DKW 86 7,437 Posted July 27, 2006 Share Posted July 27, 2006 http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dw...wl.1e7e704.html Cotton picking Arlington in future?11:24 AM CDT on Wednesday, July 26, 2006 By BRIAN DAVIS / The Dallas Morning News KANSAS CITY, Mo. – AT&T Cotton Bowl officials have taken the first step toward potentially moving their annual game from Dallas to the new Cowboys stadium in Arlington. The Cotton Bowl has hired Colvin Sports Network, a sports consulting group, to survey corporate sponsors and other college football officials to determine their feelings about several issues. Chief among them: whether the game should stay in the 76-year-old facility at Fair Park. Cotton Bowl president Rick Baker said the consulting firm hopes to interview about 100 people. The information will be compiled and presented to the game's board of directors, who will then vote on a future location. "It's going to be one of the hardest decisions that our association will ever make," Baker said while attending Big 12 media days. "The city of Dallas has been a great partner of ours for 70 years, and we're going to obviously do our due diligence and take our time doing it." The new Cowboys stadium is scheduled to open before the 2009 season, so the first Cotton Bowl game probably couldn't be played in Arlington until Jan. 1, 2010. The Cotton Bowl has been played in Dallas every year since 1937. State Fair officials have already begun $20 million worth of improvements to the facility. A bond package could provide another $30 million for improvements, if voters approve the measure in November. "We're really making this a first-rate facility," Dallas City Manager Mary Suhm said. "I hope that the Cotton Bowl folks will remember the long history and glorious tradition of this stadium." Dallas city officials have estimated that the Cotton Bowl game pumps $25 million to $30 million into the local economy. The city wants to keep the game at Fair Park for obvious reasons. Baker said there was no timetable on a decision by the board. In fact, no timetable was given on when the survey would be completed. "We should certainly open up a conversation with them and see what we can do to keep the Cotton Bowl game in the Cotton Bowl stadium," said Dallas City Council member Linda Koop, who sits on the council's economic development and housing committee. It's long been rumored the Cotton Bowl would leave Dallas for Arlington. Baker has refused to talk about the potential move publicly, but he was at ease with the topic Tuesday in a banquet room inside the Marriott Country Club Plaza. He said Cotton Bowl officials will soon meet with members of the Cowboys organization, probably after the team returns from training camp in Oxnard, Calif., to learn more about stadium capacity and other specifics. Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones also sits on the Cotton Bowl board. Jones declined to comment Tuesday. "We would not be doing our job if we did not at least study what our options were as a new option was coming on the horizon," Baker said. "Obviously, the new Cowboys stadium is a new option." The Cotton Bowl could be in the position of leaving the aging stadium, its host city and rich history behind before the end of the current Texas-Oklahoma contract. Texas-OU officials recently signed an extension stay at the Cotton Bowl through the game in October 2010. But if the Cotton Bowl game left Dallas, it could put the long-term future of Texas-OU in jeopardy as well. "When we have enough information and we're ready ... the board will vote, and that's where it will be," Baker said. "I don't think in any way shape or form, the Texas-Oklahoma situation enters into that. When we're ready to move forward, we'll move forward." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TxWarEagle 3 Posted July 27, 2006 Share Posted July 27, 2006 Hopefully we will be too good to be seeded in the Cotton Bowl in the future. I would be torn about watching AU playing a a field with Cowboy's Star logos everywhere. Honestly, I hope OU-UT either goes home and home, or stays at the cotton bowl. It is a unique setting at the State Fair that week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Proud Tiger 4,261 Posted July 27, 2006 Share Posted July 27, 2006 Being able to play in a domed stadium in January is a big plus. This could helpreturn the Cotton Bowl to it's past glory. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freebody 0 Posted July 28, 2006 Share Posted July 28, 2006 Being able to play in a domed stadium in January is a big plus. This could helpreturn the Cotton Bowl to it's past glory. 252645[/snapback] It is a retractable roof. The Cotton Bowl folks are probably really eyeing some of the NFL-calibre revenue-generation features of the new stadium, such as the suites and other premium seating that they just can't get at the "Cotton Bowl". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
damabama 15 Posted July 28, 2006 Share Posted July 28, 2006 Being able to play in a domed stadium in January is a big plus. This could helpreturn the Cotton Bowl to it's past glory.It is a retractable roof. dont mean to nit pick, but it's neither. its a partial dome. the seats are covered but not the field. rumor has it that the field was left open so God could watch the cowboys play. but they are wrong. God, i'm sure, hates he cowboys too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freebody 0 Posted July 28, 2006 Share Posted July 28, 2006 Being able to play in a domed stadium in January is a big plus. This could helpreturn the Cotton Bowl to it's past glory.It is a retractable roof. dont mean to nit pick, but it's neither. its a partial dome. the seats are covered but not the field. rumor has it that the field was left open so God could watch the cowboys play. but they are wrong. God, i'm sure, hates he cowboys too. 252860[/snapback] Texas Stadium (in Irving) has a fixed-roof with an opening over the field, but I can assure you that the new stadium (over in Arlington) will have a retractable roof that will bipart at the 50-yard-line and open towards the endzones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
damabama 15 Posted July 28, 2006 Share Posted July 28, 2006 didnt realize they're building a new one. so when i get one, i'll give a damn about the dallas cowboys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freebody 0 Posted July 28, 2006 Share Posted July 28, 2006 The reason I know about the new stadium is not because I am a Cowboys fan (which I certainly am not) . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DallasWarEagle 0 Posted July 31, 2006 Share Posted July 31, 2006 Well, I'm a HUGE Cowboys fan, and, while I can't wait for the new stadium, I'd like to see the Texas-OU game and Cotton Bowl remain in Fair Park. The atmosphere for the Texas-OU game is simply unbelievable, and with the largest state fair as a backdrop, it just adds to the environment. The city of Dallas is adding seats to the Cotton Bowl and doing some much needed renovations. I seriously doubt that it's going to be enough to keep either game at Fair Park past 2010. Times have just changed too much in college football, and, sadly, money talks more than tradition in some circles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CCTAU 3,336 Posted July 31, 2006 Share Posted July 31, 2006 Being able to play in a domed stadium in January is a big plus. This could helpreturn the Cotton Bowl to it's past glory.It is a retractable roof. dont mean to nit pick, but it's neither. its a partial dome. the seats are covered but not the field. rumor has it that the field was left open so God could watch the cowboys play. but they are wrong. God, i'm sure, hates he cowboys too. 252860[/snapback] God only cries for the living, the Cowboys have been dead for years...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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