First Horizon Park

Planning As early as 2006, the Nashville Sounds had planned to leave Herschel Greer Stadium for a new ballpark to be called First Tennessee Field located on the west bank of the Cumberland River. The US$43 million facility would have been the central part of a retail, entertainment, and residential complex which was expected to continue the revitalization of Nashville's "SoBro" (South of Broadway) district, but the project was abandoned in April 2007 after the city, developers, and team could not come to terms on a plan to finance its construction. Instead, Greer was repaired and upgraded to keep it close to Triple-A standards until a new stadium could be built. In late 2013, talks about the construction of a new ballpark were revived. Three possible sites were identified by the architectural firm Populous as being suitable for a new stadium: Sulphur Dell, the North Gulch area, and the east bank of the Cumberland River across from the site proposed for the First Tennessee Field project. The chosen location was the site of Sulphur Dell on which baseball had been played as early as 1870. The city also acquired the land on which the Nashville School of the Arts is located. However, a 2017 audit revealed that it had actually paid $91 million after accounting for additional costs associated with the expedited schedule and infrastructure work around the project site. This building is anchored by a Brooklyn Bowl, featuring a bowling alley, live music space, and a restaurant and bar, that opened in June 2020. Adjacent to this and overlooking the third base concourse just outside the stadium by the left field entrance is a two-story bar called Third and Home, which also opened in June 2020. Developer Portman Holdings built an eight-story, 363-unit residential structure with retail and restaurant space on the other side of the greenway beyond the left-center field wall along Third and Fourth avenues known as Starling, which was completed in spring 2024. North of the site, Embrey Development built a privately funded 306-unit luxury apartment complex called The Carillon. The city's original $75 million planned expenditure resulted in taking on $4.3 million in annual debt, paid for by five city revenue streams: an annual $700,000 Sounds' lease payment, $650,000 in stadium-generated sales tax revenue, $750,000 in property taxes from the Ward and Portman developments, $675,000 in property taxes from the Embrey development, and $520,000 in tax increment financing. Groundbreaking took place on January 27, 2014; the public ceremony was attended by Mayor Dean, Sounds owner Frank Ward, Minor League Baseball president Pat O'Conner, and Milwaukee Brewers General Manager Doug Melvin. The construction team began site excavation on March 3, 2014. The artifacts are on permanent display in the Tennessee State Museum's Mississippian Period exhibit. A portion of the property was used as a city cemetery in the 1800s. The interred were relocated. In 1885, during the construction of Sulphur Spring Park, workers unearthed bowls, shells, a flint chisel, and human skeletons believed to belong to Mound Builders. Construction of the ballpark's steel frame began on August 18; An additional $5 million was later required to pay for cleaning contaminated soil, increased sub-contractor pricing, additional labor costs incurred by delays caused by snow and ice, and upgrades including the guitar-shaped scoreboard. Some of the ballpark's environmentally friendly initiatives include a green roof on a concessions building along right field, rainwater harvesting, and a rain garden. The project team also diverted or recycled 90 percent of construction waste from landfills, and almost a third of building materials were regionally sourced. The bank's name had been attached to the team's previous attempt at building a new stadium a decade earlier. ==Tenants and events==

