Of the 160,000 fans who attended the Sharpie 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway Saturday, none was quite as interested in the festivities as Mike Hamilton.

"We talked," said the University of Tennessee athletic director, referring to Bruton Smith, the chairman and CEO of Speedway Motorsports, Inc. "Now, give us a formal contract and let's talk about it formally."

Hamilton and Smith discussed the same thing that has had sports fans from Knoxville to Blacksburg, Va. talking since last week, a potential UT-Virginia Tech match-up in Bristol Motor Speedway. The track, which is owned by Speedway Motorsports, hosted the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series Saturday evening.

Hamilton took in his first race at Bristol as a guest of Smith, who promised $20 million dollars to each school to play the game at BMS.

Hamilton said he contacted the SEC office last week about any leeway that might exist in the conference's television contract with CBS, the network which holds the rights to SEC games.

Smith had hoped to generate some of the revenue to cover the cost of the game through shopping the television rights. That doesn't look possible.

"The schools don't retain the rights to television," Hamilton said. "The conference has those rights and those contracts are already out there. I see that as a major hurdle that somehow would have to be worked through.

"That's really the next step. I don't know that it can be (worked out) because those rights are already there. CBS is already paying for those games. He (Smith) would have to make a decision if he still wants to do it or not."

Hamilton said he couldn't put an exact figure on what a one-game BMS telecast would be worth. The loss of revenue for Smith would be a setback, but it's not likely a deal breaker because it would only be a small fraction of the promised $40 million.

Many had questioned Smith's ability to cover the huge overhead to secure the two teams. However, Hamilton didn't seem too concerned about Smith's financial plan.

"He's a billionaire," Hamilton said. "If he decides to do it, I think he's got a financial plan. It doesn't make a whole lot of sense just in terms of how you could work it through ticket sales.

"If it's something he wants to do, I'm sure he can find a way. It puts a lot of pressure on his staff."

Hamilton said, after visiting BMS this weekend, he is still intrigued about the possibility of playing the game and the promotion that could result.

"I like doing things that are kind of out of the box," he said. "The thought of playing that game in that type of venue is appealing. It's a great event. The way (BMS President and General Manager) Jeff (Byrd) and all those guys put the race on with the pre-race theatrics. It was fun.

"I went first and foremost to see the race. They can put on an event (football game) if they decide to do it. I don't have any doubt about that."

Hamilton said 2008 or 2009 would be the earliest that UT could possibly clear a date to play the game, although 2010 or 2011 would be the easiest fit. CBS's deal with the SEC runs through 2008.

Hamilton said there wasn't a lot of negotiating done this weekend but he welcomes such talks in the future.

"Bruton's not a guy that really talks a lot when you actually get in front of him," Hamilton said. "I tried to engage him on two or three different occasions and he just really didn't have anything to say. Let's see what the formal proposal is. We don't have that."

Such a game would be the highest attended football game in history. It wouldn't be the first time that Hamilton has set a world record with a sporting event.

Hamilton said he was a part of a 4,000-student organization that released 375,000 balloons during a pre-game ceremony at Clemson, a world record. Disney later broke the record at the grand opening of their Tokyo theme park the following year.

"I've been in the Guinness Book of World Records once," Hamilton said. "I wouldn't mind being in it twice."