The center of the sports world this weekend will be Austin, Texas, with a series of events so packed that it spills over to the rest of the month.
The destination will host the San Antonio Spurs against the Houston Rockets on Friday night in the return of Rockets star Kevin Durant to the city where he played in college. On Saturday, No. 17-ranked Texas looks to snap a two-game losing streak when it plays No. 7 Ole Miss in a key Southeastern Conference game. And then Sunday afternoon is the capper of the weekend, the Formula 1 United States Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas.
“It definitely is going to set records,” Austin Sports Commission Nathan Kopp told me. “I’ve heard through the grapevine that the last time there was an F1 and UT home game on the same weekend, the closest hotel room was in Waco. You add three other events on top of that. F1 is growing this year, too. F1 added a fourth day of racing. They’re going to do the Academy, which is the women’s series on Thursday as well. And then they announced two pretty big headliner concerts as well. There’s going to be Post Malone on Friday night and then Maroon 5 on Saturday. I’ve never seen a layering of events of this magnitude in my career.”
“It’s not cheap to stay in Austin that weekend,” added Josh Delgado, Director of Sales & Marketing at AT&T Hotel and Conference Center in Austin. “They’re calling it the biggest weekend in Austin. I think there’s a billboard that says that.”
