College Football

Tennessee-Virginia Tech calling Battle at Bristol “the biggest football game ever”

The 2016 college football game will be held at the 160,000-seat NASCAR track. That’s the highest number of seats to ever appear at a college football game, yes.

by Pete Volk

Oct 14, 2013, 3:09 PM UTC

Best seat in the house ... close enough? RT @Vol_Football: The view from the grandstand at the 50. pic.twitter.com/tEWfm2UqR3
— SB Nation CFB (@SBNationCFB) October 14, 2013

Virginia Tech and Tennessee will play a football game at Bristol Motor Speedway in 2016, the race track officially announced after at least a decade of rumors.

Those involved have made it very clear the game is aiming to set a new record for football attendance. Various dignitaries from each school spoke, with Hokies coach Frank Beamer calling Bristol his second-favorite venue behind his own football stadium and someone promising Tennessee coach Butch Jones will still be around in 2016. The schools can earn up to $4.5 million for the game, depending on ticket sales.

They also explained how exactly they’re planning to make this thing work -- no in-depth specifics, but they’re confident in the logistics. College football Twitter’s best guesses were a little off, either way.

About the 20 yard line… of the racetrack pic.twitter.com/aYuNormgTX
— Vol Photos (@Vol_Photos) October 14, 2013

Besides the marquee matchup, the course is located about two hours from each campus, making for an exciting neutral-site environment.

View from the last row at Bristol Motor Speedway. Bring your binoculars in 2016. #Hokies pic.twitter.com/Tb9KylScuA
— Andy Bitter (@AndyBitterVT) October 14, 2013

Other race tracks are looking to join Bristol in hosting football games, such as the Daytona 500.

Greetings from what will be 50-yard line for Vols-Hokies at Bristol Motor Speedway: pic.twitter.com/B5wD48oSQ3
— Wes Rucker (@wesrucker247) October 14, 2013

Tennessee leads the all-time series 5-3, but the Hokies won the last game in the series -- 37-14 in 2009, when Lane Kiffin was the Vols’ head coach. The two times the team met before that? 1994 and 1937, both dominating Tennessee wins.