Minor League Baseball In the ballpark's inaugural game on April 17, 2015, the Nashville Sounds defeated the Colorado Springs Sky Sox, 3–2 in 10 innings, courtesy of a walk-off double hit by Max Muncy that scored Billy Burns from first base. Nashville pitcher Arnold León recorded the park's first strikeout when Colorado Springs' Matt Long struck out swinging as the leadoff hitter at the top of the first inning. The first home run in the park's history was hit by Nashville's Joey Wendle four games later on April 21 against the Oklahoma City Dodgers. Tickets for the home opener, which went on sale March 23, sold out in approximately 15 minutes. Though berm and standing-room-only tickets are normally sold only on the day of games, the team began selling these in advance of the first game due to high demand. The Sounds' June 4 game against the Salt Lake Bees was the first event to be nationally televised from the ballpark. Shown live on the CBS Sports Network as a part of Minor League Baseball's National Game of the Week programming, Nashville was defeated by Salt Lake, 4–2, before a sellout crowd of 10,610. on March 24, 2019|alt=A baseball game being played on a green field involving a team in blue and a team in white In addition to other between-innings entertainment at the park, such as games and giveaways, the Sounds added the Country Legends Race in 2016. It is similar to major league mascot races, such as the Sausage Race and Presidents Race. During the middle of the fifth inning, people in oversized foam caricature costumes depicting country musicians Johnny Cash, George Jones, Reba McEntire, and Dolly Parton race around the warning track from center field, through the visiting bullpen, and to the beginning of the first base dugout. The two-year-old stadium was home to its first postseason baseball in 2016 when the American Conference Southern Division champion Sounds hosted Games Three, Four, and Five of the PCL American Conference championship against Oklahoma City. The Sounds won the first game, 6–5, but lost the next two games and the conference championship to the Dodgers, 7–1 and 10–9. The Sounds hosted an exhibition game against the Texas Rangers, their MLB affiliate, on March 24, 2019. Players appearing in the game for Texas included Delino DeShields Jr., Nomar Mazara, Hunter Pence, Ronald Guzmán, Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Logan Forsythe, Shawn Kelley, and José Leclerc. In a close game, the Sounds defeated the Rangers, 4–3. Nashville's Preston Beck scored the winning run in the bottom of the sixth inning with a two-run homer driving in Eli White. The start of the 2020 season was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic before being cancelled on June 30. Following the 2020 season, Major League Baseball assumed control of Minor League Baseball in a move to increase player salaries, modernize facility standards, and reduce travel. Triple-A affiliations were rearranged to situate those teams closer to their major league parent clubs. The Sounds reaffiliated with the Milwaukee Brewers and were placed in the Triple-A East. The ballpark hosted its first game in the new league on May 11, 2021, in which the visiting Memphis Redbirds defeated the Sounds, 18–6. Capacity for the first three games was limited to 40 percent, but it was raised to nearly 100 percent on May 14. The Sounds led all of Minor League Baseball in 2021 in total and average attendance with 436,868 people attending games at First Horizon Park, for an average attendance of 6,721 per game. In 2022, the Triple-A East became known as the International League, the name historically used by the regional circuit prior to the 2021 reorganization. Nashville began play in the renamed league on April 5 with a win at home against the Durham Bulls, 5–4. The single-game ballpark attendance record of 12,409 was set on July 16 for a game between Nashville and Memphis, a 10–0 loss. The ballpark was the site of a no-hitter on May 3, 2024, when the visiting Norfolk Tides allowed no hits against the Sounds in a 2–0 Nashville loss. The feat was accomplished by starting pitcher Chayce McDermott (6.2 IP) and relievers Nolan Hoffman (1.1 IP) and Kaleb Ort (1 IP). McDermott walked two batters in the seventh inning accounting for the only Nashville baserunners. Soccer Nashville SC, an expansion soccer team of the United Soccer League, played the majority of their first two seasons (2018–2019) at First Tennessee Park. The club competed in a preseason exhibition Major League Soccer (MLS) match against Atlanta United FC on February 10, 2018, in the first-ever soccer match played at the park. Nashville was defeated amid a rainstorm by Atlanta, 3–1, in front of a crowd of 9,059 people. The park's first goal was scored by Atlanta forward Josef Martínez in the 58th minute. Ropapa Mensah, the youngest player on the Nashville squad, scored the first goal in franchise history in the 64th minute. Nashville's first regular-season home match, scheduled for March 24 versus the Pittsburgh Riverhounds, was moved to Nissan Stadium to accommodate a greater number of fans. Their second home match was played at First Tennessee Park on April 7 against the Charlotte