Va Tech and Tenn to play at Bristol Motor Speedway in 2016; 150-160K fans expected

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BleedGopher

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per CBS:

Over the past few years, we've seen college football games played in NFL palaces and even on baseball fields. Well, it seems the next football frontier is racetracks.

From CBSSports.com's own Bruce Feldman.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p><a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23VaTech&src=hash">#VaTech</a> to play <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23Tennessee&src=hash">#Tennessee</a> at Bristol Motor Speedway in 2016, per source. Expected to draw a record 150,000-160k fans.</p>— Bruce Feldman (@BFeldmanCBS) <a href="https://twitter.com/BFeldmanCBS/statuses/388054891848941568">October 9, 2013</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

http://www.cbssports.com/collegefoo...d-tennessee-to-play-at-bristol-motor-speedway

Go Gophers!!
 

Maybe they'll use the rest of the massive infield for tailgating. Could be a real party. Might be kind of hard to hear the ref's whistle above all the engine noise. :cool:
 


That attendance prediction may be a bit optimistic. Virginia Tech sold out last year at about 65.6K. Tennessee two games last year where they had 102K attendance - Florida and Alabama - but for the other games their attendance was between 81K and 89K. 160K looks awfully optimistic unless people are going to be enticed to attend based on the novelty of having the game on a race track. Virginia Tech and Tennessee have played a couple times in bowls over the last 20 years, but they don't have much of a history or playing each other in regular season games, so apart from having this game at a race track, it doesn't seem that we would expect it to be an especially good draw. (Yes, I'd love it if 81,000 people at a Gophers game was considered poorly attended!)

It's possible that putting it at this race track would make the game a big draw, but 160,000 seems a bit optimistic.
 

AO54 said:
Maybe they'll use the rest of the massive infield for tailgating. Could be a real party. Might be kind of hard to hear the ref's whistle above all the engine noise. :cool:
Click to expand...

The infield at Bristol isn't massive, it is only a 1/2 mile track.
 


A mock-up of how the football field would fit:

<img src="http://images.ftw.usatoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/BWLGI6HCcAEfOwf.jpg"></img>
 

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Ski U Mah Gopher said:
The infield at Bristol isn't massive, it is only a 1/2 mile track.
Click to expand...
it's annoying to watch games at high schools with 1/4 mile tracks even when you're in the first five rows. Everyone's going to need binoculars for a 1/2 mile track. cool as a one-time thing, and of course from our perspective watching on TV.

here's a picture of the game from '61 they played there
9914686.jpg
 





If I was any type of Va Tech or Tennessee fan, I would go for sure. If I lived anywhere remotely close to there and not a fan of either, I would probably go. THey wont have any trouble selling this thing out.
 

RodentRampage said:
That attendance prediction may be a bit optimistic. Virginia Tech sold out last year at about 65.6K. Tennessee two games last year where they had 102K attendance - Florida and Alabama - but for the other games their attendance was between 81K and 89K. 160K looks awfully optimistic unless people are going to be enticed to attend based on the novelty of having the game on a race track. Virginia Tech and Tennessee have played a couple times in bowls over the last 20 years, but they don't have much of a history or playing each other in regular season games, so apart from having this game at a race track, it doesn't seem that we would expect it to be an especially good draw. (Yes, I'd love it if 81,000 people at a Gophers game was considered poorly attended!)

It's possible that putting it at this race track would make the game a big draw, but 160,000 seems a bit optimistic.
Click to expand...

Just your average sports fans will probably go just because it is unique. I could see race fans showing up.
 

Picture that Nate linked to above. Neyland Stadium compared to Bristol Speedway (Neyland seats 102,000+):

BWOmGSWIQAAdOQ3.jpg
 

dpodoll68 said:
Picture that Nate linked to above. Neyland Stadium compared to Bristol Speedway (Neyland seats 102,000+):

BWOmGSWIQAAdOQ3.jpg
Click to expand...

It looks like the best seat in Bristol for football is like being in the worst seat in Neyland.
 





Bristol isn't so big. It fits well within the borders.

BWPC-BpCEAAjsSa.png
 

Maybe the Gophers and Indiana State can play @ Elko Speedway in 2016.
 


I must be getting old. Even if I lived in the area, there is nothing about this that would make me want to go. When I was younger, I probably would have gone just to say I was there and part of the "record books".

I remember going to a Timberwolves game in their innaugural season at the Metrodome when they were trying to set a single game attendance record. I don't think we paid more than $5 for the seat and we left shortly after the game started when we realized there was absolutely no way to follow the game in any meaningful way from our seats which were in the last few rows of the upper deck. I see this going the same way. I can't imagine how crappy the view is going to be even from the "good" seats.
 



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