Click to watch video

No matter how the teams are playing, Houston will always be a big sports town.

The Bayou Classic is normally played in the Superdome.

So, playing host to arguably the biggest rival game in Louisiana is no big deal.

What is big about the Bayou Classic coming to Reliant Stadium is the amount of revenue it could potentially bring. And the city and businesses are playing the economic game.

The gridiron rivalry born in Louisiana is coming to Texas.

The Bayou Classic between Southern and Grambling universities is a 32-year tradition in Louisiana.

But since Hurricane Katrina destroyed so much of the Superdome and the city of New Orleans the game was moved to Reliant Stadium.

"We're just so happy to be able to host the State Farm Bayou Classic," said Mayor Bill White.

And that certainly has a lot of Houstonians smiling.

"We have no complaints," said Sean Riley of the Houston Grand Plaza Hotel.

Rooms at the luxury hotel across the street from the stadium are booked.

"So on as the decision was made to move the game to Houston," said Riley. "Reservations went through the roof as of a month ago.. it's been booked solid." "There's a direct economic impact, we see that north of a $100 million," said Jordy Tollett, president and CEO of the Greater Houston Convention and Visitors Bureau. "And the indirect, which is really, it's hard to measure that, is the fact that it's gonna be shown on national TV."

After serving as host to thousands of Louisiana evacuees, Houston will now get a chance to put on a party for that state's college sports fans.

"We fought a battle to get it here because Baton Rouge and Shreveport both thought they could handle the game," said Tollett.

The Bayou Classic is just the first of at least a dozen other big events Houston will be borrowing from New Orleans over the next year.

"I would love for it to stay here forever, but then we know they're trying to rebuild New Orleans."

While they don't expect to keep the Bayou Classic forever, Houston is happy to host what's considered the "Super Bowl of black colleges" for as long as it's necessary.