Major League Baseball has a made it a habit to add special location games every regular season. In the past they’ve held the universally loved “Field of Dreams” game at the famous filming location as well as international games in London. This past weekend saw them hold the “Speedway Classic” at the Bristol Motor Speedway, a NASCAR racetrack in Bristol, Tennessee.
Apparently the NHL was interested enough in the prospect of holding a gem venue that it was reported league officials were in attendance. The racetrack shares a home state with the Nashville Predators, even if Nashville is a five-hour drive away. The NHL has held outdoor games in stadiums outside of the metro area of the playing teams. For example, the 2019 Winter Classic was held at Notre Dame Stadium in Indiana and the 2020 Stadium Series was held at the Air Force Academy in Colorado.
The Nashville Predators, who would be guaranteed to host our hypothetical game, hosted a 2022 Stadium Series game at the home of the NFL’s Tennessee Titans. They previously participated in the 2020 Winter Classic hosted by the Dallas Stars. That event also featured the unconventional location of a Southern college football stadium.
Bristol is only about a four-hour drive from Raleigh, North Carolina. The Carolinas love NASCAR, so a Predators versus Hurricanes Winter Classic speedway matchup might be an exciting, and out of the box, idea for the league.
The game might have broken MLB’s paid attendance record for a regular season game but that doesn’t mean it was all sunshine and rainbows. If you paid any attention to the MLB’s game you’ll know it didn’t go as planned. Rain forced the game to be postponed until Sunday after playing just over one inning. Fans left waiting for the storm to pass saw concession stands run out of food. The concession situation got so bad the speedway let fans bring in outside food and drinks if they showed up again on Sunday.
Is it MLB’s fault Mother Nature couldn’t cooperate? Absolutely not, but the fact the venue wasn’t prepared for the logistics left many unhappy fans. Think of it this way: for a “normal” regular season game, fans are used to spending a hundred or few hundred dollars for tickets, concessions, etc. These special location games are hyped up as major events, with many fans traveling in and buying special packages that might even include hotel accommodations. The price tag for the average fan most likely exceeds the cost of a “normal” game.
Most would say it’s worth it for what could be a once in a lifetime event. If things go wrong like they did in Bristol, fans are not pleased. Their complaints get amplified in the age of social media. That was supposed to be a record-breaking game at one of NASCAR’s most celebrated facilities became a black eye for the league in what has been jokingly called the “Fyre Fest” of baseball games (if you don’t get the reference, we promise you it’s not a compliment).
NHL representatives were there and got a first-hand look at everything that went wrong in Bristol. What they saw this weekend was anything but encouraging if they wanted to add Bristol Speedway to the exclusive list of Winter Classic venues. Weather disturbances have happened before in NHL outdoor games, so we don’t think the league held that against MLB. Then again, the league has somewhat shifted to having outdoor games in venues with a roof. The league wants to keep the roof open during the game, but having the option to close it to protect the ice as the rink is being built and leading up to the game is always a great option to have.
However, the league can’t overlook the logistical nightmare that they saw Saturday night. Maybe the venue deserves blame, maybe MLB deserves blame, either way it didn’t inspire confidence the venue could handle a similar event for the NHL. The idea of an NHL game at Bristol Motor Speedway might have ended before it even really began.