(The Center Square) – The Atlanta Braves and Cincinnati Reds will play the first Major League Baseball game in Tennessee when they face off at Bristol Motor Speedway on Aug. 2 next season.
The speedway holds 146,000 for auto racing and had 156,900 for a college football game in 2016 between Tennessee and Virginia Tech.
The game will be the final game of a three-game series that was scheduled for Cincinnati, where the first two games will be played.
The game will be televised on Fox Sports and ticket pre-sales will begin in September with a public on-sale expected in December. Ticket information is available at mlb.com/speedwayclassic.
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee was at the game announcement Friday, saying it would be a “historic event” and touting Bristol as the birthplace of country music.
The Speedway Classic field will be on the infield and track with seats built around it and the stands utilized.
“There is deep baseball history in Bristol and around this area, long acknowledged as the heart of the Appalachian League,” Bristol Motor Speedway president Jerry Caldwell said. “In addition, Bristol’s location makes it the perfect ‘meet in the middle’ destination for a showdown between these two beloved clubs.”
The Philadelphia Eagles played the Washington Redskins in an exhibition NFL game at the race track in 1961.
