COLLEGE STATION, Texas (KBTX) – The City of College Station is rolling out the welcome mat for the Texas State 7-on-7 tournament.
The tournament is welcoming more than 5,000 visitors to College Station this weekend and bringing an estimated $1 million into the local economy.
The tournament is being held at Veterans Park, which has hosted the event for more than a decade. It draws high school football teams from across the state for three days of competition.
Economic impact
The City of College Station is welcoming 128 teams for the tournament. Tourism Supervisor, Samantha Holland, said the influx of visitors is a direct benefit to local businesses.
“Because everyone that comes into our town to support these tournaments are spending their money in our hotels, our restaurants, our stores filling up all these, all of our local businesses,” Holland remarked.
The Hilton Garden Inn is fully booked for the tournament weekend.(KBTX)
Summer is typically a slower period for local hotels. The Hilton Garden Inn is fully booked this weekend, with two tournament teams among its guests.
Hilton Garden Inn’s Director of Sales Lane Walker said the tournament provides a timely boost.
“Summers, things do kind of slow down a bit with students being gone, other organizations kind of taking summer break,” Walker explained. “The 7-on-7 is usually something we can lean into right here at the end of June to kind of give us a little lift going into the rest of the summer.”
Walker said events like the tournament give visitors a broader look at the community.
“It’s great having people experience what Bryan College Station is. It’s more intimate, and it’s nice, and you have these places where you can just see the community for what it is,” Walker said.
Traffic and park closures
Due to the tournament, Holland said extra law enforcement presence is crucial in helping traffic flow smoothly and keep people safe.
“We do have security here, which is a lot of law enforcement from different agencies that are contracted to help support the tournament and to help with that traffic flow,” Holland said.
The City of College Station closed Veterans Park at 7 p.m. Friday to preserve the tournament setup for Saturday. The park reopens at 5 a.m. Saturday. The closure also prevented a truck meetup that had been planned at the park on Friday night.
Drivers near University Drive and Harvey Road should expect delays and allow extra travel time through the weekend.
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