🏈 Move the SEC championship Game [Nashville stadium update]

[sean]

I wouldn't mind seeing it rotate to different stadiums throughout the conference.

Atlanta
New Orleans
Dallas
Houston
Jacksonville
Tampa Bay
Nashville
Charlotte

 

[TerryP]

Charleston still have any hidden spots anymore? I imagine it has not stopped growing at all. I wish they had a stadium that could hold a crowd because I'd say have the SEC Championship in Charleston. Food, history, golf, shopping, hard to beat as a location, and forget about it if you had a football championship there.

There's still your "hole in the wall" restaurant. You could eat every day, for a week or more, in Park Circle and wouldn't have to repeat cuisines—looking to hit Five Loaves Cafe in Summerville early next week. (If the weather stays like it has been, it'll be a Potato and Broccoli Soup.)

 

[TerryP]

I wouldn't mind seeing it rotate to different stadiums throughout the conference.

Atlanta
New Orleans
Dallas
Houston
Jacksonville
Tampa Bay
Nashville
Charlotte

Out of those three, 'Orleans, Nashville, and ATL. To me, the most logical approach should be the most central locations in the "conference footprint."

The SEC has no connection in Charlotte being outside the footprint. And, it's far from what I'd consider a "destination setting."

 

[BamaFan334]

For sure, crime is everywhere. Wonder how many would say the traffic and airport or worse in Nashville?

I’ve gotta go with my experiences, and everyone is different. Thousands of days in the ‘Ville with no events, can’t even remember when I last felt unsafe downtown or anywhere in town. Is if I were afraid of bachelorette parties… A few dozen days in Atlanta and I get robbed in a nice part of town. And I’ve had some, we’ll call it anxious, evening rides on the Marta. I’m more comfortable in the NY subway system than Marta, and I’ve ridden the NY system at least 1,000 rides.

No doubt traffic is the worst ever in Atlanta. It's the main reason I absolutely hate the place.

 

[sean]

Out of those three, 'Orleans, Nashville, and ATL. To me, the most logical approach should be the most central locations in the "conference footprint."

The SEC has no connection in Charlotte being outside the footprint. And, it's far from what I'd consider a "destination setting."

I wasn't thinking in terms of "destination settings". If I went to an SECCG at one of those places, I'd just get there, go to the game, then leave. I probably wouldn't care about seeing any sights or anything (I'm weird that way). I was just thinking more along the lines of keeping it on a rotation so that one team doesn't get to play too much at 1 place and it becomes more familiar to them. And Charlotte.....yeah, you're right. I was thinking South Carolina, but put a North Carolina city in there, lol.

To be truly fair, I'd like to see it rotate to a stadium in each state that has a team in the SEC. But not all states have a big enough stadium that isn't home to one of the members; Alabama, Mississippi, South Carolina don't have a pro football team. Like the places I previously listed, those all have pro teams that play there. So using one of their stadiums could work. But there are no pro football stadiums in those I just listed.

And I forgot about Kansas City in Missouri. Arrowhead Stadium could be another one in the rotation.

 

[BamaFan334]

I wasn't thinking in terms of "destination settings". If I went to an SECCG at one of those places, I'd just get there, go to the game, then leave. I probably wouldn't care about seeing any sights or anything (I'm weird that way). I was just thinking more along the lines of keeping it on a rotation so that one team doesn't get to play too much at 1 place and it becomes more familiar to them. And Charlotte.....yeah, you're right. I was thinking South Carolina, but put a North Carolina city in there, lol.

To be truly fair, I'd like to see it rotate to a stadium in each state that has a team in the SEC. But not all states have a big enough stadium that isn't home to one of the members; Alabama, Mississippi, South Carolina don't have a pro football team. Like the places I previously listed, those all have pro teams that play there. So using one of their stadiums could work. But there are no pro football stadiums in those I just listed.

And I forgot about Kansas City in Missouri. Arrowhead Stadium could be another one in the rotation.

They hold the ACC Championship in Charlotte too.

 

[OldPlayer]

I wasn't thinking in terms of "destination settings". If I went to an SECCG at one of those places, I'd just get there, go to the game, then leave. I probably wouldn't care about seeing any sights or anything (I'm weird that way). I was just thinking more along the lines of keeping it on a rotation so that one team doesn't get to play too much at 1 place and it becomes more familiar to them. And Charlotte.....yeah, you're right. I was thinking South Carolina, but put a North Carolina city in there, lol.

To be truly fair, I'd like to see it rotate to a stadium in each state that has a team in the SEC. But not all states have a big enough stadium that isn't home to one of the members; Alabama, Mississippi, South Carolina don't have a pro football team. Like the places I previously listed, those all have pro teams that play there. So using one of their stadiums could work. But there are no pro football stadiums in those I just listed.

And I forgot about Kansas City in Missouri. Arrowhead Stadium could be another one in the rotation.

The game is tough enough. Don’t make the players fight the weather in Kansas City.

 

[bamafan9201]

I think you'd have to keep it in a domed stadium. To those ends, I'd say Atlanta, Nashville, New Orleans, and Houston or Dallas would be solid places to rotate through.

 

[TerryP]

The game is tough enough. Don’t make the players fight the weather in Kansas City.

...and down the rabbit hole I go...

Looking at the last few SECCG's that would mean teams would be traveling farther for the SECC than they were when they played in the semi's.

Athens to KC- @860 miles (traveled 675 to Miami.)
Tuscaloosa to KC- @ 690 (traveled 585 to Cotton)
Baton Rouge to KC- @ 760 (traveled 520 to semi in ATL)

It's literally moving the South Eastern Conference championship to the Mid-West.

That doesn't make any sense to me.

