Memphis City Council approved a deal Tuesday that will allocate $120 million to the University of Memphis for renovations to Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium and shift ownership to the university, a landmark day for the university but one that still comes with a litany of next steps.

The deal concluded a portion of the multi-year discussions about the future of sports stadiums in Memphis. The city formally allocated the money by approving the resolution in overwhelming favor. Councilwoman Jana Swearengen-Washington and Chairman Martavius Jones voted against it, while Councilman Rhonda Logan abstained. But everyone else on the council voted to approve the resolution after a lengthy discussion.

The $120 million is only a portion of the $350 million the city received from the state for various stadium renovation projects in the city. Councilors expressed concerns about how the deal came together and the fact that Fred Jones, the founder of the Southern Heritage Classic, was not comfortable with the deal and did not have much time to consider his game's role in it.

The original resolution to allocate $120 million for stadium renovations was introduced after months of discussions among the city, university and Memphis Grizzlies. Officials weighed how to divide the $350 million and a breakthrough came when FedEx founder and chairman Fred Smith and his family announced a $50 million donation for stadium renovations in November. The university announced a fundraising campaign for an additional $50 million, which would give it the $220 million it requires to renovate the stadium.

Jones said he did not see the amended Letter of Intent between the city and the university until just before the vote on Tuesday afternoon. The LOI would extend the Southern Heritage Classic's lease through 2028, with an option to extend three years after that. The current deal runs out after the 2024 game.

"In essence, this document is not very helpful to this process at all," Jones said at the meeting. "So I want to make that very clear on the record ... it would be very, very detrimental to us, the Southern Heritage Classic."

A number of city councilors expressed concern about the deal and contemplated either postponing it or calling a recess to later this week. Councilman Chase Carlisle said the deal needed to be completed because Smith's donation could expire at the end of the year.

The donation is also in the form of a challenge grant, which means the university needs to raise the other $50 million before Smith's $50 million is unlocked. Because of that, and because a deal still needs to be reached between the university and the stadium's tenants, there was no clear timeline for the project on Tuesday night.

Still, the vote marked a significant moment in the push to renovate the stadium. It came after another lengthy back-and-forth between councilors, one that ended with Carlisle abruptly calling for a vote after a heated back-and-forth with Councilwoman Cheyenne Johnson.

"I'm tired," Carlisle said, more than four hours into the meeting. "These organizations are going to work it out. I would encourage us to take this vote."

It's been a rocky road to get to this point. The process hit a snag at the last City Council meeting on Dec. 5, when councilman JB Smiley Jr introduced a resolution that would have called on the University of Memphis Auxiliary Services Foundation — the body which will own the stadium after the transfer — to add a city appointee to its board. Discussion about that resolution at the budget committee meeting led to a long discussion on the overall deal and the future of the Memphis Grizzlies in the city, and it was ultimately postponed until Tuesday.

Officials came to a deal over the last two weeks, adding several provisions to the Letter of Intent between the city and university. Among the new terms:

• A new committee that will meet to discuss the progress of the stadium renovation and possibly continue after it's completed. This would give the city some say in goings-on at the stadium without adding the board seat outlined in Smiley's resolution.

• New multiyear agreements with the Southern Heritage Classic and AutoZone Liberty Bowl, both of which take place at the stadium.

• A clause that would allow the city to buy back the stadium for $1 if the university ever wanted to sell it. The original LOI would have given the city the ability to match any offer the university received. This was discussed by multiple city councilors during the committee meeting Dec. 5.

There are still plenty of hoops to jump through in the next few weeks and months. University officials now have to work out a deal with Jones, AutoZone Liberty Bowl executive director Steve Ehrhart and USFL officials. They have to fundraise the $50 million needed to unlock Smith's donation. And they have to finalize plans for the specific improvements that will be made to the stadium. They'll have to do all that while they also work to assume ownership of a stadium that city officials have said is losing about $3.36 million a year.

Council will have to approve the minutes at the next meeting, meaning they'll have another chance to weigh in on the issue. If the council — which will have five new members next time it meets in 2024 — was unhappy with the agreement reached, it could vote against approving the minutes from Tuesday's meeting and delay the transfer of the stadium and $120 million.

“We are incredibly appreciative of the City Council for sharing our vision and voting to approve this resolution on Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium, which will position our University and football program for sustained success," Memphis Athletics said in a statement after the vote. "We look forward to working collaboratively in the coming weeks with the City administration, the Southern Heritage Classic, the AutoZone Liberty Bowl and the USFL to formalize agreements that will set us all up for success into the future.”

And there's a complicated next step for the stadium renovation process. FedExForum — where the Memphis Grizzlies and Tigers men's basketball team play home games — is also in need of renovations. Carlisle said at the Dec. 5 meeting that the Grizzlies have said they need around $550 million for the renovations, and the city only has $230 million in cash remaining from the state.

Reach sports writer Jonah Dylan at jonah.dylan@commercialappeal.com or on Twitter @thejonahdylan.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Memphis approves deal for $120 million, transfer of Liberty Stadium to UofM