The Big 12 in the Big City

September 27, 2012 | By Ilfusion Team

In October 2011, Texas Christian University announced they had accepted an invitation to join the Big 12 and earlier this month they proved they were ready for the challenge with the grand opening of the new Amon G. Carter Stadium after its $164 million renovation. So what does that mean for the city of Fort Worth – on and offline?

For starters, it may mean more traffic on game days, which can be annoying if you’re choose to opt out of the game, but those waves of people also mean that the Fort Worth economy is getting a boost. The city has always had public transportation in the way of the TRE and busses, but now they’re going to get a little face lift for game day. According to Fort Worth’s City News, the T’s No. 7 route will run every 15 minutes from the Intermodal Transit Center to TCU starting 3 hours before home games and for an hour after. An additional stop at the T&P Park and Ride also will be available on game days, opening up 350 more parking places. The Trinity Railway Express also will be adding late trains, so make a short drive to any TRE park and ride and connect to the No. 7 bus route at the Intermodal Transit Center.

We’ve also already noticed a “spruce up” of Fort Worth – new bridges, stores opening, new services, etc. – that brings an added appeal to our city. It already has a large tourist base, 5.5 million visitors each year making it the number one tourist destination in Texas, that brings people to the Stockyards, Sundance Square, West 7th Cultural District, and now Texas Christian University.

Along with every major renovation, in the city of Fort Worth or elsewhere, a major budget increase calls for an increase in online budgets as well. Check out the website that went along with the new stadium and how their online marketing efforts kept the entire city updated and hooked. And what about social media? TCU did a great job incorporating the Big 12 Conference in their Facebook posts and photos. In this day of age, every major event is (or should be) accompanied by a strong social media strategy to reach the target audience on a more personalized and global level.

We’re excited to see how TCU in the Big 12 will put Fort Worth on the map and how it affects the places we go and the things we do. For more information about what to do in Fort Worth, check out www.FortWorth.com, www.SundanceSquare.com and www.Social7th.com.

Let’s go Frogs!