 

[OldPlayer]

...and down the rabbit hole I go...

Looking at the last few SECCG's that would mean teams would be traveling farther for the SECC than they were when they played in the semi's.

Athens to KC- @860 miles (traveled 675 to Miami.)
Tuscaloosa to KC- @ 690 (traveled 585 to Cotton)
Baton Rouge to KC- @ 760 (traveled 520 to semi in ATL)

It's literally moving the South Eastern Conference championship to the Mid-West.

That doesn't make any sense to me.

I’m not in favor of KC. There’s only a few stadiums that will meet the requirements for the SECCG. Dallas is most likely out because they host the Big XII championship. Houston is likely out because it is farther than closer to most SEC schools. That leaves Nashville (in several years), New Orleans and Atlanta. What are the odds that the Nashville stadium will be completed on schedule?

 

[sean]

The game is tough enough. Don’t make the players fight the weather in Kansas City.

The SECCG in 1992 was a cold one. Yet it was still played to a packed stadium. I don't think being in a dome or not should be a decided factor. Weather, good or bad, can happen at any game during the regular season. The guys play in heat, cold, and rain. Some have played in snow. It's just another part of the game with which you have to deal.

...and down the rabbit hole I go...

Looking at the last few SECCG's that would mean teams would be traveling farther for the SECC than they were when they played in the semi's.

Athens to KC- @860 miles (traveled 675 to Miami.)
Tuscaloosa to KC- @ 690 (traveled 585 to Cotton)
Baton Rouge to KC- @ 760 (traveled 520 to semi in ATL)

It's literally moving the South Eastern Conference championship to the Mid-West.

That doesn't make any sense to me.

And if Texas and Oklahoma join the SEC (as some have speculated), are they in the Southeast? We've already got aTm in the conference. The University of Texas is even further west than they are. And Norman, OK, is about in line (north-south-wise) with Austin. So both are further west than aTm.

If we keep adding teams that far west, they may as well go back to calling it the Southern Conference. Because while you could make an argument that at least Texas is in the south (although any true Texan will tell you they're not southern, they're Texan), it's definitely NOT in the Southeast.

Hell, some maps of the "southeast" include only Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, South Carolina, and North Carolina. While others say it's those, plus, Virginia, West Virginia, and Kentucky. Some of them have Missouri, Louisiana, and Arkansas, or Texas as part of the Southeast. And 1 map includes Delaware and Maryland in the Southeast; which I have never, and would never, consider them as a part of the Southeast. So that one is laughable, to me.

Still, playing or not playing the game somewhere simply due to how far away it is to a school or fan base is silly, in my opinion. Should it matter that 1 school would have to travel 300 miles while the other might have to travel 500? To me, no. It is what it is. That's why I said have it on a rotation so it's not always in the same place. Some years it would be close to those teams that are closer to the east coast. Some years it would be further west. It's neither an advantage or a disadvantage to any 1 team. And that's who I'm thinking of overall, the teams; not the fans.

The Red River Rivalry is held at the stadium in Dallas. Both Texas and Oklahoma play there every year. It MIGHT give either of them a slight advantage if the SECCG were played there. But what about if/when BAMA or UGA or another team plays in Atlanta to open the season? And think about how many times Alabama has played in that stadium. Do they have a slight advantage simply because they play there more than any other SEC team? Maybe. But put the SECCG on a rotation and no team will have an advantage every year if they happen to get to the SECCG multiple years in a row (i.e., Alabama 2014, 2015, 2016).

 

[im4uainva]

I’m not in favor of KC. There’s only a few stadiums that will meet the requirements for the SECCG. Dallas is most likely out because they host the Big XII championship. Houston is likely out because it is farther than closer to most SEC schools. That leaves Nashville (in several years), New Orleans and Atlanta. What are the odds that the Nashville stadium will be completed on schedule?

I dunno, put a Casino in it and see what happens.

ROLL TIDE!

 

[OldPlayer]

And if Texas and Oklahoma join the SEC (as some have speculated)

Um, its a guarantee

 

[sean]

Um, its a guarantee

I haven't been keeping up with anything, really. I had no idea. The last I'd heard, they were talking about it, but nothing had been confirmed.

 

[Secondand26]

And to think, I just started this thread because I was pissed at the uga fans with the spiky shoulder pads & wanted to move it to make it harder on them to travel!

 

[Brandon Van de Graaff]

A Nashville stadium update:

Way too long and drawn out in the video, but for those that care…

 

[rick4bama]

Wasn't the reason the game moved to Atlanta was because of the dome? The last game in Birmingham it rain buckets!

 

[50+yeartidefan]

Wasn't the reason the game moved to Atlanta was because of the dome? The last game in Birmingham it rain buckets!

And so colddddddd

But moving it to nashville in December....if its not a dome....doesnt make much sense...
And every place it could be moved to...has an opportunity for Home field for some sec team....just not vandy in nashville...but tn

 

[rick4bama]

 

[It Takes Eleven]

Out of those three, 'Orleans, Nashville, and ATL. To me, the most logical approach should be the most central locations in the "conference footprint."

The SEC has no connection in Charlotte being outside the footprint. And, it's far from what I'd consider a "destination setting."

The downtown Charlotte area is a pig sty, and getting worse. Their big entertainment district is desolate, and office vacancies in the central city area are building, meaning even less day traffic than now. Stay in SouthPark if you can, and enjoy the drives into town up Queens, Kings or Selwyn - really impressive homes. If you must stay downtown, Rooster's is a good dining option.

The new Nashville indoor stadium is slated to hold just 55 to 60 thousand, compared to 75 in Atlanta (they packed 79 into the Peach Bowl last year). I don't think the money changers will allow that many seats to walk.