Spurred by the recent finalization of a multi-year deal with the American Correctional Association, the Nashville Convention & Visitors Bureau announced today that pre-opening sales for the under-construction Music City Center have exceeded 700,000 room nights.

The ACA has booked the SoBro-based Music City Center as the site of its annual Congress of Corrections for 2021 and 2024. Davidson County Sheriff and ACA president Daron Hall helped seal that deal, which represents approximately 3,200 attendants and 11,690 room nights. It brings the total bookings for the MCC to 86 individual meetings.

The NCVB has set an internal goal of booking one million room nights for the center prior to its opening in 2013.

According to the organization, the number of total room nights booked for the MCC is 731,543. The NCVB established the self-imposed one million room night goal at a time when the project included an adjacent headquarter hotel with 1,000 rooms that would open simultaneously with the new center. Since establishing the goal, the headquarter hotel, an Omni, has been designed with 800 rooms and is planned to open nine months after the center.

“Exceeding 730,000 room nights illustrates the opportunity we have to make Nashville a top convention destination,” Mayor Karl Dean said in a release. “Despite the economic challenges our nation has faced in the past few years, Nashville’s hospitality industry has consistently served as a significant catalyst for economic growth.”

The meetings booked for the Music City Center range from the facility’s opening year to 2026 and include multi-year agreements for many groups. The groups to most recently commit include the National Recreation and Park Association, booked for 2021, and the Automotive Service Association, booked for 2014.

“As one of the most unique convention campuses in the country, the stage has been set for the MCC to be the primary catalyst for growing the overall meeting and conventions market,” said Butch Spyridon, president of the NCVB. “It’s extremely positive that many of the groups have chosen to book for multiple years and even added Music City to their regular meeting rotation. Nashville has gained a lot of momentum in recent months and we are on pace to reach our goal.”