Connect with us

Austin, TX

F1, Georgia-Texas make Austin the sports capital of the world

Published

on

F1, Georgia-Texas make Austin the sports capital of the world


If live sports are your thing, there’s no better place to be this weekend than Austin.

Formula 1 is back in the Texas capital for it’s annual U.S. Grand Prix, with practice beginning Friday and the race getting underway on Sunday (3 p.m. ET, stream live on ABC/ESPN+). On Saturday, Texas hosts Georgia at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium in one of the biggest college football games of the season (7:30 p.m. ET, stream live on ABC/ESPN+).

Austin’s Circuit of the Americas is circled on the calendars of F1 drivers from the moment each season’s schedule is confirmed, and the Longhorns are 6-0 and ranked No. 1 in the country. As a result, there is a definitive buzz on Sixth Street ahead of this weekend’s festivities.

ESPN’s Dave Wilson and Nate Saunders dive into why Bat City is so fired up for the showpiece events of Saturday and Sunday.

An emerging sporting powerhouse

Austin is proud of its roots as the “Live Music Capital of the World,” a $1.8 billion industry in a town that draws massive crowds for events such as SXSW and the Austin City Limits Music Festival, but it’s becoming a sports powerhouse as the city continues to grow.

The first year Austin hosted the F1 race at COTA, attendance was estimated to be about 117,000. Last year’s race attracted more than 432,000 fans. COTA says in its first decade, it accounted for $7 billion in economic impact to Austin and Texas, providing Texans more than 64,000 jobs every year, with the Austin Business Journal equating it to hosting a Super Bowl annually.

But the combination of the race with a massive SEC football game is a new twist.

Advertisement

Texas traditionally has played its biggest game of the season out of town, against Oklahoma in Dallas during the State Fair of Texas. Since 1936, the Longhorns have hosted a matchup of two top-five teams in Austin only twice: No. 1 Texas lost to No. 2 Ohio State in 2006 and the top-ranked Horns beat No. 4 Arkansas in 1970.

The Longhorns’ move to the SEC has significantly raised the stakes for home games, along with the accompanying excitement levels. Texas and Georgia, two of the marquee programs in college football history, are meeting during the regular season for the first time since 1958, and just the fifth time ever. Tickets are in demand, ranging from just under $400 to $7,000 on the secondary market.

As a result, Visit Austin, the city’s tourism arm, estimates hotel rooms for the F1/Texas-Georgia weekend to average about $477 a night. The Austin airport says it was expecting 40,000 departing visitors Monday, and was encouraging travelers to get to the events as much as three hours early.

play

2:34

Stinchcomb voices concerns in No. 5 Georgia vs. No. 1 Texas

Advertisement

SEC Network analyst Matt Stinchcomb joins Out of Pocket to further explain what worries the Bulldogs’ defense could run into facing the Longhorns’ offense.

College GameDay will be in attendance, kicking off a day in Austin where the atmosphere will be at a fever pitch for the night game. Texas has improved its game-day experience over the past few years (Spoon, an Austin band that gained national acclaim, is playing a free show outside the stadium Saturday), with burnt orange smoke rising from the student section at the beginning of the fourth quarter, and burnt orange LED lights bathing the stadium. The scene at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium will be one of the most raucous in its history. — Wilson

The bedrock of F1’s American boom

Even before Netflix’s smash hit “Formula 1: Drive to Survive” helped spark an American boom of interest in Formula 1, the U.S. Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas was one of the staple events on the schedule. A circuit loved by drivers and a venue adored by fans, COTA has continually raised its maximum attendance in recent seasons and has hosted sellout after sellout.

Drivers relish this race like few others. The racing is always good at COTA, a circuit featuring a perfect mix of low- and high-speed corners, ideal for good racing and overtaking opportunities. The pull of Austin’s race is bigger than the outline of the tarmac track, though. The stuffy, European attitudes that underpin so many F1 races are well and truly gone in Austin, where drivers rock cowboy hats and boots, and embrace the energetic vibe of the city.

play

2:33

Advertisement

Which team will maximise their upgrades when F1 returns to Austin?

With F1 returning to Austin this weekend, the ESPN Unlapped crew discuss which team can maximise their car’s performance with new upgrades.

Austin is now one of a healthy three races in the States, but its debut event in 2012 was crucial in ensuring the sport had a presence in the country at all. F1’s relationship with America was dealt a significant blow at the 2005 U.S. Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS), when all but six of the cars pulled out of the race at the end of the formation lap due to a feud over tires. F1 continued to the end of the contract with IMS until the end of 2007, but some doubted whether the sport would ever recover stateside from the debacle.

Recover it did, at Austin’s purpose-built circuit on the outskirts of the city, giving it a foothold back in the country it had desired to break for so long.

The 2021 race, held with Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton’s legendary title fight as the backdrop, felt like the coming-out party for F1 in America under Liberty Media. A raucous crowd greeted every driver, from the most famous to the most inexperienced, like gladiators entering the Coliseum, and were treated to a great race. That event was tangible validation of all the work F1 had put into cracking America.

Advertisement

The work continues, though, as Austin fights off competition from the U.S.’s two other grand-prix host cities. The Miami Grand Prix, held in May, has become increasingly popular since its inception in 2022, while the first Las Vegas Grand Prix last year was an incredible sporting and commercial success. The challenge of constantly raising the bar is one circuit boss Bobby Epstein has relished; this year, those with tickets are able to attend an Eminem concert during the week, while the circuit will also be bussing fans to Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium in case they want to attend both events. — Saunders



Source link

Austin, TX

Austin, TX venue Emo’s on the move again, AEG to take over the building

Published

on

Austin, TX venue Emo’s on the move again, AEG to take over the building


Emo’s in Austin is on the move again. 

