As the residents of Nashville, in particular, and Tennessee, in general, have been suffering rolling blackouts in the great 2022 Christmas storm, the NFL and the Tennessee Titans were given a waiver and allowed to keep the Titans’ Nissan Stadium at full power. And social media erupted in outrage.
The people of Tennessee are paying $500 million, and the city of Nashville is on the hook for another $760 million for the new stadium for the Tennessee Titans, but even as the people are intermittently left without power during one of the coldest weeks of the year, the Titans stadium blazes with lights and heat.
As the temperatures plunged, the Tennessee Valley Authority implemented rolling blackouts in Memphis and Nashville due to the strain on the power grid.
Residents were warned to turn off any unnecessary lights and electronic items and to conserve energy as much as possible. They were even warned against doing laundry.
Yet, the blazing neon lights of Nissan Stadium were still filling the night sky.
KWAM NewsTalk Memphis noted that the TVA was allowing the NFL and the Titans to maintain full power. At the same time, everyone else was urged to conserve energy and even lose their power entirely for short periods.
Nashville’s Democrat Mayor John Cooper asked the NFL to postpone its game at Nissan Stadium.
“I’ve been informed that TVA’s unilateral rolling blackouts will continue. All non-essential businesses should reduce power usage. I’ve asked the Titans to postpone their noon game in solidarity with our neighbors. TVA needs to invest in infrastructure to withstand extreme temp,” he said in a statement.
The Titans complied with the request to delay the game for one hour. But plenty of people still in the dark didn’t find much consolation in simply delaying a football game.
Many residents took to Twitter to report that their power was cut:
Many more were furious that the NFL got to keep its power while everyone else froze in the cold:
Merry Christmas, Tennessee.
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Facebook at: facebook.com/Warner.Todd.Huston, or Truth Social @WarnerToddHuston
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.