Lyons speaks: Neutral site games
West Virginia will open the season against Virginia Tech in a neutral site contest at Fed-Ex next month.
The Mountaineers will open the 2018 campaign against Tennessee in Charlotte, and follow that up with another trip to Atlanta against Florida State in the 2020 Chick-Fil-A Kickoff Classic. It’s a formula that has worked for the program for a variety of reasons, one being exposure, according to Shane Lyons, director of athletics for West Virginia.
“I think it’s overall good for the program. You look at the excitement that Virginia Tech has built,” he said.
The game, which will be played Sept. 3, will put the Mountaineers into one of the primetime slots in college football with the Sunday night kickoff.
Those games are typically set up by a third party with the school showing interest in the game and then the stadium looking at interested opponents in the game. Then the two parties iron out financial and ticket guarantees to put the plan into motion.
West Virginia has sold its allotment for the Virginia Tech contest and a strong crowd is expected for the matchup with Tennessee the following year as well.
“You have to have good success which West Virginia has,” Lyons said.
West Virginia does not have an opening for another neutral site contest until at least the 2025 season but it is something that Lyons continues to look at for the future.
Along those lines, Lyons said that he has “some conversations,” in West Virginia’s potential interest in playing a game at Bristol with the right matchups and the right year on the schedule.
And as a schedule maker Lyons is always looking at his options.
“I’m open to the ideas,” he said.
