Joey Logano’s Nashville Superspeedway memories made winning Ally 400 special
Joey Logano held off Tyler Reddick and Zane Smith to win the Ally 400 at the Nashville Superspeedway on June 30, 2024.
It’s a new year and time to reset your calendar for Nashville’s biggest sports events.
We took a look ahead into 2025 to come up with 25 sports-related happenings you won’t want to miss.
These are events so big that you might want to go ahead and make plans now to attend.
Some events will be set later in the year including the Tennessee Titans’ 2025 schedule, the annual Battle of the Boulevard college basketball game between Belmont and Lipscomb and the date for the 2025 TransPerfect Music City Bowl at Nissan Stadium.
Here are 25 sports events you’ll want to keep track of for this calendar year.
Tennessee is among the nation’s best college basketball teams and Vanderbilt is improved from last season. The in-state rivals square off at Vanderbilt’s Memorial Gym at 2:30 p.m., Jan. 18. The Vols have won the last two games in the series. This will be Vanderbilt first-year coach Mark Byington’s first meeting vs. Rick Barnes’ Vols. Byington replaced Jerry Stackhouse, who was 1-9 against Tennessee. For tickets visit vucommodores.com/mbb-ticketing.
The Lady Vols will be at Vanderbilt on Jan. 19 (2 p.m. CT), the day after the men’s game. The Commodores will try to snap an eight-game losing streak against Tennessee. Vanderbilt’s last win in the series came in 2019 in Knoxville (76-69). It’s been 11 years since Vanderbilt beat UT at Memorial Gym. Tickets are available at vucommodores.com/wbb-ticketing.
The San Jose Sharks are expected to have former Nashville prospect Yaroslav Askarov in net when the two teams meet at Bridgestone Arena at 7 p.m., Jan. 21. The 22-year-old Russian was the Predators’ highest prospect last summer. He demanded a trade so Nashville sent Askarov to San Jose. Askarov was hampered by an injury earlier in the season, but is healthy now. All Predators tickets are available at nhl.com/predators/tickets.
Mark Byington has taken over at Vanderbilt and Mark Pope is Kentucky’s new coach. The two SEC teams meet for the first time under their new coaches on Jan. 25 (1:30 p.m. CT) at Memorial Gym. The game usually sells out with Wildcats fans gobbling up any available tickets. After beating Kentucky in the 2022-23 regular season and SEC Tournament, the Commodores lost twice to the Wildcats last season by a combined scored of 202-154.
All eyes will be on Zeus McClurkin when the world famous Harlem Globetrotters visit Bridgestone Arena on Feb. 1. They will play two games against the Washington Generals (2 p.m. CT and 7 p.m.). McClurkin is one of the most decorated athletes on the Globetrotters’ roster holding six Guinness World Records titles including most slam dunks in one minute (16), most bounced 3-pointers in one minute (five), and the most behind-the-back 3-pointers (three). Tickets for the Harlem Globetrotters 2025 tour are available at harlemglobetrotters.com/world-tour/schedule.
The Athletes Unlimited Pro Basketball league features some of the top women’s players in the nation. It started three years ago designed to give WNBA players the opportunity to play professionally in the United States instead of going to Europe in the offseason. The 2025 season tips off on Feb. 5 and will be held through March 2 at Municipal Auditorium. Some of the participating players include 12-year WNBA veteran Alysha Clark, a Mt. Juliet native and former MTSU standout, Chicago Sky forward Isabelle Harrison, a former Lady Vol and Hillsboro star, and her sister Dorie Harrison, who played at Kentucky and Lipscomb. Tickets are available at AUPB tickets.
Gunther, Liv Morgan, Damian Priest, Jey Uso, “Dirty” Dominik Mysterio and Drew McIntyre are among the superstars who will perform when WWE comes to Nashville for Monday Night RAW on Feb. 10 (6:30 p.m.) at Bridgestone Arena. Tickets are at wwe.com.
After starting the 2025 season with three games in Phoenix, Arizona, Vanderbilt’s baseball team will open its home schedule with six games over eight days at Hawkins Field. The Commodores play a doubleheader vs. Air Force (Feb. 18-19), a tripleheader vs. Saint Mary’s (Feb. 21-23) and then face Tennessee Tech (Feb. 25). Vandy is coming off a 38-23 season, which ended in the NCAA Regional Tournament. Tickets are on sale at vucommodores.com/baseball-tickets.
The TSSAA girls and boys high school state basketball championships are March 6-8 for Division II at Tennessee Tech’s Hooper Eblen Center. The Division I (Class 1A-4A) girls will be March 12-15 at Middle Tennessee State’s Murphy Center and the boys will be March 19-22.
For the third straight season and 12th time overall the SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament will be at Bridgestone Arena from March 12-16. Auburn has won three of the last four SEC Tournaments in Nashville including last season. Kentucky won three straight SEC Tournament championships from 2015-17 at Bridgestone Arena. Tickets are on sale at secsports.com/mens-basketball-tournament-tickets.
The Nashville Sounds open their 10th season at First Horizon Park on March 28-30 with a tripleheader vs. the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp. It’s the earliest opening day for the Sounds in their 47-year history. It will be the first of 30 home games for the Sounds in 2025. A full promotional schedule will be released in early March. Individual game tickets will be available for purchase at least one month before the season at milb.com/nashville/tickets.