Independence before 7,487 people. Nashville won, 2–0, on forward Alan Winn's goal in the 24th minute; Mensah added a second goal in the 91st minute. The team's highest attendance occurred on October 13 when 9,083 fans watched Nashville play to a 3–3 draw versus FC Cincinnati in the season finale. Nashville SC's 2018 attendance totaled 125,390 over 15 games at the ballpark, with an average attendance of 8,359 per game. In preparation for the 2019 season, Nashville SC competed in a preseason friendly against MLS side New York City FC on February 22. Nashville fell to New York, 2–0, in the rain-soaked match attended by 5,384. The club's May 8 match against the Tampa Bay Rowdies, a 1–0 loss, was shown live on ESPN2 as the first-ever nationally televised regular-season USL Championship game. Over 15 regular-season games at the facility, Nashville SC's 2019 attendance totaled 96,837, with an average of 6,456 per game. Having qualified for the 2019 USL Championship Playoffs, Nashville SC played their quarterfinal and semifinal round matches at First Tennessee Park. They won the quarterfinals, 3–1, against the Charleston Battery, but lost the semifinals to Indy Eleven, 1–0. Other events The first non-baseball event held at First Horizon Park was the City of Hope Celebrity Softball Game in 2015. Started in 1990, the event was played during Nashville's CMA Music Festival, and was previously held at Greer Stadium from 1991 to 2014 before moving to the new facility from 2015 to 2018. Two teams of country music stars representing the Grand Ole Opry and iHeartRadio competed, with all proceeds going to fund the research and treatment of cancer, diabetes, and other life-threatening diseases. Participants included Carrie Underwood, Darius Rucker, Florida Georgia Line, Jason Aldean, Luke Bryan, and Vince Gill. Since 2021, the ballpark has hosted the Rock-N-Jock Celebrity Softball Game in which a team of musicians and other celebrities competed against a team of athletes to support Folds of Honor, a charitable organization that provides educational scholarships to the spouses and children of fallen and disabled service-members. Among those competing in the inaugural event were Tennessee Titans players A. J. Brown and Taylor Lewan; Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee Terry Bradshaw; Cy Young Award winner and former Sound Barry Zito; country musicians Walker Hayes and Chris Lane; and comedian Jeff Dye. The Commodores defeated the Bruins, 8–2, in front of a crowd of 3,782 people. Vanderbilt, Belmont, and the Lipscomb Bisons have since played subsequent games at the ballpark. It has also hosted other sporting events such as the Nitro Circus, an extreme sports show featuring athletes performing BMX and freestyle motocross jumps and stunts. Since 2016, the stadium has been included in the course of the Rock 'n' Roll Nashville Marathon. Runners participating in the full marathon take a complete a lap around the field's warning track and run past the facility on all four sides, while those in half-marathon run by only one side of the ballpark. First Horizon Park hosted MLB Home Run Derby X on August 31, 2024. The competition pited four teams of three hitters apiece against each other as teams vied for points earned by hitting home runs or catching balls that fell short of clearing the outfield wall. Participants included former MLB players Pedro Álvarez, Andruw Jones, Nick Swisher, and Manny Ramirez. The winning team consisted of Ramirez, professional softball player Jocelyn Alo, and local ballplayer Kyle Bowers. Also in 2024, YouTuber MrBeast hosted a home run derby between Philadelphia Phillies player Bryce Harper and TikTok personality Big Justice for a $100,000 prize at the ballpark. The stadium has been home to numerous non-sports events, such as food and drink festivals, since its opening. The first of these was the Nashville Brew Festival, held on October 3, 2015, Other events include the Big Guitar Brewfest, first held in 2016 and named in reference to the large guitar-shaped scoreboard, and 2021's Blended Nashville, a music, food, and wine festival that included performances by Kaskade, Ludacris, and Lil Jon. The Nashville-based American rock band Kings of Leon, with opener Dawes, performed on September 29, 2017, in the first concert held at the ballpark. From November 22 to December 31, 2019, the stadium was the site of GLOW Nashville, a Christmas experience spanning the field and concourse. Attractions included displays of more than four million lights, sculptures, an over Christmas tree, a three-story ice skating rink, a tube park, igloos, live entertainment, a market with local craft vendors, photos with Santa Claus, and story time with Mrs. Claus. Enchant, a similar event, was planned for the 2022 Christmas season. ==Facilities==

