Austin is preparing for its biggest weekend ever thanks to the perfect storm of two major sporting events—at least that’s what the billboards around town say.
On Saturday, top-ranked Texas hosts No. 5 Georgia, for the first time since 1958, in the Longhorns’ first home game as a member of the SEC. On Sunday, the U.S. Grand Prix begins a six-race conclusion to Formula One’s most competitive season in recent memory.
Last year, 432,000 fans attended the Circuit of the Americas over the three-day F1 race weekend. And Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium can fit a crowd of 100,000. Those two combined figures alone represent more than half the estimated population of Austin, which is just under a million.
Why Is This a Big Deal?
This isn’t the first time Texas has played a home game during an F1 weekend, but both parties are riding a wave of unprecedented momentum.
Before this season, the Longhorns hadn’t been ranked No. 1 since 2008. And F1 enters its final leg of 2024 with close races in both the drivers’ and constructors’ championships—a welcome sight for the sport after the recent dominating run by Max Verstappen and Red Bull.
Put it all together, and it’s set to be a wild sports weekend.
The average nightly hotel price this weekend is about $500, tourism site Visit Austin told local news station KXAN-TV, with revenue already averaging 13% higher than 2023. Austin’s airport is bracing for a potential record 44,000 departures Monday.
The mixture of football fans and racing spectators could also make for an interesting combination around Austin’s lively nightlife scene.
“I could not think of more opposite clientele,” Toby Atkins, managing director of Austin-based sports travel company Bucket List Events, tells Front Office Sports. “I’m sure the bars downtown are going to be confused as all get out.” Bucket List Events sold out its allotment of 100 tickets to Georgia-Texas six months ago and doesn’t sell F1 packages.
Lights, Camera, Action
For sports fans not in Austin this weekend, Disney has been planning for months to capitalize on the FOMO, as ABC is broadcasting both the football game and the race, which will of course be complemented by shoulder programming on ESPN, like College GameDay on campus and live SportsCenter from the racetrack.
While F1 director of media rights Ian Holmes would love to capture some driver-player interactions at the stadium or track, the logistics remain a work in progress. But whether Pat McAfee tries to get behind the wheel of an F1 car or not, there’s hope Sunday’s race can reverse a downward TV ratings trend for the U.S. Grand Prix over the last two years.
Last season, Verstappen had already clinched the drivers’ championship before the Austin race. This year, he holds just a slight lead over Lando Norris, whose McLaren team has passed Red Bull in the constructors’ fight.
“Let’s be honest. The beginning of the season was a tiny bit of a worry, in that Max was making it look perhaps a little bit easier than we would prefer,” Holmes tells FOS. “Obviously, we’re very neutral, we don’t support anyone. … [But] you want the stakes to be as high as possible as late as possible.”
