Lubbock pigskin profits: football home games fuel economy

LUBBOCK – The Lubbock economy is impacted by Texas Tech football, especially during home games.

On average, Lubbock visitors spend $312.90 per person, per room night.

Of that, approximately 26.3 percent is spent on restaurants, 33.1 percent on lodging, 18.9 percent on retail, 13.9 percent on gas/parking/local transportation and 5.8 percent on entertainment.

Jones AT&T Stadium has approximately 60,454 seats, but Lubbock currently only has approximately 5,300 marketable rooms available on any given night, said James Arnold, executive vice president of Lubbock National Bank.

On football weekends the average rate for hotel rooms is a range of $199 to $299 per night and has a two-night minimum.

If the average room can contain about three people and every occupant is going to the game, 13,250 of the 60,000 people would have spent the night in a hotel, said Arnold.

Aside from the 13,250 people that stay in hotel rooms, 46,750 people will spend the night with friends and/or family, saving money that would have been spent on a hotel room, and some portion will drive in for the day to attend the game and do other activities but then drive home that evening.