Design After Sulphur Dell was dismantled on April 16, 1969, the ballpark's sunken field was filled in with rock, dirt, and the remains of the demolished Andrew Jackson Hotel. It was then converted to a number of state-owned parking lots for the nearby Tennessee State Capitol. First Horizon Park is now surrounded by new apartments, parking ramps, and restaurants. To the south of the stadium, beyond the outfield wall, is an area that connects the city's Cumberland River Greenway to the Bicentennial Mall Greenway. Most of the on-field action can be viewed from the concourse; televisions showing live feeds of the game are located there. The seating bowl provides views of Nashville's skyline to the south. The park's suites include displays about Sulphur Dell, the Nashville Vols, a minor league team that played there from 1901 to 1961, and in 1963, and other past teams from Nashville. The back of the outfield wall's green metal batter's eye has a tin sign marking the former location of Sulphur Dell's marquee declaring, "Site of Sulphur Dell, Baseball's Most Historic Park, 1870–1963". Another five panels on the greenway beyond left field detail facts about the prehistory of the site. Light stanchions on the grandstand and in the outfield resemble the lights installed at Sulphur Dell. Before the ballpark's second season in 2016, additional safety netting was added behind home plate, which extended the protective netting to cover the seating area behind both dugouts. This was extended further down the left and right field lines prior to the 2024 season. Additionally, padding was added to the walls surrounding the playing surface and the outfield wall padding was replaced to meet Minor League Baseball facility standards. Over of red clay infield soil was brought in from Laceys Spring, Alabama. The distance from home plate to the outfield wall ranges from in left field, in center field, and in right field. The backstop is approximately behind home plate. There is an attached kitchen with two full-size refrigerators and room for hot and cold catering. Since its first season, the facility's park factors have been significantly lower than those at other ballparks in the Pacific Coast League and across Triple-A baseball, giving it a reputation as a pitcher's park. In 2015, First Tennessee Park had the lowest run and home-run factors of all 30 Triple-A teams, and its hits factor was the fifth-lowest in Triple-A and the fourth-lowest in the 16-team PCL. In 2016, it had the lowest home-run factors in Triple-A, its runs factor was the sixth-lowest in Triple-A and fifth-lowest in the PCL, and its hits factor was the seventh-lowest in Triple-A and the sixth-lowest in the PCL. From 2017 to 2019, the park was tied for the lowest Triple-A home-run factors, its runs factor was tied for the second-lowest in Triple-A, and its hits factor was tied for the fourth-lowest in Triple-A and the tied for the third-lowest in the PCL. The ballpark was selected to win the 2016 Tennessee Turfgrass Association's Professional Sports Field of the Year Award, recognizing it as the state's top professional sports field with a natural grass playing surface. When configured for soccer, one side of the field ran parallel to the first base line with the other sideline running from left to right field. One goal was located past the third base dugout, and the other was near the right-center field wall. The pitcher's mound was removed, and the infield dirt and portions of the warning track were sodded over. After First Tennessee Park was approved, the team announced it would not be relocating the original Greer scoreboard, which was technologically outdated and difficult to maintain, to the new facility. While plans for the new ballpark's scoreboard were initially undisclosed, following overwhelming support for Greer's guitar from the community, the team announced plans for the installation of a larger, more modern guitar-shaped scoreboard. The scoreboard, which has a high-definition (HD) LED screen, is located in the middle of the right-field concourse. Though the ballpark did not suffer any major structural damage, the guitar scoreboard was extensively damaged. The entire back of the guitar's body as well as the front and back of its neck were ripped off, damaging the wiring