F1 meets Georgia-Texas: Austin gears up for one of its biggest weekends in sports

Stay up to date with the biggest stories from Formula 1. Sign up here to receive the Prime Tire newsletter in your inbox every Monday and Friday.

AUSTIN, Texas – Just outside Circuit of the Americas stands a large, multi-colored billboard.

On the right, on a black background, is the Formula 1 logo, the dates for Sting and Eminem’s concerts and the logos of the Texas Longhorns and Georgia Bulldogs. On the left is a phrase seen in various parts of Austin this weekend: “The greatest weekend ever.”

The United States Grand Prix has taken place during the college football season since COTA entered the calendar in 2012 (aside from 2022, when COVID-19 affected F1’s schedule). The two sports have competed on the same weekends in Austin before, such as in 2013 when Texas lost to Oklahoma State, in 2015 when it defeated Kansas State and the 2017 overtime loss to Oklahoma State.

But this weekend’s game, where the top-ranked Longhorns host the No. 5 Bulldogs, is one of the biggest college football games of the year, with two Southeastern Conference powerhouses clashing.

ESPN’s College GameDay is also in town, and the media company is planning plenty of crossovers between F1 and college football this weekend, such as with SportsCenter segments live from COTA and The Elle Duncan Show also on site. Legendary football coach Nick Saban Had a hot lap on Fridayand Jess Sims tested the knowledge of several American college football drivers, including Lando Norris.

It’s a weekend unlike anything F1 has ever seen, especially since its enormous popularity.

“It’s really exciting to see those two cultures merge because they’re both just formidable. Iconic American college football and Formula 1 racing,” said Drew Martin, Texas Executive Senior Associate Athletics Director for External Affairs. “These are really unique and distinctive sporting cultures, and to see them come together on a weekend like that, there is nowhere else in the world where that happens.”

College football game days, especially within the SEC, are a different beast.

Sure, you have your typical tailgates and ritual cheers. But Texas is going one step further: the university is reinventing what gameday looks like in Austin. Martin said, “When you come to a University of Texas football game, you get the best of Austin culture, which starts with being the live music capital (of the) world.”

The Longhorns have a pregame concert at Longhorn City Limits, and it leans into the city’s street festival culture, like Bevo Boulevard. And then there’s Smokey’s Midway, a nod to the state fair.

“It’s definitely the best environment for football matches in the country, even though it’s not traditional,” Martin added. “It’s not your huge acreage and the acreage and the acreage of tailgating. It’s basically a giant circus with three rings.”

And when College GameDay comes to town, the chaos gets a little bigger. Texas received the notification more than a week in advance, but this is the fifth time in seven years that the university has hosted the production. It’s a huge logistical feat anyway, Martin says, but given the relationships they’ve built over the years, “it’s more of a known entity of what they need, what they expect, how to activate during the show , how we our fanbase because we don’t start that game until 7:30 PM Eastern Time.

Jess Sims interviews Lando Norris for ESPN. (via ESPN)

It will be a marathon day – College GameDay for three hours in the morning, and then the festivities begin.

“I know the Europeans especially love college football, especially the halftime show. It’s surprising, but we have groups from Europe that come when there is a college football game because it adds something to their weekend, and they especially like the halftime marching band shows,” said COTA President Bobby Epstein. “And it’s something that we may take for granted here, but the pomp and circumstance and all the fun that surrounds the atmosphere of college football is something that is so uniquely American that we know our visitors from abroad so much and go there on the weekend go looking. to simply take the overall experience to the next level.

GO DEEPER

The day F1 melted down: why the ill-fated Dallas Grand Prix left a searing impression

Between the Texas-Georgia game and F1, Epstein expects “at least a quarter of a million people around that evening in downtown Austin” by Saturday. Martin estimates there will be more than 100,000 people on the college campus in downtown Austin that evening.

F1 Qualifiers run from 5:00 PM to 6:00 PM CT, and the college football game starts at 6:30 PM CT, making for a tight rotation for those attending both sporting events. There is no additional pressure in terms of security or traffic management; COTA and Darrell K Royal Memorial Stadium are approximately 17 miles (28 km) apart (if taking toll roads). But Eminem’s concert is also that evening.

Oscar Piastri visited the Longhorns’ stadium this week. (via McLaren)

Saturday’s slate is wrapped, but COTA has created another ticket package for football fans called the “Split the Uprights Package.” Epstein said, “Saturday was sold out, largely because of Eminem,” but there was still availability for Friday and Sunday. It’s a combination ticket for Friday and Sunday for a lower price: $289. According to COTA, this is cheaper than individual tickets for each day.

“I think most hotels have a three- or four-night minimum,” Epstein said. “So if you’re a Georgia fan coming out for it, you say, ‘What else am I going to do the rest of the weekend?’ Well, you can buy Friday and Sunday. Come to the track.”

Martin did say that discussions about the package started in the spring, but that it “came to fruition quite late in the process, as we started to determine what the availability looked like, how we could activate this, and just knowing how people can get the lead came to the game there would be a lot of demand.

He added: “Texas football is sold out on a season-long basis, and because we knew we wouldn’t have individual ticket inventory for this game, the opportunity to enter later in the run-up to the weekend, with an additional opportunity to enjoying both active activations, both sporting events, was very attractive.”

Collaboration is needed to bring such a Saturday to a successful conclusion.

“The initial reaction was just kind of a deep breath of a huge international F1 race and huge, not just a small football match, but huge national implications with this particular SEC match,” Martin said. “I think it was a giant deep breath of, ‘How are we going to handle this?’”

University of Texas Athletics and Circuit of the Americas began discussing how they could work together. Some factors are beyond their control, such as the availability of restaurants and the increase in hotel prices. Martin said: “Some of these are unavoidable when you put two major sporting events on the same weekend.” But the challenges extend beyond the city center. Due to the sheer number of flights entering the metropolitan area, air traffic control is diverting some flight routes.

This is a big weekend for Austin, with fans from all over the world flocking to Texas for two of the biggest events on both sports’ calendars. A title fight is brewing in F1 as the first of the final six races of the year get underway, and a new technical controversy is unfolding at COTA. Meanwhile, the Longhorns look to continue proving their worth during their first year in the SEC and maintain their No. 1 ranking.

“You can be intimidated by it, worry about things that may or may not go wrong, or you can embrace it and say, ‘The whole world is going to watch Austin, Texas on the weekend of October 19.’

“That’s exciting.”

GO DEEPER

Wiser, but still green: Alex Albon looks back on his 100th GP

Top photo: Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images