The Tennessee Titans are a professional NFL team playing from their home at Nissan Stadium in Nashville Tennessee. Ever since coming to Nissan stadium in 1999, the team has put up an impressive record, including winning their first 13 games before losing to the Baltimore Ravens on November 12, 2000. The team has a total of 100 wins and 76 losses during regular season games at the stadium as well as a 2-3 playoff record at Nissan Stadium. Impressively, the game has held sellout Titans home games, including preseason events, ever since 1999.
Tennessee Titans History
The team was originally founded as the Houston Oilers, one of the eight charter members of the American Football League (AFL). The team remained with the AFL until the AFL-NFL merger in 1970, and they have remained NFL members since. After the merger, the team played for NFL’s Central Division where they remained until 2002.
After the 1995 season, Bud Adams announced that the team would be moving to Tennessee. This caused fan support in Houston to collapse during the 1996 season. The plan was set to play at a new stadium in Nashville, but the stadium wasn’t ready for them until 1999. So the team played their next two seasons at Liberty Bowl Memorial STadium in Memphis, Tennessee. The team would be based in Nashville and commute to Memphis for their home games, which effectively meant forcing the team to play 32 road games for the next two years.
The arrangement was acceptable to the NFL and the Oilers at the time, but few people in Memphis or Nashville were happy with it. Memphians didn’t want a team that they would lose in two years to their rivals in Nashville and Nashville didn’t want to drive over 200 miles to see “their” team. This was especially a problem as the commute between the two cities was at least three-hours given major construction and road work.
Even though this arrangement was acceptable to the NFL and the Oilers at the time, few people in either Memphis or Nashville were happy about it. After numerous attempts to get an NFL team over the last three decades, Memphians wanted nothing to do with a team that would be lost in only two years—especially to longtime rival Nashville. Conversely, Nashvillians showed little inclination to drive over 200 miles (320 km) to see “their” team. At the time, Interstate 40 was in the midst of major reconstruction in the Memphis area, lengthening the normal three-hour drive between Nashville and Memphis to five hours.
Despite record low fan attendance, the team pressed on during this difficult period. That is, until one game.
After the team’s final game of the 1997 season, the oilers faced the Pittsburgh Steelers in front of 50,677 fans. While this was a large turnout for the team, it was mostly made up of Steelers fans by one estimate. The team abandoned plans to play in Memphis and played their 1998 season in Vanderbilt stadium. The team was in playoff contention during that season until they were ousted by an 8-8 record.
On July 29, 1998, Adams announced that in response to fan requests, he would be changing the Oilers name to match the opening of their new stadium and to better connect with their new home. It was decided to keep the Oilers records to maintain their heritage, as had other relocated teams at the time. In fact, the team would honor players from all three eras of the team’s existence.
An advisory committee came together to decide on a new name. Adams trusted them to come up with the name requesting only that it would reflect power, strength, leadership, and other heroic qualities. The committee chose the name “Tennessee Titans” which was announced on November 14, 1998. Besides fitting Adams’ requirements for power, the name also serves as a nod to Nashville’s nickname of “The Athens of the South” for its large number of universities and higher-learning institutions.
About Nissan Stadium
Nissan Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Nashville, Tennessee. The stadium is primarily used as the home for the Tennessee Titans of the NFL and the Tennessee State Tigers of Tennessee State University. But since its founding, the stadium has also been the site for major events including the Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl as well as the Nashville SC of Major League Soccer. The stadium also sees frequent use for concerts including from artists affiliated with the CMA Music Festival each June.
Currently the seating capacity stands at an incredible 69,143 seats spread across three levels of seating.
One of the most famous features of the arena is the Titans Pro Shop, a retail store that specializes in team merchandise. The store is open all year-round and features an exterior entrance for use during non-event dates.
Name Origin
During its initial construction, the stadium had no official name. It was simply known as The East Bank Stadium, referring to its location on the eastern bank of Cumberland River. When it was completed, the stadium was given the name “Adelphia Coliseum” after owners reached a $30 million naming rights deal with Adelphia Business Solutions. However, Adelphia filed for bankruptcy in 2002, so the deal was abandoned and the stadium was simply known as “The Coliseum” for four years.
On June 6, 2006, a new naming rights deal was made with Louisiana-Pacific, where the company paid $30 million for a 10 year deal.
Towards the end of this period, on June 24, 2015, car manufacturer Nissan, whose North American headquarters was located south of Nashville, bought the naming rights in a 20-yuear contract. The stadium was then rebranded “Nissan Stadium.
Achievements
The Tennessee Titans has a storied history that dates back to their founding as the Houston Oilers in 1960. Since that time, the team has seen a variety of franchise achievements that fans can cheer about every time the team comes home to Nissan Stadium.
These are just a few of the big records.
Championships
AFL Championships (Pre-1970 AFL-NFL Merger) – 1960, 1961
Conference Championships – 1999 AFC
AFL Division Championships – 1960, 1961, 1962, 1967
AFC Central Division Championships – 1991, 1993, 2000
AFC South Division Championships – 2002, 2008, 2020
Playoff Appearances
AFL: 1960, 1961, 1962, 1967, 1969
NFL: 1978, 1979, 1980, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2007, 2008, 2017, 2019, 2020