It’s possible that come the 2027 season, the Tennessee Titans will play at least one of their nine home games in the late afternoon window. A start around 3 pm central time that will conclude at dusk, depending on the time of year.
The Titans will break into what is now known as the New Nissan Stadium, a $2 billion-plus project adjacent to their current digs that will make East Bank shine and (most likely) eventually host a Super Bowl.
The sun will continue its usual disappearing act below the Earth’s horizon and, at some point, sunlight will pass through the windows on the west side of the stadium. The rays would enter the new stadium with force. It would be difficult for quarterbacks throwing into that end zone (or pass catchers looking back, depending on who has possession) to see what’s in front of them.
Wanted to. No willpower. Because the Titans will use what amounts to blackout curtains on the glass to prevent that from happening.
What the Dallas Cowboys have refused to do for more than a decade, the Tennessee Titans have already prepared to do years from now. The Titans, along with stadium designers and engineers, did a solar analysis in the development stages of stadium planning, determining where the sun will be every day of the year and when exactly on certain days this could pose a problem.
The solution: use the retractable curtains on the accordion-shaped glass doors to prevent the sun from filtering into the countryside.
Last Sunday afternoon, Cowboys wide receiver CeeDee Lamb couldn’t find the ball on what should have been an easy touchdown catch against the Philadelphia Eagles while staring at the star from 93 million miles away. After the game he said he was “one thousand percent” in favor of putting up curtains.
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones likes it the way it is. AT&T Stadium opened in 2009 with windows like this, and they will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. The stadium can erect shadows for other events like concerts, but not for the Cowboys.
“My biggest thought when we built it was, ‘Don’t make it look like it’s not outdoors. Make it look like it’s outdoors,'” Jones said. “That stadium was built to feel like it was outdoors when you’re inside, and it was built to let in the sunlight.”
Jones would go on to say that the team knows where the sun will be and that playmakers like Kellen Moore have taken that into account before.
“That really falls into the category of home-field advantage,” Jones said. “It should be an advantage for the home team, so I don’t want to adjust it for one reason because it’s an advantage for us… That’s our advantage. That should be our advantage. We can play more there.” And we can have it as an advantage. It has been an advantage for us to know where the sun is. “I don’t want to change that.”
A question that many have asked goes to the heart of that competitive advantage. Could the Cowboys put up curtains when the sun hits the home team? Or could the Cowboys lower the blinds only when the sun’s rays hit the game on the field?
The answer: No.
CBS Sports obtained a copy of the NFL’s policy on league-wide stadium procedures, and the league has already considered these questions and more.
“90 minutes before the start of the match, the home club must notify the referee whether the roof, wall and/or curtains will be open or closed,” the policy reads. “The opening or closing must be completed no later than 60 minutes before the start of the match. (The designated position of the curtains will remain unchanged throughout the game).”
So what is decided in any stadium 90 minutes before is what will remain throughout the game. But an exception can be made, and we saw that two weeks ago at State Farm Stadium.
In Week 9, the Cardinals had to close the roof during the game against the Bears due to hail in the Glendale area. This is allowed in the policy since hail is considered a “dangerous condition.” Once closed, it must remain closed for the rest of the game.
It’s impossible to imagine that sunlight would be considered a dangerous condition, so any temporary shadow would be permanent throughout the game.
Back to heliocentrism. Most NFL stadiums have fields oriented north-south, so the sun is not seen to be as much of a factor on the field as it is with the Cowboys.
The Falcons play at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, a circular complex with the field oriented east to west. But the windowed side of Atlanta Stadium is to the east, and the Falcons don’t wake up to play an 8 a.m. game.
US Bank Stadium faces northwest/southeast, but Minnesota players haven’t complained about the sun. Additionally, the translucent roof has a “frit” that diffuses some of the direct light during Vikings games.
In Tennessee, the Titans determined they needed to have an east/west field orientation for their future stadium. Soil testing on available land in the East Bank development area showed the organization that there was really only one way to site the stadium. Hence the shadows.
For as long as there have been people on Earth, there have been attempts to hide from the sun’s rays. Except in Jerry’s world.
