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Knoxville Hosts the Super Bowl of Bass Fishing for a Record-Setting Third Time
The Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic presented by Under Armour returns to Knoxville, Tennessee, March 13 through 15, 2026, with 58 elite anglers competing on Fort Loudoun and Tellico Lakes for a $300,000 first prize and $850,000-plus total purse, daily takeoffs at Volunteer Landing, weigh-ins at Thompson-Boling Arena, and a 250,000-square-foot Outdoors Expo at the Knoxville Convention Center.
Event details
The Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic presented by Under Armour returns to Knoxville, Tennessee, for its third visit to the city, running March 13 through 15, 2026. The event, broadly considered the Super Bowl of bass fishing, stages 58 of the world’s best professional anglers on Fort Loudoun and Tellico Lake, two connected Tennessee River reservoirs covering approximately 30,000 acres west of Knoxville that produce all three black bass species in competitive quantities. Daily takeoffs occur at Volunteer Landing on the Tennessee River waterfront, where more than 15,000 fans gathered in 2023 to watch the field launch. Daily weigh-ins are held at the University of Tennessee’s Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center in downtown Knoxville, where the drama of each afternoon’s catch total plays out before a crowd that fills the arena to its considerable capacity.
The Prize Structure and the Field
The first-place prize is $300,000, and the total payout across all finishing positions exceeds $850,000, making the Classic the highest single-event prize structure in professional bass fishing. The 58-angler field earns qualification through the Bassmaster Elite Series, St. Croix Bassmaster Opens presented by SEVIIN, Mercury B.A.S.S. Nation Championship presented by Lowrance, the Bassmaster College Classic Bracket presented by Lew’s, and the Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Team Championship. The competition water extends beyond the lakes themselves: anglers have access to the Holston River upstream to the Interstate 40 bridge and the French Broad River to the Highway 168 bridge, providing a fishery range that rewards strategic intelligence as much as local tactical knowledge.
If You’re Going With Kids: The Bassmaster Classic Outdoors Expo, presented by GSM Outdoors, runs concurrently at the Knoxville Convention Center and World’s Fair Exhibition Hall across 250,000 square feet of event space with more than 200 exhibitors. Admission to the Expo is separate from the arena weigh-in, and it functions as an independent family destination: fishing gear brands, outdoor product launches, and interactive casting activities occupy a floor plan large enough to warrant the full morning before the afternoon weigh-in draws the crowd to Thompson-Boling Arena. All event venues are within walking distance of each other in downtown Knoxville, which is the competitive advantage Knoxville offers over most Classic host cities.
Knoxville and the Tennessee River
Knoxville’s history with the Classic has generated real economic results: the 2023 edition set an attendance record of 163,914 fans and produced $35.5 million in economic impact for the city and Knox County, filling 31,525 hotel room nights and supporting nearly 13,000 jobs during the event window. The Tennessee River waterfront at Volunteer Landing provides a public gathering space with genuine character that most tournament venues cannot match. The Old City and Market Square neighborhoods in downtown Knoxville, walkable from all Classic venues, provide the restaurant density and independent retail character that reward an evening extension beyond the day’s competition. Lake.com lists vacation rental options across the Knoxville and East Tennessee corridor for families and fans planning the full Classic weekend stay.
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