Thursday night football draws crowds to Downtown Columbia

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

After Thursday night's football game, many Mizzou fans headed downtown to celebrate the win and see the dome light up gold.

Downtown business owners were glad to see the crowd, but they weren't the only ones busy. Columbia and University of Missouri campus police had an increase in calls Thursday night.

ABC 17 crews spoke with Bud's BBQ owner Jason Paetzold before the game; he said he was excited for the start of football season. Afterward, Paetzold said the crowd was what he hoped for.

"Being a Thursday night game, I think everyone kind of headed straight to the stadium," Paetzold said. "But it was really exciting once the game was secured and clear, the fans kind of headed this way and it was a great night after the game."

But large crowds downtown can also bring trouble. Looking at Columbia Police records for disturbances between 11 p.m. when the game let out and 2 p.m. when businesses downtown closed: police responded to six disturbance calls downtown.

Last Thursday between those same hours, Columbia police only responded to two disturbance calls in the same area.

Following the football game, University of Missouri police responded to several incidents involving alcohol and drugs: three incidents involved breaking the liquor laws, two DWIs on campus and one incident involved drug paraphernalia.

Paetzold said they did not have any problems at Bud's BBQ.

"We had a great night," Paetzold said. "We've got good fans, great guests, and uh we didn't have any issues whatsoever."