#VaTech to play #Tennessee at Bristol Motor Speedway in 2016, per source. Expected to draw a record 150,000-160k fans.
— Bruce Feldman (@BFeldmanCBS) October 9, 2013
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Just to play devil's advocate: I'm… not totally sold on this. Oh, the pregame will be awesome. There are few things in the world like being drunk at a NASCAR track—and throwing college football in the mix would be one Duck Dynasty guy short of redneck nirvana. (Maybe Si can sing the national anthem.)
And the week of buildup will be great. Anytime you play a game in a new location, just hearing about the logistics is half the fun. I remember listening, spellbound, as ESPN reporters explained in 2010 that only one end zone would be used for that Wrigley Field game. I would watch a two-hour documentary on Bristol's conversion.
But these seats are going to suck. The end zones will be a nightmare. The players will look like toys. And it could kick off a scary precedent: The drive for bigger and bigger arenas has hurt the Final Four (the players can't shoot in football domes, for obvious reasons, leading to games like the Butler and Connecticut clunker from a few years back), and if Bristol works out reasonably well, what would stop the NCAA from asking other race tracks to host future BCS games? Daytona is already a possibility. There will be the demand for tickets, no matter the quality of the experience. But who would actually enjoy watching a game there?
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