Wednesday 18 November at Bridgestone Arena
"The 60th Annual CMA Awards" runs Wednesday 18 November 2026 at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville. ABC and Disney+ carry the broadcast live at 8/7C. The live show starts at 7:00 p.m. CT.
More than 7,000 industry professional members of the Country Music Association decide the nominees and the winners. Lainey Wilson hosts for the third consecutive year and the second as solo host. Brooks & Dunn receive the 2026 Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award.
The corporate package
Elevate Experiences sells the hospitality for the night. The company is the Official Experiential Hospitality Partner of the Country Music Association and it lists four packages for 18 November. One is built for a work group. The Corporate Group Experience covers premium seating, access for 16 to 20 guests, all-inclusive food and beverage, and entry to The Official CMA Awards After Party. Elevate prices it on inquiry.
Two other tiers print a starting price: $17,500 for floor rows 1 and 2, and $6,500 for a lower-bowl skybox in Section 116. The Signature tier reads sold out. Only the group card prints no figure.
One question for the quote
The Corporate Group Experience card lists premium seating, all-inclusive food and beverage, after-party access and pricing on inquiry. Expedited entry appears on the Premier, Red Carpet Skybox VIP and Signature cards. It does not appear on the group card. Put the question in the request in writing: does the 16-to-20 package include expedited Bridgestone Arena entry, and which door does the group use?
Two times decide the evening
Doors open by 5:30 p.m. CT. Attendees must be seated by 6:45 p.m. CT. Anyone not seated by then waits on the concourse until the first commercial break, at approximately 7:15 p.m. CT.
That seating rule settles the dinner plan. A group that reaches the door at 6:50 p.m. eats standing up and files in during the broadcast. Take the pre-show hospitality window instead. It opens before the doors and feeds the group ahead of the 6:45 cutoff.
Attire is black tie or formal. Put that line in the invitation when the invite goes out.
Entry, tickets and bags
Entry runs through the Main Entrance on the corner of Broadway and 5th Avenue. Tickets arrive through Ticketmaster as mobile tickets. Screenshots do not scan. Every guest needs a charged phone with the ticket added to the wallet before arrival. The CMA advises extra time for security screening.
Clear wristlets and clear bags up to 12 by 12 by 6 inches pass at the door. An opaque bag of the same dimensions goes through the X-Ray lanes, one bag per person, and staff inspect every bag. Outside food and beverage stay at the hotel, together with cameras with a detachable lens, recording devices and signs of any kind. Small umbrellas are permitted. Bridgestone Arena is smoke-free, and that includes e-cigarettes and vaping devices.
Beds for 16 to 20 guests
Sixteen to 20 guests fill eight to 10 double rooms at two per room. bookMyTeam's how-it-works page publishes the group threshold: most hotels offer group rates at 10 or more rooms per night, and some discount for as few as five rooms, depending on season and availability. A 20-guest group sits on that line and an eight-room request sits under it. State the room count and the night count in the request and let the hotels answer.
One request reaches 50-plus hotels in the destination. Responses come back in 24 to 72 hours with rates, terms and perks side by side. bookMyTeam takes no markup on the rate. The platform publishes a 15-40% band below rack rates as its benchmark, and its group-rate calculator opens at a 10% assumption it calls conservative.
The 18th is a single Wednesday night. Most requests for this date will be one night only, which works against a discount. An eight-room request for the night of 18 November, with arrival before mid-afternoon and a departure that puts the group in the Main Entrance queue by 5:45 p.m. CT, gives the hotel something specific to price.
What the request should name
Four lines do the work. Eight to 10 double rooms for the night of 18 November 2026. Walking distance from the property to the Main Entrance at Broadway and 5th Avenue. A cancellation term that matches the ticket purchase. A named contact who receives the mobile tickets and holds the rooming list, because a mismatch between the rooming list and the ticket list shows up at the door at 6:40 p.m.
Submit the room request through the bookMyTeam RFP form, and price the room side against the group rate calculator before the hospitality quote lands. The Nashville hotel directory lists address and star rating for each property in the city.
