Chattanooga Times Free Press

Bristol businesses prepare for football crowds

- BY JAY MILLER KNOXVILLE NEWS SENTINEL

BRISTOL, Tenn. — Businesses in Bristol, Tenn., and Bristol, Va., are bracing for what could be the busiest weekend they have seen in nearly a decade.

A crowd of at least 150,000 is expected to witness the Pilot Flying J Battle at Bristol football game between the University of Tennessee and Virginia Tech on Saturday, while thousands more are expected to attend the Kenny Chesney concert at Bristol Motor Speedway on Friday.

“To be honest with you, I am a little nervous, because that’s a lot of people,” said Joe Deel, owner of Burger Bar in downtown Bristol, Va.

“It will be a different crowd. I feel it’s going to be a lot younger. I have been to many UT football games, so I know it’s going to be wild.”

Deel said he is hiring waiters to manage the anticipate­d influx of people. He is also adding 100 seats to his State Street restaurant that usually accommodat­es 60 people.

According to Lori Worley, director of communicat­ions at the Bristol Chamber of Commerce, the game is going to have a major economic impact on the entire Tri-Cities area.

“Economical­ly it’s going to be huge for this area,” Worley said. “A couple of years ago (Bristol Motor Speedway) did a study and they estimated the game would have a direct impact of $126 million on this area.”

State Street is the official dividing line between Bristol, Tenn., and Bristol, Va. The two cities, which often function as one, have a combined population of nearly 45,000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Across the border in Tennessee, Robin Sykes, a manager at Manna Bagel Co., is busy making similar preparatio­ns.

Sykes said the restaurant will expand operating hours and increase its staff presence for the entire weekend.

“We will be open later,” she said. “And we are the only ones open at 7 a.m., so when people need to refuel the next day, we will be ready.”

Campground­s near the stadium have experience­d a recent surge in reservatio­ns. Deanna Cole, owner of Thunder Mountain Campground, said the campground was fully booked more than one month ago, even after adding 50 new spots.

“Normally the races don’t sell out anymore, but we are sold-out for this,” Cole said. “It’s been three years since we have sold out for the races, and we have people coming as early as Monday.”

Nearby Bristol Campground is experienci­ng a similar increase in reservatio­ns. Owner Bill Gaines said he had to ask his wife to answer the frequent phone calls to the business.

“We are getting more phone calls than we can keep up with right now,” Gaines said. “I had to go in and rest.”

“I asked my wife if she had responded to all the text messages and she said she went cross-eyed,” he added.

Bristol Campground has 2,700 sites on 113 acres, according to Gaines. The most sites he has ever filled was 1,980 campsites for a race at Bristol Motor Speedway. He currently has 1,100 campsite reservatio­ns for Sept. 10, which was more than any year since 2008.

For the game it is a special rate of $40 per night, with a two-night minimum stay.

“We’ve needed this,” said Gaines. “The NASCAR races have really been down. I lost money this spring, the vendors lost money, everyone around me lost money, and I think the speedway probably did too.”

Many business owners and organizati­ons said they were excited to be able to showcase Bristol to people who may have never visited before.

Christina Blevins, executive director of the community drive nonprofit Believe in Bristol, said they are excited, but also do not know what to expect.

“This is the first time something like this has taken place, and we are kind of in uncharted waters, she said. “We’re doing the best we can to be prepared for whatever. We haven’t seen numbers like this in many years.”

Despite the concerns, Blevins said they are excited to showcase their area and is confident that Bristol will be up for the task.

“Any time we can get new people to our beautiful city, we are happy,” she said. “If it takes a football game to make that happen, we will take it.”

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