We have seen college football played in NFL stadiums and baseball cathedrals, in Europe and soon in the Bahamas. What’s next? How about Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee? It appears that could be in the works for 2016.
According to multiple reports from Joe Schad of ESPN.com and Bruce Feldman of CBSSports.com, Tennessee and Virginia Tech are expected to make a formal announcement on Monday with details for a regular season game at Bristol Motor Speedway in 2016.
The two schools attempted to schedule a game in Bristol years ago but a 2005 attempt ultimately fell apart due to scheduling conflicts. The owners of Bristol Motor Speedway insisted the proposed game would have to take place in November because the infield would need to be renovated and have a new turf installed following an annual race in the venue. Of course, November is when conference schedules are already in full swing, and the two or three sides were never able to work out a plan to follow through on. The interest, however, was never truly fading.
The two schools would be traveling close to the same distance for the game as well, which is part of the reason a huge crowd would be expected for the game. Tennessee’s campus in Knoxville is located 110 miles from Bristol Motor Speedway. Virginia Tech’s campus is 133 miles away. Bristol Motor Speedway has a seating capacity of 160,000. Feldman says an expected crowd of over 150,000 is already to be expected for the special regular season game. The stadium is set up well for football with a round track, and if this game goes off without much of a hitch, perhaps we will see other race tracks begin to explore the possibility of hosting a college football game. If the interest is there and the draw is right, this would certainly not be a shock at all.
The game would be the highlight of the non-conference schedule for Virginia Tech, who currently has games with Liberty and East Carolina along with having Notre Dame on the ACC schedule rotation. Tennessee currently has Connecticut and a road game at Nebraska on the 2016 non-conference schedule, so adding a game in Bristol would seem to make Tennessee’s non-conference schedule one of the more interesting ones in 2016.
The first three weeks of September of the schedules are already booked with other opponents between the two schools, and Virginia Tech’s game against Notre Dame is locked in to November. Will this game be able to be played in September, or will there be a way to work out a date in November of 2016?