AUSTIN, Texas — On Saturday, the Texas Longhorns took on the Alabama Crimson Tide. This game brought thousands from all over Texas and the nation.
"I live off Lake Buchanan," said Steve Stott, a Texas fan. "It takes me about an hour and a half, close to two hours [to get to the DKR Stadium]."
While Stott didn't get the win he hoped for, he and many others considered Saturday's game a win in a way.
"Defense played well," said Darrell Long, another Texas fan. "Two good teams. I think everybody should be proud of the way we played today."
Downtown Austin was packed with people decked out in their Longhorns gear wearing burnt orange. The streets were packed with people, and restaurants and local businesses also got a lot of the action.
"We have people in and out all day long," said Dan Smith, Scholz Garten owner.
Smith said they served thousands of people. They are the largest and longest-standing tailgate spot in all of Texas.
"We're the oldest bar in the state of Texas, and we've been here since 1866," he said. "We've been hosting tailgates here for a long, long time, and people know it."
They're not the only business in town that got an influx of people. Drew Hayes, director of the Austin Sports Commission, said restaurants and hotels all around were expecting thousands.
"We can kind of compare that to 2019 when LSU was in town," said Hayes "When they were in town, we saw the immediate impact, right? So downtown hotel rooms, the average daily rate was about $406 for that game day on Saturday. And then occupancy was right at 98%. So hotels will be sold out."
And it's not only on Saturday that downtown will be busy, but the rest of the weekend. Because, like Missouri resident Eric Sweetin, they'll be enjoying everything Central Texas has to offer.
"I'm here with my wife and all of our friends," he said. "So we made a weekend out of this. This is great. The city has been a great host."
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