Braves Today

Braves Scheduled to Be Part of History With Unique Setting for 2025 Game

The Atlanta Braves will play in the first ever MLB regular-season game in the state of Tennessee during the 2025 campaign.

Dave Holcomb

Former Atlanta Braves third baseman Chipper Jones
Former Atlanta Braves third baseman Chipper Jones / Caitie McMekin/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK
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Major League Baseball is coming to Tennessee, and the Atlanta Braves will be part of it.

The MLB announced Friday that the Braves and Cincinnati Reds will play a regular-season game during the 2025 season at the historic Bristol Motor Speedway in northeastern Tennessee. The game will be called the MLB Speedway Classic and will take place on Saturday, Aug. 2.

It will be the first ever MLB regular-season game played in Tennessee.

“Major League Baseball is excited to deliver a special game at Bristol Motor Speedway, a unique setting that sports fans will remember forever," MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement. "The Reds and the Braves form an ideal matchup because of their dynamic talent and the proximity of their markets.

"We look forward to celebrating our game with a wide array of fans, both on and off the field throughout the weekend, and highlighting the rich traditions of sports, music and community in Tennessee and across the region."

The MLB has hosted games in non-traditional locations in recent years in an effort to grow the popularity of the league. Since 2016, the MLB has hosted its first-ever regular-season contests in North Carolina, Nebraska, Iowa and Alabama.

The league has also begun playing annual games in Williamsport, PA.

In the Bristol Motor Speedway, the MLB will take over a location that has been no stranger to big events. In 2016, the speedway hosted the Tennessee-Virginia Tech college football matchup, which saw nearly 157,000 attend.

The Bristol Motor Speedway has also been a location for FCS contests, and in 1961, it hosted an exhibition game between the Philadelphia Eagles and then Washington Redskins.

The official MLB X (formerly Twitter) account tweeted a photo of what the speedway could look like with a baseball diamond in its center.

Baseball fans on X appeared thrilled about the announcement and expressed how much they were looking forward to the game.

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Dave Holcomb

DAVE HOLCOMB