Cotton Bowl (stadium)

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Cotton Bowl
Location	1300 Robert B. Cullum Boulevard Fair Park Dallas, Texas, USA
Global Coordinates	32°46′46.56″N, 96°45′34.56″WCoordinates: 32°46′46.56″N, 96°45′34.56″W
Broke ground	1932
Opened	1932
Owner	City of Dallas
Operator	City of Dallas
Surface	Grass
Tenants
Cotton Bowl (NCAA) (1937-Present) Dallas Cowboys (NFL) (1960-1970) Dallas Texans (AFL) (1960-1962) FC Dallas (MLS) (1996-2005) SMU Mustangs (NCAA) (19??-2000)
Seats
68,252

For the Cotton Bowl game, see Cotton Bowl (game).

The Cotton Bowl is a stadium which opened in 1932. It is located in Fair Park, site of the State Fair in Dallas, Texas, USA. It has a natural grass surface and a capacity of 68,252. The name is a pun on "cotton boll". The Cotton Bowl is the home of the annual Cotton Bowl Classic college football bowl game, for which the stadium is named.

The stadium has been home to many football teams over the years, including: SMU Mustangs (NCAA), Dallas Cowboys (NFL; 1960-1970), Dallas Texans (NFL) (1952), Kansas City Chiefs (as the Dallas Texans) (AFL; 1960-1962), the Dallas Tornado (NASL; 1967-1968), and FC Dallas (the Dallas Burn before 2005) (Major League Soccer; 1996-2002, 2004-2005). It was also the site of some games in the 1994 FIFA World Cup.

The annual Oklahoma-Texas college football game, called "The AT&T Red River Rivalry", is played at the Cotton Bowl during the State Fair of Texas, instead of a campus site. Ticket sales are equally divided between the two schools. However, the schools had announced plans to discontinue playing the game at the Cotton Bowl after 2007, citing major problems with the aging facility, and to instead move the game to a traditional home-and-away series. The two schools have not expressed interest in moving the game to either Texas Stadium or the Dallas Cowboys' new stadium once it opens, citing the State Fair as the chief reason for holding the game in Dallas.

However, amidst the ideas about moving from the Cotton Bowl, both schools have recently approved a deal with the Cotton Bowl to continue playing "The Red River Rivalry" at the Cotton Bowl until 2010. As a result of this extension, the city of Dallas will allocate $30 million towards an estimated $50 million (at least part of the final total could possibly come from a sale of the naming rights for the stadium) renovation from an upcoming city bond proposal for several modifications and updates to the stadium. These proposed renovations include expanding the seating capacity of the stadium from 76,000 to 92,107, new media and VIP facilities, a new scoreboard, updated restrooms and concession areas, lighting, utility and sound upgrades and the replacement of the stadium's seats. ^[1]

On the rare occasion, the stadium has also been the venue where a number of historic music concerts have taken place, most notably that which featured then 21-year-old Elvis Presley, which took place on October 11, 1956 and attracting, as it did, what was then the largest audience in Texas history for an outdoor concert, in excess of 27,000 teenagers.

[edit] References

1. ^ Leventhal, Dave (2006-05-12). "Cotton Bowl set for spot on ballot". Dallas Morning News.

[edit] External links

• Cotton Bowl - City of Dallas
• Cotton Bowl stadium guide

Current NCAA Division I-A college football Bowl Game stadiums

Alamodome (Alamo) • Aloha Stadium (Hawaiʻi, Hula) • Alltel Stadium (Gator) • Amon G. Carter Stadium (Armed Forces) • AT&T Park (Emerald) • Bank of America Stadium (Meineke) • Bronco Stadium (MPC Computers) • Cotton Bowl (Cotton) • Dolphin Stadium (Orange) • Florida Citrus Bowl (Champs Sports, Capital One) • Ford Field (Motor City) • Galena Park ISD Stadium (North-South Classic) • Georgia Dome (Chick-fil-A) • Independence Stadium (Independence) • LP Field (Music City) • Ladd Peebles Stadium (GMAC, Senior) • Legion Field (Papajohns.com) • Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium (Liberty) • Louisiana Superdome (New Orleans, Sugar) • Qualcomm Stadium (Poinsettia, Holiday) • Raymond James Stadium (Outback) • Reliant Stadium (Texas, East-West Shrine) • Rogers Centre (International) • Rose Bowl (Rose) • Sam Boyd Stadium (Las Vegas, All-American) • Sun Bowl Stadium (Sun, Texas v. Nation) • Sun Devil Stadium (Insight) • University Stadium (New Mexico) • University of Phoenix Stadium (Fiesta, BCS Nat'l Champ.)

Preceded by first stadium

Home of the Dallas Cowboys 1960–October 11, 1971

Succeeded by Texas Stadium October 24, 1971–2008

Preceded by first stadium

Home of the Dallas Texans 1960–1962

Succeeded by Municipal Stadium 1963–1971

Preceded by first stadium

Home of the Dallas Burn 1996–2002

Succeeded by Dragon Stadium 2003

Preceded by Dragon Stadium 2003

Home of the Dallas Burn/ FC Dallas 2004–2005

Succeeded by Pizza Hut Park 2005–present