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LP Field
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LP Field is a football stadium in Nashville, Tennessee, United States, used primarily as the home stadium of the NFL's Tennessee Titans, but also used as the home football field for the Tennessee State University Tigers. It is also the site of the Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl, a postseason college football game played each December, and is occasionally used as a venue for soccer matches. LP Field is located on the east bank of the Cumberland River, directly across the river from downtown Nashville. Its seating capacity is slightly under 69,000.
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Encyclopedia
LP Field is a football stadium in Nashville, Tennessee, United States, used primarily as the home stadium of the NFL's Tennessee Titans, but also used as the home football field for the Tennessee State University Tigers. It is also the site of the Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl, a postseason college football game played each December, and is occasionally used as a venue for soccer matches. LP Field is located on the east bank of the Cumberland River, directly across the river from downtown Nashville. Its seating capacity is slightly under 69,000. 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.
History
On May 7, 1996, voters in Metropolitan Nashville/Davidson County voted to approve partial funding of a new stadium to be built on the eastern bank of the Cumberland River in downtown Nashville. The vote, which allocated US$144 million of public money to the project, passed with a 59% majority. The funds would be raised through an increase in the Metro water tax. Much of the remaining construction costs were funded through the sale of personal seat licenses. The pro-stadium organization, known as "NFL Yes!" outspent the anti-stadium group by a ratio of 16:1 during the campaign.
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. Upon its completion, it was given the name Adelphia Coliseum in a 15-year, $30 million naming rights 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 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. Nashville's nickname "Music City USA" and Louisiana-Pacific's initialism "LP."
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 Ravens on November 12, 2000. Overall, the Titans are 45–27 in the regular season and 2–1 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 licenses 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 Bills 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 occasionally hosts soccer matches by the United States men's and women's national teams as well as professional clubs. The US men's national team will play a World Cup Qualifier at LP Field on April 1, 2009. 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.
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, held every June, is located in the stadium. A large Billy Graham Crusade was held at the stadium in the summer of 2000.
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