Starkville businesses ready for large crowds ahead of gameday weekend
It's a big weekend for football in the Magnolia State
STARKVILLE, Miss. (WCBI)- It’s a big weekend for football in the Magnolia State. Number 11 Ole Miss hosts number 10 Alabama while Mississippi State hosts number 1 Georgia.
Both games are sold out and expected to bring a lot of traction to both Oxford and Starkville.
Davis Wade stadium is sold out meaning thousands of fans will turn into thousands of customers. High-profile games on the schedule can book hotels in advance like the La Quinta Inn, throwing curveballs at the hospitality staff.
“Sports are going to be sports so you know whenever people want to check in is going to depend on what time the game is If it’s an early game people are going to want to check in before they leave, if it’s a late game people usually kind of try to struggle in afterward so it just depends, we have to monitor when is half time, will it go into overtime we have to be ready for all of that,” said the front desk manager at the La Quinta Mary Nicholson.
Nicholson said their guests have it all: a comfy place to lay their heads, an easy commute to the campus, and a restaurant outside their front doors.
At Walk-Ons, general manager Terry Long knows he has to get extra hands on board for Saturday’s game.
“We have to put all of our aces in places, we bring in everybody we can that can fit the role and we try to stagger people so we don’t overwork our people as well. They don’t have a walk-on in Athens they don’t have them there yet so we can give them that Louisiana flavor over here in Starkville Mississippi so we’re excited about that,” said Long.
Both Long and Nicholson say that the weekend will bring lots of fans and that means lots of money, but there’s more going on in the heart and soul of Starkville.
“We actually have, Friday night before the game we have an unwind shopping event so it’s shopping and wine tasting in downtown Starkville,” said the director of tourism at the Greater Starkville Development Partnership, Paige Hunt.
Hunt said the weekend will be full of festivities and she can’t wait for the biggest game of the year.
“There’s just lots of great activity going on around town this weekend. I’m always excited to show off Starkville to visitors and football weekends are perfect opportunities because we have thousands of people coming to our community and I’m excited to see the bulldogs play in a night game in Davis Wade, said Hunt”
The Mississippi State game will kick off Saturday at 6 p.m.
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