Texas Stadium Information
After this 2008 football season, the Dallas Cowboys have made plans to move into a brand new $650 million stadium in Arlington, TX. The Cowboys will truly miss this great stadium in which they've won five Super Bowls in 37 years.
Texas Stadium is the home of America’s team, the Dallas Cowboys. Located in Irving, a suburb of Dallas, Texas Stadium opened its door on October 24, 1971 – at the price of a cool $35 million. Built to replace the Cotton Bowl, Texas Stadium can hold a capacity of 65,675 people. The playing surface was installed in 1971, and originally called “Texas Turf” – which was later replaced by a softer form of AstroTurf called “RealGrass.” The design was modeled after open roof European football (soccer) stadiums, in which fans are enclosed, but the playing field isn’t. It confused fans and players at the start, and Texas Stadium was initially dubbed “The Hole” – which led to linebacker DD Lewis’ famous quote – “ [The Hole] is there so that God can watch his favourite team.”
Texas Stadium is also a neutral host to university (college?) football games, and was formerly home to the SMU Mustangs, who now have their own on-campus field. It is also a venue for important high school football games in the autumn and winter seasons. Texas Stadium also hosted the 2001 Big 12 conference championship and the 1973 Pro Bowl. It has also home to wrestling events, religious gatherings – in fact, televangelist Billy Graham was the first ever event to be held at Texas stadium – and major concert events. And speaking of major, the two “bridges” connected to the support arms were placed so that country superstar Garth Brooks could fly above the crowd, and they have yet to be removed.
Sadly, The Cowboys will leave Texas Stadium when the 2008 NFL season is over, for a new, yet unnamed stadium in Arlington, TX. The new stadium is set to open at the start of the 2009 NFL season. It will be partially funded by Arlington taxpayers, who voted to approve a half cent VAT (sales tax?) as a way to fund $325 million of the $650 million priced stadium. Cowboys’ owner Jerry Jones has gone as far as to spend $5 million to back the ballot measure, and agreed to cover any cost overruns – which, as of now, is close to 1 billion dollars. As a tribute to the Cowboys’ former home, the new stadium will also have a retractable roof system to resemble the “hole” of the original.
The fate of Texas Stadium remains uncertain once the Cowboys move away. The famed roof was repainted for the first time in ’06, funded by the city of Irving, and will continue to remain independent from the stadium it covers. The history, The Corral, the Super Bowl win commemorative flags, and fans’ memories will remain for a long time to come as well.
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