ETSU to play football game at BMS

UPDATE This rumor is upgraded to 'fact' today. The ETSU Department of Intercollegiate Athletics and Bristol Motor Speedway held a joint press conference on Thursday afternoon to announce they have reached an agreement to host ETSU's 2016 Southern Conference football opener at the Last Great Colosseum. The Buccaneers, who are playing a full SoCon schedule this upcoming season, will host Western Carolina on Saturday, Sept. 17.

ETSU football head coach Carl Torbush and the Buccaneers know the significance of playing at Bristol Motor Speedway and are excited to be part of this historic event. ETSU Season Ticket Holders will receive a general admission ticket to the game at BMS with their season ticket package. Reserved seating upgrades and parking will be available when purchasing ETSU season tickets. If you are an ETSU season ticket holder and have questions, please call the ETSU Ticket Office at 423-439-4828. BMS

Bristol can hold 155,000

01/27/16 A press conference has been called for Thursday at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Neither side was willing to comment Tuesday on the nature of the announcement, but sources and media outlets indicate the East Tennessee State University Bucs will play Southern Conference rival Western Carolina in a football game inside 155,000-seat BMS this season on Sept. 17. The story was first reported late Monday night by the Johnson City Press.

The Southern Conference matchup would come one week after the “Battle of Bristol" matchup between Virginia Tech and the University of Tennessee on Sept. 10. That ballyhooed game is expected to break the all-time attendance mark for a college football game of 115,109 set in 2013 at Michigan Stadium.

Mike White, the associate athletic director for communications at ETSU, replied with a “no comment" Tuesday when asked about Thursday’s press conference.

Dana Landry, the director of communication at BMS, said that track general manager Jerry Caldwell was in Knoxville for meetings Tuesday but will be available for comment Thursday.

Sources and media reports confirmed Tuesday that officials from ETSU have been in negotiations for months to play at BMS.

ETSU played its home games this season at 6,600-seat Kermit Tipton Stadium on the campus at Science Hill High School. The highest attendance came in the season opener against Kennesaw State, which attracted a standing-room-only gathering of 8,217.

The Bucs are scheduled to play on a new-on campus facility that will seat just over 10,000 fans in the fall of 2017.

In 2004, ETSU joined with BMS to create a multi-faceted program titled motorsports operations. BMS and ETSU officials have since been involved in several cross promotions.

The 2016 schedule for ETSU has not been released. Western Carolina unveiled its schedule Tuesday, but the site of the ETSU game was listed as Johnson City.

ETSU, which will rejoin the Southern Conference this fall in football, posted a 2-9 record in 2015. That was the first season for the Bucs since the football program was disbanded in 2003.

Western Carolina, located in rural Cullowhee, North Carolina, went 7-4 in 2015 with a schedule that featured games at Texas A&M and the University of Tennessee.

The 2018 schedule for Tennessee includes a home game against ETSU. Under terms of the contract released by Tennessee, ETSU will receive $500,000 for playing the game at Neyland Stadium