If you scored tickets to Tennessee's showdown with No. 1 Texas but haven't booked a place to stay, be prepared to pay two to three times the usual rate for one of the few Airbnbs still available near Neyland Stadium.
Lodging options for this weekend are quickly disappearing. As of Sept. 21, eight Knoxville hotels were sold out, leaving roughly 50 downtown hotel rooms and 20 Airbnb listings in and around Knoxville available for fans traveling to the game.
It's routine for both hotel and Airbnb prices to skyrocket on Tennessee football weekends, but the Vols' Sept. 26 matchup is no ordinary game. Tennessee will face No. 1 Texas for the first time since the 1969 Cotton Bowl, driving downtown hotel rates above $1,000 per night.
Meanwhile, some Airbnb's
are tripling in price to accommodate the thousands of fans in town for the sold-out game. Airbnb had only a few listings left near Neyland Stadium, including two downtown condos and a handful of homes in South Knoxville.
Most Airbnb listings require a minimum two-night stay for booking. A one-bedroom condo in downtown Knoxville that typically costs $300 for two nights is listed on Airbnb for $1,400. A two-night stay in a South Knoxville townhouse that typically costs $592 is listed for $2,787.
Knox News found other listings with steep game-week markups, including:
- A South Knoxville home listed for $1,033, up from its typical $687 rate for two nights.
- A two-bedroom rental off Sevier Avenue is listed for $3,897.
- A three-bedroom home with a pool in Powell, about 20 minutes from Neyland Stadium, is listed for $10,200 for a two-night stay.
Don't expect any relief as the season rolls on, as Airbnb prices are even higher in some cases when Tennessee hosts Alabama on Oct. 17. A three-bedroom condo in downtown Knoxville downtown is listed for around $4,000 for two nights that weekend, while a three-bedroom home in South Knoxville is going for roughly $4,600.
Sophia Tiedge is the growth and transformation reporter for Knox News. Email: sophia.tiedge@knoxnews.com
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Knoxville Airbnbs top $10K ahead of Tennessee-Texas, few options remain