After more than a decade at 2015 E. Riverside Drive (following the original Red River-era venue closing in 2011), Emo’s current Riverside space will be taken over by AEG Presents when the lease ends later this year. The Los Angeles, CA-based company will assume operations in January 2027 and plans to reopen the building under a new name in early 2027 following upgrades, renovations and a full rebrand.

AEG are also opening a new 4,000-cap venue nearby next spring as part of the River Park mixed-use development in southeast Austin.

C3 Presents, who reopened Emo’s at the Riverside location, say this isn’t the end of Emo’s — they’re working on a new home and plan to move the venue back to downtown Austin, with more updates to come.

Advertisement

AEG Presents Vice President Robin Phillips shared the following:

There’s like no weirdness or any bad blood or anything. It just, you know, new lease and they’ll [Emo’s] go do something great. They have been important to the Austin music scene, so I have a lot of respect for them.

But I don’t think the Austin music scene or legacy is limited to one name. I know people will remember the original Emo’s and this Emo’s as, you know, both great venues… And I don’t think Austin’s music scene is just a name, it’s the artists, in my opinion.

 

A C3 spokesperson added:

Emo’s has a long history in Austin and we’ve been working behind the scenes for some time on a new home for this venue. After we wrap up at this venue in December, we will focus our efforts on our new location.

 

Advertisement

Emo’s gave the following statement to Austin local news KXAN:

We’re grateful for all of the fans and artists who’ve shaped Emo’s to what it is today: a community of like-minded people who love live music. We have a vision for our future and will be moving into a new building downtown that celebrates our punk rock roots with the new amenities that fans are looking for from a venue. We’ll continue to share updates on the next chapter for Emo’s on social media.





Source link

Continue Reading

Austin, TX

Highly pathogenic virus found in herd of Texas dairy cows

Published

on

Highly pathogenic virus found in herd of Texas dairy cows


State and federal agriculture officials said highly pathogenic avian flu has been found in a herd of dairy cows in Texas.

What we know:

Advertisement

Officials said the H5N1 virus was confirmed with laboratory tests in late May after cows at an unspecified farm became sick and milk production dropped. The dairy has since been quarantined and an investigation is underway.

This is the first case of avian flu in a Texas dairy herd this year, officials said.

What they’re saying:

Advertisement

“The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is confident that pasteurization is effective at inactivating H5N1, and that the commercial, pasteurized milk supply is safe,” officials at the Texas Animal Health Commission said in a statement.

A dairy cow is seen at a farm on June 1, 2026.

A dairy cow is seen at a farm on June 1, 2026. (Tim Evans/Bloomberg / Getty Images)

Advertisement

Dig deeper:

H5N1 has a high rate of severe disease and death in animals that become infected.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the risk to the general public from avian flu is low. Some sporadic human infections have been reported around the world since 1997. There have been no known cases of person-to-person spreading of avian flu.

Advertisement

The Source: Information in this story came from the Texas Animal Health Commission, the USDA, the FDA and the CDC.

TexasHealthPets and AnimalsFood and Drink



Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Austin, TX

New Texas law tightens rules for autonomous vehicle companies, including Waymo

Published

on

New Texas law tightens rules for autonomous vehicle companies, including Waymo


Self-driving cars have become a common sight on Austin streets, but a new Texas law is adding tougher requirements for the companies behind the wheelless vehicles.

Senate Bill 2807 imposes stricter rules on autonomous vehicle companies operating in the state, including state authorization, emergency response plans for law enforcement, and a public portal where residents can verify operators and file safety complaints.

The changes come as Austin continues to track incidents involving autonomous vehicles. The city’s autonomous vehicle dashboard shows 75 incidents in 2026, including a collision, eight near misses, and seven incidents of ignoring police direction.

Attorney Drew Gibbs, a partner at Slingshot Law, said one crash involved a Waymo vehicle.

Advertisement

“There was a T-bone collision. A pretty serious T-bone collision where a Waymo just crashed into the side of my client’s vehicle,” Gibbs said.

ALSO| Waymo files voluntary software recall over flooded-lane risks on high-speed roads

KEYE

Advertisement

One of the incidents of ignoring police direction happened during the mass shooting on West Sixth Street back in March, when three people died, and 15 others were injured.

Austin Police Association President Michael Bullock said autonomous vehicles can struggle in unusual situations.

“It didn’t impede on anything in the moment, but it’s not necessarily uncommon where these vehicles don’t quite know how to deal with these one-off scenarios,” Bullock said.

The new law requires autonomous vehicle companies to be authorized by the state, to provide an emergency response plan for law enforcement, and to participate in a public-facing portal that allows the public to verify operators and submit safety complaints.

Kara Kockelman, a professor of transportation and engineering at the University of Texas at Austin, welcomed the added oversight.

Advertisement

“I’m glad that the state is taking this a bit more seriously now,” she said. “It’s important not to just let others slip in without kind of meeting those basic minimums.”

Bullock said the emergency planning requirement may not make a major difference in fast-moving situations. Asked how impactful it is to have a fully laid out emergency response plan, Bullock said, “These plans are great, but it takes time to work through all of those versus the immediacy of having someone behind the wheel.”

The four autonomous vehicle companies operating in Austin — Waymo, Zoox, AV-Ride, and Tesla — are all state-authorized.

The Texas DMV said an autonomous vehicle company can lose its authorization to operate in Texas if the agency deems the vehicles are operating in a way that endangers public safety.

Waymo was contacted for comment, but had not responded.

Advertisement



Source link

Continue Reading
Advertisement

Trending