MEMPHIS, Tenn — Memphis City Council and Governor Bill Lee alike made big strides toward sports venue upgrades in Memphis on Tuesday.
Due to the $350 million Memphis City Council accepted from the state and other tax incentives, 600 million dollars is expected to come in for the city's sports venues.
Unfortunately, Memphis has to go back to the state for more money, as $600 million still won’t be enough.
Governor Lee spoke on the economic potential as city council worked to accept the funds Tuesday afternoon.
“Sports venues around the state are really economic development opportunities,” Lee said. “It’s what they are. They’re investments in jobs and economic development for our community.”
Improving the FedExForum and Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium comes with the expectation of increasing jobs, offering higher quality facilities and bringing more tourism to the city.
While city council accepted the money, it’s up to the mayor, the next set of city council members and mayor-elect Paul Young to ensure Memphis asks for the right amount of money when they revisit the conversation with the state.
ABC24 sat down with Young the Friday before city council’s vote about the potential for sports venue growth in the city.
“We want to makes sure the Grizzlies stay in Memphis, and we want to make sure that the University of Memphis is able to move to a bigger conference,” Young said. “And you know we have a limited amount of funds to achieve those goals. I want to work with them to figure out how can we get the capital stack such that both projects can be executed.”
While a lot of work, money and time will have to be invested into these venues, Governor Lee is keeping Memphis in mind as legislators head into session in the new year.
“We’re always going to be looking at investing in economic development projects, including sports venues, in Memphis,” Lee said.
City leaders are still in talks about exactly how much money will go to which projects and need to revisit the funding conversation with state leaders, but it looks like Memphis considers the future of its sports a top priority.