UPDATE: Kickoff for Saturday’s game at Nissan Stadium has been delayed by an hour, now scheduled for 1 pm CT.
As extreme cold temperatures continue to roll through middle Tennessee, Nashville mayor John Cooper has requested that the Tennessee Titans postpone kickoff of their game Saturday against the Houston Texans in solidarity with city-wide rollbacks on power usage.
The Titans (7-7) host the Houston Texans (1-12-1) from Nissan Stadium on Saturday (noon, CBS). Three hours prior to the scheduled kickoff time, the Titans have tarps on the playing surface and are blowing hot air onto the field using gas-powered blowers to try to thaw out the ground. There is scattered ice on the sidelines and near the end zones, but the parts of the playing field that are visible look mostly thawed.
The Titans have no comment at this time about the mayor’s statement. TJ Ducklo, a spokesperson for Cooper’s administration, said the mayor would not be immediately commenting about his request beyond the tweet.
The Tennessee Valley Authority has directed local power companies to “reduce load” and have planned intermittent interruptions to power supply due to high demand with sub-freezing temperatures roving through the area. As of publication, the “feels like” temperature at Nissan Stadium sits at negative-1 degrees.
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In a post on Twitter, Cooper said: “I’ve been informed that TVA’s unilateral rolling blackouts will continue. All non-essential businesses should reduce power usage. I’ve asked the Titans to postpone their 12pm game in solidarity with our neighbors. TVA needs to invest in infrastructure to withstand extreme temps.”
This figures to be one of the coldest games in Nissan Stadium history, if not the coldest. The previous record for lowest actual temperature at kickoff in Nashville was 23 degrees, and the coldest “feels like” temperature factoring in wind chill was 14 degrees.
The city did not postpone Friday night’s Nashville Predators game at Bridgestone Arena despite power restrictions being in effect then as well. In a follow-up tweet, Cooper indicated that Bridgestone Arena was powered using generators Friday night instead of using power from the TVA.
Nick Suss is the Titans beat writer for The Tennessean. Contact Nick at nsuss@gannett.com. Follow Nick on Twitter @nicksuss.