By all accounts, Nashville hit a home run when hosting the 2019 NFL Draft.

Now, the city wants another swing.

Butch Spyridon, CEO of the Nashville Convention and Visitors Corporation, said on Tuesday the city submitted an expression of interest to host the NFL Draft in 2024 or 2025.

“They have not opened up the bidding process for those years yet,” Spyridon said. “But we have stayed in touch with the league, and we will continue to do so.”

Spyridon said the NFL sent a form inquiring about interest to the Titans roughly 6-8 months ago, and the city and the team returned it to the league. Spyridon said the NFL has not provided any updates since, “and I am sure their focus is on: “Can we play football this fall?’ And we are pulling for them in that regard.”

The 2021 NFL Draft will be held in Cleveland, Ohio. Las Vegas will host the 2022 draft after this year’s public event was canceled. The 2023 draft will be in Kansas City.

Spyridon said he’s optimistic about the city of Nashville being chosen as a host once again in a window he sees running through 2026. Spyridon said he expects the league to let the host cities in future years know roughly 3-5 years in advance for planning purposes.

“I’d be more surprised if they don’t give us a future date than I would be if we get one,” Spyridon said. “I am very confident we’ll get a future year in that window, because they still tell every city they (talk to about the draft): ‘Call Nashville’. I’ve heard that from the other cities, and I’ve heard that from the league. So, I’m confident. And in my mind, five years is a really good window as far as repeating something big.”

The 2019 NFL Draft in Nashville easily shattered records for attendance, as over 600,000 fans fill the streets of downtown Nashville for the three-day event. The NFL Draft was broadcast around the world in a record 115 countries, with a record 47.5 million in television viewership.

The NFL and the Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp announced the 2019 NFL Draft generated a record $133 million in direct spending — a 79 percent increase over the $74 million at the 2018 Dallas event. The economic impact was another record-breaker at $224 million, also a 79 percent increase over the $125 million in 2018.

“The NFL Draft in Nashville outperformed even our lofty expectations and set the bar for future NFL events,” Peter O’Reilly, NFL Executive Vice President, Club Business and League Events for the NFL, said after the 2019 NFL Draft. “We are grateful to the Tennessee Titans, the Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp, the City of Nashville, the volunteers and the fans who made this unforgettable event the most-watched and most-attended Draft ever.”

“The economic impact numbers … from the Nashville Draft were another clear indicator of the event’s immense success,” Titans controlling owner Amy Adams Strunk said at the time. “By any measure, it was the NFL’s most successful draft in their history and I am so proud that our organization played a role in that achievement. This year’s Draft will be remembered for years to come and will definitely lead to other events large and small for our city.”

So, what could the city of Nashville do for an encore?

“That question gets asked,” Spyridon said with a laugh. “But that’s what we’ll be thinking: How do we do it not just equally as good, but better? What are the bells and whistles we can put on this to make it different, and better? Because doing it the same doesn’t feel right.

“I think the stage is likely in the same location, but the rest of it. … But it’s no different than New Year’s Eve and July 4th (celebrations). We have a pretty good blueprint, but we try and do something unique and different, so it doesn’t get stale. That is the fun part it. If it was easy, I wouldn’t want to do it again.”

The Coffee County Claybusters traveled to Christiana on Saturday to compete in their first team shoot since March 7^th.   The Claybusters finished the day with a pair of 1^st place plus a 2^nd place team score.  Additionally, 5 Claybusters picked up individual championships while 2 others grabbed runner-up finishes.   

Sixteen shooters represented Coffee County in the event held at Big Springs Clay Target Sports.  Grabbing first place finishes were Claybusters Team #3 shooting in the Junior Division D Class and Team #2 competing in the Sub-Junior Division Class A & B.  Team #1 finished in 2^nd place in the Junior Division Class A & B.  

Claybusters Team #3 shot a score of 374 to outdistance Cedar City by 6 targets.  Team members(with their score in parentheses) were: Xavier Bartley(95), Braden Davenport(88), Emily Deford(85) and Halie Jacobs(58).  Claybusters Team #2 shot a high overall of 457 in the Sub_junior age division beating the Orange Team by 4 targets.  Team members were: Riley Bellamy(95), Garrett Taylor(93), Jonah Wyatt(93), Dylan Hickerson(92) and Jacob Anderson(84).  Team #1 shot an impressive 468 which was 12 missed clays behind Shelbyville.  Team members were: Hayden Jacobs(98), Logan Meadows(98), Tucker Carlton(94), Landon Meadows(93) and Victoria Majors(85). 

