The first college football game between Oklahoma and Brigham Young at the new Cowboys Stadium meant big money for some businesses in Arlington Saturday, but not so much for others.
Hundreds of OU and BYU fans flocked to Arlington for Saturday's match up-- many of them ready to spend.
"Motel, $320, drive down, $100 in gas," said OU fan Roger Hatfield. "We're always going to eat and we're always going to have a few brewskies."
But while big chain restaurants near Cowboys stadium stayed packed and well paid, smaller mom and pop restaurants like New Yorker Pizza and Pasta struggled.
"Before the Cowboys got open we thought that's good. It's going to be okay. There's going to be a lot of people around and business was going to be a lot better, but no," said Burim Ademaj, owner of New Yorker Pizza and Pasta.
The restaurant opened 7 years ago and through the years built a steady and loyal clientele, but on game days most of the seats in New Yorker Pizza and Pasta remain empty.
The exodus of customers was too much to bear for some businesses near the stadium. Ademaj has seen the effects first hand.
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"We've got a couple of small businesses, family owned restaurants around, they moved from here. And next door they were talking they're going to move out."
Ademaj said New Yorker Pizza and Pasta will stay put and weather what they hope is a temporary storm.
