Nashville Planning College Football Kickoff Game Featuring SEC

By Kevin Kelley -

College football could have one more neutral-site kickoff game beginning in 2016. The Tennessean reports that officials in Nashville are planning an “annual, high-profile, early-season college football game.”

The season-opening contest would match an SEC team against “a high-quality team from another conference” at LP Field, the home of the NFL’s Tennessee Titans.

“Music City Sports and Entertainment Group has been working on a significant college football event for Nashville, and we are about 60-90 days from making an announcement,” Tammy Genovese, CEO of MCSEG, told The Tennessean.

Nashville is seeking to model their kickoff game after the Chick-fil-a Kickoff Game, which last year reportedly pumped $35.5 million into Atlanta’s economy.

According to the report, there is a potential “stumbling block” due to the state’s occupational privilege tax on athletes. The group is exploring an amendment to that tax, and it is set to be brought to the state Senate and House next week.

For the 2014 season, there are five neutral site kickoff-style games set for opening weekend:

AdvoCare Texas Kickoff (Houston, TX)
LSU vs. Wisconsin

Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game (Atlanta, GA)
Boise State vs. Ole Miss
Alabama vs. West Virginia

Cowboys Classic (Arlington, TX)
Florida State vs. Oklahoma State

Croke Park Classic (Dublin, Ireland)
UCF vs. Penn State

Other neutral-site games set for opening weekend in 2014 include Ohio State vs. Navy (at Baltimore, MD) and Colorado vs. Colorado State (at Denver, CO).

Comments (8)

New York’s Yankee Stadium should also have a Kickoff Classic with the ACC vs at large?

In the middle of the baseball season? Brilliant. Do you get votes in the senate as well?

I’m excited to see how the UCF-Penn St. game goes in Ireland – with no “Fighting Irish” on one of the sidelines.

I hope this turns out to be Auburn vs Virginia Tech, Auburn vs Virginia, Auburn vs UNC or Auburn vs Nc State, or better yet Auburn vs FSU

Yankee Stadium should host Rutgers vs. BC or Syracuse; & Wrigley Field should host illinois vs. mizzou.