Music and Sports Venues

The Tennessee Titans were originally the Houston Oilers. The Oilers were one of the eight charter teams in the AFL and they joined the NFL when the two leagues merged in 1970. They were in the AFC Central Division from 1970 until the league realigned the divisions in 2002 when the Titans became part of the AFC South. The Oilers went to the playoffs ten times in their 16 year history as part of the NFL but never won a championship. Owner Bud Adams announced after the 1995 season that the Oilers would be moving to Tennessee in 1997. The Houston turned against the team during the 1996 season before the move.

Bud Adams planned to move the team into a new stadium in Nashville but ultimately had to change his plans because the stadium would not be ready until 1999. The team was based in Nashville so he wanted to play in Nashville until they could move into the new stadium. As it turned out the largest stadium in Nashville was Vanderbilt Stadium and it had a capacity of 41,000. Also, Vanderbilt would not allow alcohol sales during games. With little choice Adams decided the Tennessee Oilers would play 2 seasons at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium in Memphis. The team remained based in Nashville and commuted to Memphis for games. This decision was not popular with fans in either Nashville or Memphis. Attendance was worse in Memphis than it was their last season in Houston because fans from Nashville didn’t want to drive 200 miles to attend games and the fans in Memphis weren’t happy because they knew the team would only play in their city for two seasons. Interstate 40 from Nashville to Memphis was also under major construction at the time which added 2 extra hours to the trip from Nashville. The stadium held 62,000 but the Oilers were only drawing between 18,000 and 27,000 each game. Adams was so humiliated by attendance that he decided to play the 1998 season in Vanderbilt Stadium.

The Oilers had three rough years after their move to Nashville was announced but Adelphia Stadium was completed and opened for the 1999 season. Adams also announced he was changing the name of the team to go along with the team’s new stadium. He wanted a name that reflected power, strength and leadership so an advisory committee was appointed to decide the new name. The committee came up the Tennessee Titans and the team’s logo and colors were also changed. Even with the changes the team would keep the Oilers team records and its legacy. The Titans won their first game in the new stadium, beating the Cincinnati Bengals. They went on to win every game in Adelphia stadium that year and made it all the way to Super Bowl XXXIV. Unfortunately, they lost to the St Louis Rams in the Super Bowl.

Adelphia Stadium opened in 1999 and has had four names since then. In 2002 it became The Coliseum. It was changed again in 2006 and remained LP Field until 2015. Nissan North America won the naming rights that year named the stadium Nissan Stadium. They signed an agreement to keep the naming rights for 20 years.

The Houston Texans joined the league in 2002 bringing it back to an even number of teams and expanding to 32 teams. As a result the league was realigned and the Titans became part of the AFC South along with the Indianapolis Colts, the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Houston Texans. The AFC South has not change since it was formed in 2002.