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AT&T Stadium

AT&T Stadium is a retractable-roof stadium in Arlington, Texas, United States. It serves as the home of the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL), and was completed on May 27, 2009. It is also the home of the Cotton Bowl Classic, the Big 12 Championship Game, and the Southwest Classic. The stadium is one of 11 US venues set to host matches during the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The facility, owned by the city of Arlington, has also been used for a variety of other activities, such as concerts, basketball games, soccer, college and high-school football contests, rodeos, motocross, Spartan Races and professional wrestling. It replaced the partially covered Texas Stadium, which served as the Cowboys' home from 1971 through the 2008 season.

For the stadium in Lubbock, see Jones AT&T Stadium. For the San Francisco Giants baseball stadium in California formerly called AT&T Park, see Oracle Park. For other uses, see AT&T Building (disambiguation).

Former names

Cowboys Stadium (2009–2013)

1 AT&T Way[1]

Arlington, Texas

32°44′52″N 97°5′34″W / 32.74778°N 97.09278°W / 32.74778; -97.09278

Dallas Cowboys

342[2]

80,000[3] (expandable to 100,000)

List

Hellas Matrix Turf with Helix Soft Top artificial turf[6]

September 20, 2005

2006–2009

May 27, 2009[13]

$1.3 billion[7]
($1.85 billion in 2023 dollars[8])

HKS, Inc.[9]

Blue Star Development/Jack Hill[10]

Walter P Moore Engineers and Consultants
Campbell & Associates Consulting Engineers, Inc.[11]

M-E Engineers, Inc.[12]

Manhattan/Rayco/3i

The stadium is widely referred to as Jerry World and The Death Star after Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, who originally envisioned it as a large entertainment venue.[14] The stadium seats 80,000 people, but can be reconfigured to hold around 100,000 seats[3] making it the largest stadium in the NFL by seating capacity.[15] Additional attendance is made possible by the Party Pass (open areas) sections behind the seats in each end zone that are positioned on a series of six elevated platforms connected by stairways.[15][16] The record attendance for an NFL regular season game was set in 2009 with a crowd of 105,121.[17] It also has twin video boards that are among the largest high-definition video screens in the world.

1994: Cowboys owner Jerry Jones proposed to expand the 65,000-seat Texas Stadium by up to 40,000 seats, add retractable roof panels and install a climate-control system to make the stadium a year-round venue for sporting events, including the , concerts, and conventions.

Super Bowl

1997–2000: The Cowboys held preliminary talks with Arlington officials about building a stadium there. The team also publicly discussed a $260 million plan to upgrade Texas Stadium. In 2000, the Cowboys compiled a list of potential stadium sites, which included , Coppell, and Arlington. The team continued negotiating with Irving to renovate Texas Stadium.

Grapevine

2001: Jones said Arlington is a leading contender for a $500 million stadium. The primary site considered is the 2,000 acres (810 ha) Lakes of Arlington tract on . Other cities in the running included Grapevine and Grand Prairie. In October, Jones discussed the new stadium with the mayors of Arlington, Irving, Grapevine, and Dallas.

Farm to Market Road 157

2003: The Cowboys asked the Irving City Council to extend their lease at Texas Stadium, which was to expire at the end of the 2008 season, on a year-to-year basis. They narrowed their search to sites in and Dallas, and state legislators filed bills that would allow Dallas County to increase its hotel-occupancy and car-rental taxes to pay for a new stadium.

Las Colinas

2004: In April, the Cowboys announced plans to build a $650 million stadium at in Dallas. The deal required $425 million in public financing from a 3% hotel-occupancy tax and a 6% car-rental tax. The deal fell apart in June when Dallas County commissioners said they cannot justify asking voters to approve the team's request for $425 million in public funding. In July, the Cowboys and Arlington announced they are negotiating to locate the stadium near Globe Life Park (then Ameriquest Field). In August, the Arlington City Council agreed unanimously to put before voters a tax increase that would fund the city's $325 million portion of the project. Voters approved the tax increase on November 2.

