FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — As the Arkansas Razorbacks prepare to take on the Texas Longhorns on Oct. 16, the rivalry ran deep at the Stadium Shoppe on Razorback Road in Fayetteville
With Hog Fans and a mix of Texas fans stopping by, the horns hung down with hate as the owner showed love for his Razorback red. Shirts, Buttons, and apparel with upside-down Longhorn logos were on display at the family-owned Razorback apparel store.
"I grew up in central Arkansas. I moved up here in 92 to go to college, and I hate Texas. Always have hated Texas. Always will hate Texas. Texas is our biggest enemy on the planet," Owner Robert Mann said.
Mann remembers a better part of the Arkansas-Texas Rivalry, with the Hogs winning 5 of the last 7 games.
"My first Arkansas-Texas Game was the last one we played them in Little Rock while we were in the Southwest Conference. And I used to work for the athletic department, so all those games against Texas between then, I pretty much was there in the middle of it," Mann said.
For some of his out-of-state shoppers, they remember Texas winning most of their 79 meetings.
"We definitely had a big rivalry when Darell Royal and Frank Broyles were here and all of that, even up through Fred Akers," Susan Dixon said. "It's been a long, wonderful rivalry, and I'm glad it's coming back. It's a lot of fun."
Dixon has season tickets to multiple sports at the University of Texas at Austin. She stated that her uncle, Tommy Lucas, was a two-way player for the Longhorns and her uncle Slater Martin led a career from Texas to the NBA Hall of Fame. Despite her roots in Texas, she says there's no bad blood between fans.
"I have not experienced the stories that I had heard from the past of the hate and the terrorized fans and things like that. Everybody's been very nice to me, and maybe that's because my husband's dressed in Razorback gear, you know, and we have a mixed family," Dixon said.
Dixon herself is a Longhorn fan while her husband is a Razorback fan. Their two sons followed suit, with one attending the University of Arkansas and the other attending the University of Texas at Austin.
Now that the Longhorns and Razorbacks are in the same conference, a rivalry is rekindling. Mann said it's been good for business.
"The last time Texas was up here, we won, and that was probably the largest sales day in our history. And it definitely was the largest month of sales we've had since we've been open," Mann said.
“Home football games are strong drivers of tourism activity in Fayetteville,” said Molly Rawn, CEO of Experience Fayetteville. “Coinciding with the fourth quarter, football season is generally one of the busiest times of year for tourism activity. Particularly with the excitement of the Texas rivalry, hotels are at full occupancy, and we find that visitors arrive early and stay until the next day, providing brisk business for our restaurants and shops.”