After a 16-year hiatus, the Nashville Kats of the Arena Football League returned to action in 2024. The league was relaunched in the offseason and renamed Arena Football One. The Kats, who played their home games at Municipal Auditorium under general manager Jeff Fisher, the former coach of the Tennessee Oilers/Titans, are scheduled to open the 2025 home season on March 28 vs. Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. Tickets will be at ticketmaster.com/artist/806618 when they go on sale.
The 25th annual St. Jude Rock ‘n’ Roll Running Series Nashville Marathon and Half-Marathon hits the streets on April 27. The event, which began in 2000 as the Country Music Marathon, also includes a 10K, 5K, 1-mile run/walk and KiDSROCK run. It annually draws 50,000 participants and spectators. Registration is open at runrocknroll.com/nashville-register.
The 2025 “Banana Ball Tour” stops in Nashville on May 10 featuring the wildly entertaining Savanah Bananas exhibition baseball team. The team visits Nissan Stadium to play the Party Animals. Nissan Stadium is one of just three NFL stadiums the team will visit this year. The Bananas were a a big hit in the Music City last summer when they played a three-game series at First Horizon Park. Tickets are available at thesavannahbananas.com/tickets.
One of Nashville’s longest ongoing sports events, the Iroquois Steeplechase, is set for May 10. The 84th running will be at Percy Warner Park. The event features several horse races of varying distances on grass courses leading up to the featured 3-mile hurdle stakes Iroquois with a $200,000 purse. The event annually draws 25,000 spectators. Tailgating spots, boxes and individual tickets are available at iroquoissteeplechase.org/tickets.
A couple of significant changes are set for the fifth annual NASCAR Cup Series race at Nashville Superspeedway. Not only will the race take place earlier than ever before on June 1, it will be run under the lights on the 1.33-mile D-shaped oval. The 300-lap race will start at 6 p.m. CT and for the first time streamed exclusively on Amazon Prime Video. The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race will be on May 30 and Xfinity Series race on May 31. Tickets are at nashvillesuperspeedway.com/events.
One of the oldest participant sports events in Nashville is the Eddie Ferrell Music City Triathlon. The 46th annual competition will be on June 1 in downtown. It begins with an 1,100-meter swim in the Cumberland River followed by a 40K bike ride on Ellington Parkway and concluding with a six-mile run in East Nashville before ending outside of Nissan Stadium. There is also a shorter sprint course. Register at Music City Triathlon.
Geodis Park, home of Nashville SC, hosts for three games June 20-26 during the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup in the United States. León and ES Tunis will play in a Group D game on June 20 followed by a Group C game between Auckland City and Boca Juniors on June 24 and a Group H game between Al Hilal and Pachuca on June 26. Purchase tickets at FIFA Club World Cup 2025 tickets.
The Music City’s first professional bull riding team, which competes in the PBR Camping World Team Series, begins its third season Aug. 15-17 at Bridgestone Arena. The league transforms bull riding from an individual to team-formatted competition. The Stampede won the championship in 2022. Tickets are available at pbr.com/events.
In 2024, the IndyCar Big Machine Music City Grand Prix moved from downtown to Nashville Superspeedway and changed from being a road race to being run on an oval. In 2025 the race will move to a new date. The 206-lap race, run on Sept. 15 last year, will move to Aug. 31 meaning it will not conflict with a Tennessee Titans regular-season game. It will still serve as the IndyCar season finale as it did in 2024. Purchase tickets at Music City Grand Prix tickets.
Coming off its best season in more than a decade, the Tennessee State football team will play FCS national champion North Dakota State at Nissan Stadium on Sept. 6. Coach Eddie George led TSU to a 9-4 record, a share of the Big South/Ohio Valley Conference championship and the FCS playoffs in 2024. North Dakota State beat Montana State, 35-32, in the 2024 FCS championship. Tickets will be available at tsutigers.com/tickets.
The Simmons Bank Open for the Snedeker Foundation, one of four golf tournaments that make up the Korn Ferry Tour Finals, will be played Sept. 11-14 at Vanderbilt Legends Club on the North Course. The tournament moved to Vanderbilt Legends Club in 2024 after being played two years at The Grove. Purchase tickets at simmonsbankopen.com/tickets.
Inter Miami, featuring Lionel Messi, the greatest soccer player in the world, will be in town on Oct. 18 to play Nashville SC at Geodis Park. It will be the final regular season game for both teams. The two teams play at Miami on July 12. Nashville SC tickets are available at nashvillesc.com/tickets.
After making a huge splash in 2024, which included a winning record and a victory over Georgia Tech in the Birmingham Bowl, all eyes will be on the Vanderbilt football team in 2025. The Commodores face a tough schedule, which will include trips to Alabama, Texas and Tennessee. The best home game could be an Oct. 18 matchup against LSU. The Tigers will be the first SEC opponent to visit FirstBank Stadium in 2025 and feature former Pearl-Cohn star Barion Brown, who transferred from Kentucky after the 2024 season. Buy tickets at Vanderbilt ticket office.
The 41st All America race at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway is set for Nov. 9. The 300-lap race is part of the American Speed Association National Stars Tour. Past winners include Chase Elliott, John Hunter Nemechek, Darrell Waltrip, Rusty Wallace and Ross Kenseth. There will also be races in the CRA Super Series, ASA Midwest Tour and ASA Southern Super Series over the weekend. The local racing season will wrap up its championships on Nov. 7-8. Tickets are available at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway tickets.
Reach Mike Organ at 615-259-8021 or on X @MikeOrganWriter.
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