Fair Park

2005: Arlington and the Cowboys chose the site south of Randol Mill Road and east of Collins Street for the new stadium. The city began notifying residents and property owners of its plans to acquire their property. The Cowboys hired the HKS architectural firm to design the stadium. Early blueprints showed 414 luxury suites and a two-panel retractable roof. The city completed its sale of $297.9 million in bonds to pay for its portion of the construction. Demolition of houses began November 1. This included homes that the city had seized from residents who wanted to keep their house and refused to sell. One such resident characterized the negotiation for his home as "...giving me pennies and telling me to get out"

[31]

January 2006: The Cowboys hired Oklahoma-based as the general contractor for the stadium and the city completed its land purchases, although it still faced a number of lawsuits over land acquisition. Later that month, Tarrant County work crews began demolition of more than 150 Arlington residences and small-business structures to make room for the stadium.[32]

Manhattan Construction

March 2006: An alliance was announced between Manhattan Construction and two general contractors, Rayco Construction of Grand Prairie and 3i Construction of Dallas, to manage the stadium's construction.

[33]

April 2006: Excavation began by Mario Sinacola and Sons Excavating. By August, they had moved over 1.4 million cubic yards (1,100,000 m3) of earth, shaping a 13-to-14-acre (5.3 to 5.7 ha) stadium bowl an average of 54 feet (16 m) deep.

[34]

August 2006: Two construction cranes were raised on the site.

October 2006: The grass amphitheater on Randol Mill Road was leveled to make way for the extension of Baird Farm Road.

December 2006: The stadium's structure began to go up, and on December 12, Jerry Jones unveiled the in-depth plans and designs of the stadium to the public.

January 2007: A construction worker was injured in a 20 ft (6 m) fall.

[35]

February 2007: Masonry work began.

March 2007: Heldenfels Enterprises was awarded the contract to manufacture and erect the precast/prestressed concrete structural components and placement of them began in April.

[36]

June 2007: Work on the retractable roof, designed by Uni-Systems, started.

July 2007: Exterior facade and enclosure work began.

October 2007: The first steel arch was completed.

Naming[edit]

Although the stadium had yet to sell naming rights, many fans started referring to the project with various nicknames such as "Jerry World",[38][48][49] the "Death Star",[50] "The Palace in Dallas" (for which announcer Bob Costas was criticized by the Arlington mayor[51]), "Cowboys Cathedral",[52] "Jerrassic Park" and others.[53] There was also a petition by some fans to have the stadium named after longtime Cowboys' coach Tom Landry.


On May 13, 2009, Jerry Jones announced the official name as Cowboys Stadium.[38]


On July 25, 2013, Jerry Jones announced that the Dallas Cowboys had agreed to grant naming rights to AT&T. The name change from Cowboys Stadium to AT&T Stadium took effect immediately.[54] The sponsorship deal was reported to be worth about $17–19 million per year.[55] Facility Solutions Group installed the "AT&T Stadium" letters on the top of the stadium. Signage includes two sets of letters 43 feet (13 m) tall stretching 385 feet (117 m). The letters are made of lightweight components and aluminum and are insulated and heated to melt ice and snow.[56]


This is one of two major sports venues where AT&T holds the naming rights, the other being Jones AT&T Stadium in Lubbock, Texas.

Major events[edit]

NBA All-Star Weekend[edit]

On February 14, 2010, the stadium hosted the 2010 NBA All-Star Game. With an announced crowd of 108,713, the game became the highest-attended basketball game in history, setting a new Guinness World Record. The East squad prevailed with a 141–139 victory over the West.[62]

Concessions and merchandising[edit]

On October 20, 2008, Cowboys owner Jones and New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner announced a joint business venture called Legends Hospitality Management LLC that would operate the concessions and merchandising sales at the new Cowboys stadium in Arlington, Texas, and at the new Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, New York, along with the stadiums of the Yankees' minor league affiliates. Former Pizza Hut President Michael Rawlings will run the company from its new headquarters in Newark, New Jersey. The company was also backed by Wall Street investment firm Goldman Sachs and Dallas private equity firm CIC Partners LP.[123][124][125]

Art collection[edit]

The Jones family commissioned 18 contemporary artists to create site-specific artworks for the stadium. The stadium features paintings, sculptures, and installations by Franz Ackermann, Doug Aitken, Ricci Albenda, Mel Bochner, Daniel Buren, Olafur Eliasson, Teresita Fernandez, Wayne Gonzales, Terry Haggerty, Trenton Doyle Hancock, Jacqueline Humphries, Jim Isermann, Annette Lawrence, Dave Muller, Gary Simmons, and Lawrence Weiner.[126][127][128]


In 2013, the stadium acquired Sky Mirror, a sculpture by Anish Kapoor. It sits in a plaza outside the east end of the stadium.[129]

History of the Dallas Cowboys

Globe Life Field

List of tallest domes

Lists of stadiums

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Official website