Individually, Emma Mathews(99) grabbed the Lady Championship.  Logan Meadows(98) was the high scorer in juniors and Xavier Bartley(95) was the Class C champion.  In doubles, Hayden Jacobs(97) was the junior champion and Garrett Taylor(93) won for the sub-juniors.  Jacobs(98) was runner-up in Juniors finishing behind teammate Logan Meadows in a tiebreaker.  Tucker Carlton was the runner-up among Class B shooters. 

The familiar sounds of a bat hitting a ball, a slide in the dirt and the cheer of excited fans filled Fred Deadman Park on Monday night. After an extended delay due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Manchester Youth Baseball Association opened up their 2020 season with 5 games and hundreds of smiling faces.

In the 8U Division, Interstate Auto rallied for a 23 to 21 win over Lions Club and Dr. J’s bested KK’s 21 to 7. In the opener, Interstate roared out to a 14 to 4 lead before Lions Club erupted for 17 runs in the final 3 innings to take the lead going to the bottom of the 5th. In the 5th, Donovan Bean hit a walk-off inside the park home run to give Interstate the exciting win. Bean and Lawson Maychrzak each had 2 home runs for Interstate. Eli Morgan had a home run for the Lions Club. In the nightcap, Dr. J’s scored at least 4 runs in every inning as they swung the hot bats. Abe was the leading hitter for Dr. J’s with 3 home runs and a single. Lane had a home run and a triple for KK’s.

In the 10U Division, Chico’s Bail Bonds held up Coffee County Bank 13 to 9 and State Farm dumped First National Bank 14 to 3. In the opener, Chico’s got 4 runs in the top of the 1st inning and never trailed. Coffee County Bank did have an 8 run 2nd inning to cut Chico’s lead to 1 before the bail bondsmen pulled away. Chico’s was led by Raden Brewer who had a single and 2 walks. Coffee County Bank got a home run from Tucker Linzey. In the nightcap, State Farm built a 13 to 0 lead as they cruised to an opening night win. Xander Meeks had a home run and Brady Chastain had a triple for State Farm. First National did not have a hit but benefitted from 6 walks in the 3rd inning to score their 3 runs.

In the 12U Division, Powers Storage rolled to a 12 to 1 win over Shelter Insurance. Austin Gipson had a home run while Keaton Rowe had a double and single for Powers. For Shelter, Ian Smith ripped a triple and scored the lone run.

The 6U and 18U divisions will have their first games on Tuesday night as all 5 divisions will play in 9 games, weather permitting. The league will also be in action on Thursday and Friday of this opening week. The season is scheduled to run through Friday, July 17th.

Tuesday’s MYBA Schedule
6U Division – Tee Ball Field
5:00 PM – Cooper Sports vs. Lovelady Auto Parts
7:30 PM – Manchester Tire & Brake vs. Star Physical Therapy

8U Division – Fast Pitch Field
5:00 PM – Interstate Auto vs. Freedom Automotive
7:30 PM – KK’s vs. Lions Club

10U Division – National League Field
5:00 PM – Chico’s Bail Bonds vs. Coffee County Bank
7:30 PM – First National Bank vs. State Farm

12U Division – Aaron Miller Field
5:00 PM – Clower Automotive vs. Peoples Bank

18U Division – Babe Ruth Field(Looney Riddle Field)
6:00 PM – C. Braves vs. M. Braves
8:00 PM – Mets vs. Expos

With tryouts for the Coffee County CHS golf team not scheduled until July 13th and 14th, new golf coach Brad Costello wants to invite all prospective high school golfers to an “Open Range” workout. The open range is pen to any and all prospective high school golfers at the Willowbrook driving range.

Golfers should show up between 3:30 and 4:30 PM to practice on their own. Coach Costello will be on hand to watch swings and get to know the players. The “Open Range” will continue on Tuesdays and Thursdays weather permitting

Coach Costello was a guest on Saturday’s Coffee Coaches Show. The Coffee Coaches Show is broadcast live each Saturday from 10 to 11 AM from the showroom of Al White Ford/Lincoln. The Coffee Coaches Show is heard exclusively on Thunder Radio. You can download the podcast at: http://www.podcastgarden.com/episode/coffee-coaches-show_156688