Operating out of a 21-year-old facility, the Tennessee Titans could receive assistance with long-awaited upgrades at Nissan Stadium through legislation that would redirect state sales tax revenue from transactions on the property.

The measure would help put the city on its way to hosting the 2026 World Cup and other major events, said Sen. Steve Dickerson, R-Nashville, who presented the bill Wednesday morning in the Senate finance subcommittee.

The legislation would allow Nashville to collect the state’s share of sales tax for transactions at the facility, which it owns, in order to pay for upgrades. That, in turn, would allow Nissan to "continue to be a world-class venue to attract sports events for the coming years," Dickerson told the committee Wednesday.

According to a study commissioned by Metro government and completed in 2017, Nissan Stadium is in need of $293 million worth of upgrades, many of which are basic.

The stadium in general needs a number of upgrades to keep up with state of the art improvements made in recent years at other NFL teams' homes.

"As Nissan Stadium enters its third decade of existence, it’s important to consider how all stakeholders might come together to provide for the next 30 years of the building and beyond," the Titans said in a statement released Wednesday by publicist Kate Guerra.

"The bill introduced today would help to secure the long-term future of the building by funding improvements, maintenance and repair while placing the stadium on the same footing as the state’s other professional sports venues that have similar arrangements in place."

Nissan Stadium, owned by the city’s Sports Authority, opened in 1999 and has been the home of the Titans ever since.

Nashville’s lease agreement with the team specifies that the city must pay for upkeep at the stadium, as it must do for Bridgestone Arena. Much of the infrastructure in both venues has a 20-year lifespan.

A similar sales tax arrangement is already in place at Bridgestone Arena to pay for maintenance upgrades. A legislative fiscal memo on the bill indicates Major League Soccer in Nashville is already authorized to operate under such an arrangement for a forthcoming stadium at the city's fairgrounds.

The state sales tax rate is currently set at 7%. Davidson County's 2.25% local sales tax is expected to remain unchanged.

Mayor John Cooper's office didn't immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday morning.

The bill received a negative recommendation from all members of the Senate finance subcommittee except for Sen. Brenda Gilmore, D-Nashville.

The subcommittee does not vote based on a bill's merit, but only its price tag. Other committees, such as the chamber's full finance committee, will debate the legislation. It has not yet been taken up in the House, but is being sponsored by Rep. Gary Hicks, R-Rogersville.

State estimates annual cost of more than $1 million

The legislature's fiscal review office estimates a loss of $1 million in state revenue each year under the arrangement. Those diverted funds could only be used by the Metro Nashville Sports Authority to cover capital projects at the stadium or debt payments on those projects.

Under an amendment filed on the legislation, applicable transactions — both at football games and other non-Titans events — would include admissions sales, authorized team products, parking charges and other purchases made both in the stadium and in a designated perimeter around the building.

The size of that area, not to exceed 150 acres, would be determined by Nashville.

The 2017 city-commissioned study, conducted by Venue Solutions Group in Brentwood, outlined the aging infrastructure of both Nissan Stadium and Bridgestone Arena. Nashville at the time anticipated the stadium needing $8 million to $12 million in upgrades each year over the next two decades, but was unsure how it would pay for the maintenance.

Among those improvements was upgrading old technology, including IT systems, scoreboard and video displays, cabling and camera locations that are not sufficient for national broadcasts, the consultants found.

The report described the architecture as uninspiring, attributable to "cost cutting in design and construction" more than two decades ago.

Lighting and mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems also are in need of upgrades and are largely original to the stadium, the report concluded.

If passed, the new arrangement would take effect March 1, 2021.

"We hope to work with both state and local government entities on this and other solutions to maintain Nissan Stadium as a premier venue and event destination for the region for years to come," Guerra said in the Titans' statement.

Reach Natalie Allison at nallison@tennessean.com. Follow her on Twitter at @natalie_allison.

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