system. The neck, previously a static digit scoreboard which displayed the line score and count, was replaced with an LED display allowing for additional animations and graphics alongside the score. Seating The lower seating bowl is divided into 25 sections and wraps around the playing field from just past one foul pole to just past the other. The second level has 16 sections of seating that begin behind third base and wrap around to first base. All lower-level seats behind home plate, seats behind and between the dugouts through row P, and all second-level seats have padded seat cushions. The second level has 18 suites, each accommodating up to 20 people, with 4 indoor drink rail seats and 13 outdoor seats in front. Two covered party decks are located on the second level—one at each end—both of which can accommodate up to 100 people each. Between the left-field foul pole and the outfield berm lies a group area which can accommodate up to 500 individuals. This area consists of a covered picnic area and lounge furniture. A section of 4-top tables—semi-circular tables surrounded by four chairs—that can accommodate 108 people at 27 tables is located at the end of the lower seating bowl in right field near a specialty concession area called The Band Box. A small private party area is located in the power alley in front of The Band Box and can accommodate up to 35 people at chairs and 4-top tables. Next to this, and directly in front of the scoreboard, is a 200-person group picnic area with standing room and stadium seats with drink rails. A climate-controlled party tent capable of holding over 500 people is located on the first-base concourse. Concessions Three permanent concession stands and several portable carts located on the concourse offer traditional ballpark foods including hot dogs, corn dogs, pizza, nachos, soft pretzels, popcorn, and ice cream. Each stand also serves foods unique to and common in Nashville and the South, including Nashville hot chicken and pulled pork barbecue sandwiches. The stadium's second level has a bar, lounge, and concessions area with views of the field; it is accessible only by those with suite, party-deck, or upper-deck tickets. Certain menu items are only available on the second level. The restaurant serves variations on traditional ballpark foods including cheeseburgers, chicken sandwiches, jalapeño corn fritters, smoked chicken nachos, quinoa chopped salads, and local draft craft beer. The bar has an adjoining lounge area with couches, televisions, ping pong, cornhole, foosball, and shuffleboard, which is open to all game ticket-holders. Patrons in the adjacent 4-top seating section can order food and drinks from The Band Box and have items delivered to their seats. Parking A 1,000-car above-ground parking garage, owned by the state, is located beyond the stadium's right-field entrance on Harrison Street between Fourth and Fifth Avenues. Other state-owned free parking lots and paid private lots are located in the vicinity. ==Attendance records==

First Horizon Park's single-game attendance record was set on July 16, 2022, during a game between the Sounds and the Memphis Redbirds in front of a sellout crowd of 12,409 people. while there were 65 scheduled in 2021. Nashville previously competed in the 16-team Pacific Coast League from 2015 to 2020. Their seasons consisted of 72 scheduled home games in 2015 and 2016, 71 games in 2017, and 70 games from 2018 to 2020. ==Popular culture==

The ballpark has been featured in two music videos. Cole Swindell's "Middle of a Memory" (2016) includes shots of Swindell in the audience watching a Nashville Sounds game as well as footage of the game and an appearance by the team's mascot, Booster. Former Sounds pitcher Barry Zito's music video for "That Sound" (2017), which is about Sounds games, is composed almost entirely of footage of Nashville's games, players, and fans shot at the stadium during the 2016 season. Portions of the music video for Zito's "Ballpark Kids" (2020) were also filmed at the stadium. Trisha Yearwood filmed scenes for the "Tailgaiting" episode of Food Network's ''Trisha's Southern Kitchen at the ballpark on May 31, 2016. The August 5, 2017, episode of CMT Hot 20 Countdown'' was filmed at the stadium on July 25 and included performances by country musicians Michael Ray and Chris Lane from before that day's game. Segments for a series of season 36 (2018–2019) episodes of Wheel of Fortune, including host Pat Sajak throwing out the first pitch, were shot at the ballpark on May 4, 2018. ==See also==