NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — It looked like game day at Nissan Stadium on Sunday, but where’s the crowd?
Rows of empty seats stretched across the stands with some sections left bare. For the fans who did show up, many didn’t stay. By the second half, frustration boiled over. Some walked out early. Others booed head coach Brian Callahan as the Titans stumbled again.
“I don’t like it, but I understand,” Titans cornerback Darrell Baker Jr. said. “They’re not liking how we’re playing, so I kind of expect that.”
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The mood around the team is bleak. Losses have piled up, and patience with second-year head coach Callahan is running thin.
“Fans are sitting and wondering, ‘What is the coach doing during training camp? What are we working on?’” ChattTenn Sports founder Tres Winn said. “Last year was hard. You get the first overall pick, and now there’s no progress. Fans are asking, ‘Do I want to go spend $8, $10 for a beer and a meal and make that an actual trip? From what I’ve seen — the penalties, trading players — it’s concerning.”
The attendance numbers tell one story, but the pictures tell another. The Titans announced 56,361 tickets distributed for the Colts game and 59,069 against the Rams two weeks earlier. In the NFL, those figures represent tickets sold or given out, not the number of fans who actually enter the gates. That helps explain why the stadium can appear half-empty even with “official” counts in the 50-thousands.
Meanwhile, construction is moving forward on the new $2.1 billion enclosed Nissan Stadium, set to open in 2027. It’s billed as a centerpiece for Super Bowls, Final Fours and major concerts. But if fans aren’t showing up for the team now, it raises questions about how they’ll fill the seats in the future.
“My focus is trying to make sure our football team is in as good a place as possible,” Callahan said when asked about the attendance. “The rest of the stuff is what it is. I don’t think about those things. You really can’t.”
Still, analysts said ownership can’t ignore the optics or the frustration in the fan base.
“They’ve got to be scrambling right now,” Winn said. “Fans are not pleased with Callahan. His dad’s a Hall of Famer, respected across the NFL, but here, people are asking where the improvement is. Add in taxpayer money for the new stadium, and the frustration is boiling over. Sports are almost like a soap opera for people and the drama’s getting a little too thick in Nashville.”