According to Jordan Bianchi of The Athletic, the Braves will play the Reds at Bristol Motor Speedway in 2025.
“Bristol Motor Speedway, one of NASCAR’s most iconic tracks, will host a regular season MLB game between the Atlanta Braves and Cincinnati Reds in 2025, multiple sources briefed on the plans told The Athletic on Tuesday,” Bianchi writes.
This is exciting for a few reasons. It’s always encouraging for Major League Baseball to find new ways to attract fans, something they’ve been notoriously abysmal at accomplishing in recent years. For Braves fans outside of Atlanta in the great state of Tennessee, it also presents an opportunity for them to see their favorite team closer to home.
But perhaps most notably, this game has a chance to be Major League Baseball’s most attended game ever. Back in 2016, Bristol Motor Speedway hosted Virginia Tech and Tennessee for a college football showdown, a game that was attended by nearly 157,000 fans.
“In 2016, Tennessee and Virginia Tech played a college football game on a purpose-built field in the infield,” Bianchi writes. “That game drew 156,990, the largest crowd ever to watch an NCAA football game.
However, hosting a sold-out MLB game at Bristol Motor Speedway would likely set an attendance record for the sport. According to the National Baseball Hall of Fame, the largest crowd for an MLB game belongs to a 2008 exhibition match between the Boston Red Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers at the Los Angeles Coliseum. The Red Sox won that game in front of an officially announced crowd of 115,300 – the only time the Hall says a baseball crowd has “probably” exceeded 100,000.”
100,000 screaming fans at a baseball game almost seems unfathomable, but when you showcase the Braves in the heart of Braves Country, it’s an opportunity for something special. There’s little doubt this event will prove to be a hit for everybody involved.
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Photographer: Rich Graessle/Icon Sportswire
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