What did you like and not like? How was your experience with Vol fans? Would you like to see a lot of games between us in Knoxville and Blacksburg for years to come?
For those who went to The Battle at Bristol, what are your thoughts?
- Thread starter Tennessee Jones
- Start date
I would like to see more games between the Vols and VT in years to come. An annual game at the speedway could be like a bowl game and everyone has a good time and it helps the local economy in Bristol.
The 2 Vol guys I work with said the whole experience at Bristol was a cluster ..... Said it took almost 2 hours to get through security and even though they were seated facing the 10 yard line you couldn't see crap. One left at halftime because he was told he wouldn't be allowed to leave his parking area for at least an hour after the game. The other waited until the end and said it took him 2:30 hours to get to the interstate. Neither said they would even consider attending another game there. How did you guys find your expierence?
I wasn't able to go but some fans on our board who did said after the game they were stuck in the parking lot for 4 hours and we're stuck in bumper to bumper traffic on interstate 81 after that.
Not sure how y'all feel about it, but I'd love to see Virginia Tech join the SEC. I wouldn't mind us having an annual home and home series in Knoxville and Blacksburg at least.
I think that this would be a good game to include in the schedule - perhaps eliminating one of our tune-ups. I would also like to include West Virginia in the mix-up. Perhaps alternating years between Tennessee and West Virginia. I know some of you aren't crazy about the West Virginia bit but it is local and would be a big local game just like Tennessee is.
I think the Bristol game most likely is a one-time thing. I am sure it cost a fortune to prepare the field so I am not sure they will do that again. Was good publicity for Nascar and the Bristol speedway which I think was the intent.
I think the Bristol game most likely is a one-time thing. I am sure it cost a fortune to prepare the field so I am not sure they will do that again. Was good publicity for Nascar and the Bristol speedway which I think was the intent.
I've always wanted to see the SEC give Missouri and Texas A&M back to the Big XII in exchange for West Virginia. Add Virginia Tech to the east with us and move Vanderbilt to the west. WVU and VT would be instant rivals for both Tennessee and Kentucky.
Money aside, in my opinion conferences need to be more regional for the rivalry aspect. What does West Virginia have in common with a bunch of schools in the middle of the country? Missouri doesn't fit in with the SEC, and besides LSU, Texas A&M doesn't have a rival here either.
If an average ticket cost $200 (I hear the range was between $125 and $400), and 156K fans attended, then the gate alone was $32.2M. Factor in half that again in concessions, beer ans souvenirs, and Bristol probably netted about $45-50M from this game. Each team was given $1M.
I don't know how much the infield/locker room transformations cost, but it sure wasn't $45M. So I'm guessing BMS made a pretty penny on this experiment, and if they did, they'll be back for more. It maybe won't happen every year because of the headache of putting it together, but I doubt this is the last one we'll see.
If we never play Tennessee again, it will not bother me. I think in 2 or 3 years we should play Alabama at Bristol.
While watching the game I had to wonder...if you were in the endzone seats in the bottom row...could you even see half the field? There seemed to be the track and then a couple of garage type buildings between you and the field.
Probably not Packed. But I think one went for the experience not necessarily to see the action from the seats. Not sure how visible the jumbotron's were. That was a serious screen job. Heard is was super-super resolution that required some serious tech.
I was told even the jumbo looked small. Wasn't there so I'm not sure if that was so.
