Nashville’s newfound status as a major professional sports hub took a hit on Sunday as the Tennessee Titans struggled to keep fans in their seats during a 41-20 loss to the Indianapolis Colts.
Viral photos taken at Nissan Stadium showed the crowd thinning as the Titans fell hopelessly behind their division rivals.
Officially, 56,361 tickets were purchased for the game, but far fewer appeared stick around to see first-overall draft pick Cam Ward engineer two second-half touchdown drives. The rookie quarterback completed 23 of 38 passes for 219 yards, much of which went unnoticed in Music City.
Tennessee fan James Pettus remarked online: ‘This is up there with the fewest people I’ve ever seen after the half at a titans game excluding preseason and COVID.’
And those who did stick around weren’t there to watch the Titans.
‘Nissan stadium is nothing but colts fans left,’ read one post.
Tennessee fan James Pettus remarked online: ‘This is up there with the fewest people I’ve ever seen after the half at a titans game excluding preseason and COVID’
Titans fans were furious after seeing their team’s effort in the 41-20 loss to the visiting Colts
Those Titans fans who did stick around did their best to make their displeasure known to second-year Titans coach Brian Callahan.
Tennessee hit bottom in the second quarter as Callahan opted for two field goals of more than 60 years. Titans kicker Joey Slye missed a 64-yard attempt wide right, while another 62-yard attempt was blocked.
Worst of all, the blocked kick was preceded by an unnecessary Titans timeout and a delay-of-game penalty, which added five more yards to Slye’s attempt.
‘Loudest boos I think I’ve ever heard from #Titans fans in this stadium, and they are all aimed at Brian Callahan after that sorry sequence to end the first half,’ read one post.
And it wasn’t just the fans.
NFL analyst and retired journeyman offensive guard Ross Tucker took aim at the Titans on CBS.
‘It’s absolutely unacceptable,’ he said. ‘The fans are booing and they should be … We just went Colts timeout, Titans timeout, Titans delay of game on a field-goal attempt’
The 0-3 Titans head to Houston next week for another divisional matchup with the Houston Texans.
By the time post-game handshakes rolled around, Nissan Stadium was mostly empty
Titans rookie quarterback Cam Ward has struggled over his first three weeks in the NFL
The Titans won just three games in 2024 and things aren’t off to a better start this season
Tennessee is coming off a league-worst 3-14 season and have not reached the playoffs since 2021.
Ward, who Tennessee hopes is its franchise savior, struggled in consecutive defeats in Weeks 1 and 2, throwing for one touchdown while barely completing half his passes.
The Houston Oilers moved to Nashville in 1997 and later became the Titans. Since then, Nashville has added the NHL’s Predators and are actively pursuing a Major League Baseball expansion franchise.
But unlike the struggling Titans, the Predators remain one of the hottest tickets in its league and Nashville. Last year, the Predators sold 100 percent of available tickets, according to league attendance figures.
The Titans, meanwhile, are currently constructing a new Nissan Stadium along the east bank of the Cumberland River. The $2.1 billion, 60,000-seat facility is expected to open in 2027.
