, why would any other them vote for the Memphis proposal?

Bud Adams first choice for relocation was Jacksonville. When Jacksonville was up for a team (when Charlotte was the obvious first choice), why would Bud Adams vote for Memphis over the place he would have chosen to go if he had to leave Houston. Adams was trying to get a new stadium and he was going to vote for a proposal with a stadium which wasn't better than the stadium he wanted to replace?

Yep, somehow in their hate for the Titans, people want to overlook how Memphis wanted to cheapskate their way into an NFL team. Any team would have been fools to take the deal Memphis had to offer over what the other cities was offering.

(08-14-2018 05:46 AM)memtigbb Wrote:  

(08-13-2018 10:20 PM)Latilleon Wrote:  

(08-12-2018 05:49 PM)tigerlands Wrote:  

(08-09-2018 11:20 AM)JerryJeff Wrote:  Good article.

I remember Bud Adams trying to get the city to pay for the team's travel costs, for playing home games in Memphis! That took some balls!

Adams was also a freaking LIAR!. I saw a TV interview he did shortly after a sold out Oilers exhibition game in Memphis that was a sellout. When asked in the interview what he thought about the sellout he said he was impressed and he would vote for Memphis to get an expansion team. Of course Memphis didn't get a single vote, thereby proving he lied.

In all fairness, if the other four contenders are offering new stadiums (three brand new and one which was a complete rebuild) and all the existing NFL franchises would exploit these offers of new stadiums to get their own new stadiums, why would any other them vote for the Memphis proposal?

Bud Adams first choice for relocation was Jacksonville. When Jacksonville was up for a team (when Charlotte was the obvious first choice), why would Bud Adams vote for Memphis over the place he would have chosen to go if he had to leave Houston. Adams was trying to get a new stadium and he was going to vote for a proposal with a stadium which wasn't better than the stadium he wanted to replace?

Yep, somehow in their hate for the Titans, people want to overlook how Memphis wanted to cheapskate their way into an NFL team. Any team would have been fools to take the deal Memphis had to offer over what the other cities was offering.

And as stated above, Memphis would have been fools to offer what the other teams were offering. If we were in St. Louis' shoes - a city still paying off a huge stadium with no team to play in it - it may have broken the city.

(08-14-2018 07:37 AM)Trapper John Wrote:  

(08-14-2018 05:46 AM)memtigbb Wrote:  

(08-13-2018 10:20 PM)Latilleon Wrote:  

(08-12-2018 05:49 PM)tigerlands Wrote:  

(08-09-2018 11:20 AM)JerryJeff Wrote:  Good article.

I remember Bud Adams trying to get the city to pay for the team's travel costs, for playing home games in Memphis! That took some balls!

Adams was also a freaking LIAR!. I saw a TV interview he did shortly after a sold out Oilers exhibition game in Memphis that was a sellout. When asked in the interview what he thought about the sellout he said he was impressed and he would vote for Memphis to get an expansion team. Of course Memphis didn't get a single vote, thereby proving he lied.

In all fairness, if the other four contenders are offering new stadiums (three brand new and one which was a complete rebuild) and all the existing NFL franchises would exploit these offers of new stadiums to get their own new stadiums, why would any other them vote for the Memphis proposal?

Bud Adams first choice for relocation was Jacksonville. When Jacksonville was up for a team (when Charlotte was the obvious first choice), why would Bud Adams vote for Memphis over the place he would have chosen to go if he had to leave Houston. Adams was trying to get a new stadium and he was going to vote for a proposal with a stadium which wasn't better than the stadium he wanted to replace?

Yep, somehow in their hate for the Titans, people want to overlook how Memphis wanted to cheapskate their way into an NFL team. Any team would have been fools to take the deal Memphis had to offer over what the other cities was offering.

And as stated above, Memphis would have been fools to offer what the other teams were offering. If we were in St. Louis' shoes - a city still paying off a huge stadium with no team to play in it - it may have broken the city.

Not really.

It’s really no different than what we did funding FedExForum.

Memphis could have built an outdoor stadium that was the equivalent of the stadiums built in Charlotte and Baltimore. It would have cost $200-300 million in 1993 dollars.

The stadium could have been the home to the Houndogs (I’m sure the public disgust would have led to a different name), the Tigers, the SHC, and the Liberty Bowl. That’s about 19 events during the year, plus concerts and festivals.

The expansion franchise would be owned by Billy Dunavant and probably purchased by Fred Smith at some point. The lease would be favorable to the NFL team, but would bring a great deal of attention to Memphis. Because of the hometown ownership, there is less fear of relocation. The lease also wouldn’t have the same kind of escape clause the Rams got from STL because the expansion team would be designing and implementing the stadium for their purposes.

FedExForum is a better value for Memphis, but an NFL stadium would have been economically viable.

25 years later, that Hound Dogs name still sounds as bad as it did back then.

I can't help but wonder how the NFL would look today if Charlotte and Memphis had been awarded the expansion franchises in '93.

With Nashville a part of Memphis' territory and out of the picture for a team, would Bud Adams have tried to claim Baltimore before Art Modell in '95, and then Art takes the Browns to Jacksonville?

A lot of interesting scenarios if the votes had gone a different way in 1993.