Tennessee-Texas Weekend Brings Steep Hotel Prices Across Knoxville

Rooms near Neyland Stadium are scarce and expensive for the Sept. 26 matchup, with some downtown stays topping $2,000 per night.

Tennessee hosts Texas at Neyland Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 26, in the programs' first meeting since Jan. 1, 1969, and their first as SEC opponents. Demand for lodging in Knoxville has been intense since the summer, and inventory close to campus is nearly gone.

Several downtown properties are fully booked. The Graduate Hotel by Hilton, which sits next to the University of Tennessee campus and houses Saloon 16, a bar and restaurant co-owned by Peyton Manning, sold out months ago. The Hilton on Church Avenue and The Tennessean on Cumberland Avenue have also been unavailable for some time. The Marriott previously showed no availability but has reopened bookings, averaging more than $2,500 per night.

Options that remain come at a premium. A single night at the Cumberland House in Fort Sanders runs roughly $2,300, and a full weekend there would exceed $6,000 once taxes and fees are included. As of the morning of Sept. 22, the Crowne Plaza had just one room left for the weekend, priced around $2,400 in total.

Hotels farther from downtown are also elevated well beyond normal rates. The Hilton Garden Inn off Papermill Drive was listed near $600, compared with about $150 during a typical non-game weekend, while the Courtyard by Marriott in West Knoxville had rooms for about $670. The Hampton Inn is sold out. Short-term rental listings in the area have also surged, with some reaching $10,000.

Interest in the game has been amplified by several factors: Texas quarterback Arch Manning, Peyton Manning's nephew, is set to play in Knoxville; ESPN's College GameDay will broadcast from the city; and fans are being encouraged to take part in a Checker Neyland theme by wearing orange or white depending on their seat location.