The Tennessee-Virginia Tech game on Saturday at Bristol Motor Speedway has "already sold out," and what is expected to be the largest college football crowd in U.S. history has business "booming for ticket brokers and other secondary markets," according to a front-page piece by Robert Sorrell of the BRISTOL HERALD COURIER. Bristol (Va.) Revenue Commissioner Terry Frye said that his office has "sold three business licenses for individuals wanting to sell tickets" for the Pilot Flying J Battle at Bristol. Meanwhile, Bristol (Tenn.) officials said that the town has "sold two licenses." BMS Dir of Ticket Sales Landon Owen noted that tickets for the game "sold out months ago." Bristol-based broker Danny Hartsock said that the tickets will "likely become collectors' items." There were also "no PDF tickets produced for the game" and the design has "been upgraded to make it more difficult to reproduce." Owen said, "We knew the secondary market would be big for this event." Sorrell also notes BMS is "working with Ticketmaster to give fans an opportunity to buy resale tickets." By Wednesday night, "more than 1,000 tickets had been exchanged via the website" (BRISTOL HERALD COURIER, 9/9). Bristol Chamber of Commerce Senior Dir of Communications Lori Worley, whose agency reps both cities, said, "There are probably more Tennessee fans here" (Knoxville NEWS SENTINEL, 9/9).
KEEP 'EM COMING: BMS VP/Consumer Group Logan McCabe said that the track has "been in contact with multiple college programs about playing future games at the track." SPORTS ON EARTH's David Ubben writes until the first game is "over and the postmortem complete, though, it's highly unlikely any contracts for future games will be signed." An annual game at the venue is "unlikely, but routinely hosting college football games every three to five years is a more reasonable expectation" (SPORTSONEARTH.com, 9/9). ESPN's Ryan McGee said, "It took Tennessee a while to buy into the idea of having the biggest crowd to see a Tennessee game in the state of Tennessee not be at Neyland Stadium, but Bristol Motor Speedway feels like Neyland Stadium when you're in there so I think the atmosphere is going to be great" ("College Football Daily," ESPNU, 9/8).
LOOK CLOSELY: In Tennessee, Allen Gregory noted there "has been skepticism" regarding sight lines for the game at the 155,000-seat BMS (BRISTOL HERALD COURIER, 9/8). YAHOO SPORTS' Pat Forde wrote the game "could well be a miserable viewing experience because the football field hardly fills the cavernous interior of the track and many seats will be a long way from the action." Hotel rooms are "rare and scandalously overpriced as well" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 9/6). In Norfolk, Bob Molinaro writes "relatively few fans -- even with the use of high-powered binoculars -- will be able to follow the action." But that is "not the point." As with outdoor NHL games and Final Fours played in indoor football stadiums, what "attracts people to a gimmick like this is the chance to tell their friends they were there" (Norfolk VIRGINIAN-PILOT, 9/9). ESPN's Mike Golic Jr. said of the Battle at Bristol, "This is all fine and good and it's cool and it's a way to market this game. How are the fans expected to see this? ... There doesn't appear to be a good seat in the house. I'd opt to watch this one on TV if I had the choice" ("SportsCenter," ESPN, 9/9).
BUMPER TO BUMPER: City of Bristol (Tenn.) Dir of Public Works Tim Beavers said that the traffic plan for the game is "much the same for the races at BMS, with one major exception -- it's expected to take fans four hours to clear out after the game." Beavers added that in addition to being "less familiar with BMS and the routes there, fewer football fans are camping and more are arriving the day of the game." In Tennessee, Zach Irby noted "plenty of signs will be up to direct football fans to their designated parking areas at BMS." The lots will open at 7:00am ET on Saturday and ticket-holders will be "allowed inside the track" at 4:00pm (BRISTOL HERALD COURIER, 9/7).
GOING FOR THE RECORD: The AP's Steve Megargee wrote the Battle At Bristol is "expected to draw over 150,000 fans, which would shatter the current NCAA single-game record of 115,109 at Michigan Stadium" for Notre Dame-Michigan in '13. BMS Exec VP & GM Jerry Caldwell "declined to disclose the costs of temporarily converting the speedway into a football stadium." This will be the track's "first football game" since a Redskins-Eagles preseason game in '61. AstroTurf Dir of Sales Support Sydney Stahlbaum said that the company was "part of similarly rapid installations before." NRG Stadium was "converted from a grass surface to turf in four days" last September. A drivers' meeting room was "reconfigured into a locker room for Tennessee," while a tire mounting area "now is Virginia Tech's locker room." The coaches' boxes and radio booths are "where NASCAR officials generally monitor races." Tennessee Assistant AD/Event Management David Elliott said, "We're telling both teams to have a ton of binoculars up in the coaches' booth so they can see better there" (AP, 9/6).
IN THE SKY: Pilot Flying J has launched its first integrated marketing campaign ahead of Saturday's Battle at Bristol. The truck stop chain is using its title sponsorship to shoot a series of commercials that will air on ESPN, as well as radio, print and digital ads (Pilot Flying J).
