Titans' stadium LP Field to be renamed Nissan Stadium

The Tennessee Titans have reached a naming rights deal with Nissan North America, and the team plans to name its home venue Nissan Stadium, according to sources familiar with the situation.

While financial terms of the agreement weren't immediately available, sources indicate it's an exclusive 20-year partnership between the two parties.

A press conference is expected to be held Thursday, when the deal will be officially announced, per sources.

The rebranding of the Titans' stadium, known as LP Field since 2006, is expected to start immediately.

Nissan is one of middle Tennessee's largest employers, and is a globally recognized automobile company. The Nissan Smyrna Vehicle Assembly plant opened in 1983, and employs more than 8,400 employees. The company moved its North American headquarters to Franklin in 2008.

The Titans previously had a 10-year agreement with Louisiana-Pacific Corp, a building products company, but the deal was set to expire soon. As a result, the Titans started the process of finding a new naming rights partner, and conversations intensified with Nissan in recent months, and the agreement was reached.

New signage at the stadium will be installed in the coming weeks, in time for the 2015 season.

The organization's 30-year stadium lease in Nashville expires in 2028. The 20-year alignment with Nissan provides stability and assures a naming rights partner will be in place through the lease's duration.

Indications are LP will continue to be a partner with the Titans.

The Titans moved into their new downtown stadium in 1999, when the team entered an agreement with Adelphia Business Solutions, and called the stadium Adelphia Coliseum. When Adelphia filed for bankruptcy, the stadium became known simply as the Coliseum from 2002 to 2006, when the sponsorship agreement with LP changed the name of the stadium to LP Field.

MetLife Stadium (New York Giants and Jets) reportedly has the richest naming rights deal in the NFL, at $16 million a year, followed by San Francisco's Levi's Stadium at $11 million and Houston's Reliant Stadium at $10 million.

The Titans deal with LP was worth $3 million per year.

The Titans are scheduled to face the Rams on August 23 in their preseason opener.

The first regular season game at Nissan Stadium will be played on September 27 against the Indianapolis Colts.

Reach Jim Wyatt at 259-8015 or on Twitter @jwyattsports