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By Jon Styf

The Center Square

Tennessee voters don’t want to pay for construction of a Major League Baseball stadium in Nashville, according to a new Beacon Center poll of 1,200 state residents.

The poll asked if people support using state tax dollars to fund the construction of a stadium and 58% were opposed with only 27% supportive.

The opposition was similar for those in the state’s largest counties (Shelby, Davidson, Hamilton and Knoxville) with 61% opposed.

The opposition was also nearly the same amongst different education levels and those who identify as Republican, Democrat or independent.

“We have had some previous polls on tax incentives and it’s usually 50-50, so for this to be so underwater among all groups of people was actually kind of shocking,” Beacon Center Vice President of Communications and Outreach Mark Cunningham said. “Even people in Middle Tennessee, where the stadium will be built, were 27 points against it. It really seems that, not just in Tennessee but nationally, the tide is kind of turning against these stadium projects.”

Cunningham said that there were not many issues where Democrats, Republicans and independents were so aligned.

The poll comes after reports that MLB is considering Nashville for future expansion but that won’t begin until 2029.

The MLB office hired a group of four lobbyists during the 2023 Tennessee legislative session but not in 2024. MLB also hired lobbyists in Tennessee in 2019 and 2020.

Economists have consistently shown that public funding of professional sports stadiums does not pay off for taxpayers.

Economist J.C. Bradbury of Georgia’s Kennesaw State University pointed polls from Arizona State’s Global Sports Institute, where 56% of respondents said they opposed paying higher taxes to fund a professional sports stadium and a Seton Hall poll saying that 75% of Americans believed the Raiders should have funded the stadium in their move to Las Vegas.

“It’s widely believed in the halls of city and state governments and in gatherings of business leaders that sports projects are popular with the general public, but they are not,” Bradbury said. “It’s kind of a common fiction that they all hold onto while discussing the topic over cocktails in the owner’s box.”

Tennessee taxpayers are sending $1.27 billion – including a $500 million direct subsidy from the state – toward the construction of a new $2.1 billion Tennessee Titans stadium, set to open in 2027. Alsocreated is a tax capture along with the city of Nashville expected to collect $3.1 billion to fund stadium bonds, infrastructure and both improvements and maintenance during the life of the Titans’ lease.

“if you don’t believe the polls, look at what happened in Nashville’s last election,” Bradbury said. “New Titan Stadium supporting candidates did not fare well, and the current mayor was a vocal stadium critic.”

The Titans stadium is one of several NFL stadium projects or renovations in the works, utilizing billions in taxpayer money.

Similar projects are in the planning process for the Tampa Bay Rays and Kansas City Royals.