Cotton Bowl (stadium)

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Cotton Bowl

Location	1300 Robert B. Cullum Boulevard, Fair Park Dallas, Texas
Coordinates	32°46′47″N 96°45′35″W / 32.77972°N 96.75972°W / 32.77972; -96.75972Coordinates: 32°46′47″N 96°45′35″W / 32.77972°N 96.75972°W / 32.77972; -96.75972
Broke ground	1932
Opened	1932
Owner	City of Dallas
Operator	Cotton Bowl (game)
Surface	Grass
Construction cost	$328,200
Capacity	92,200
Tenants
Cotton Bowl (NCAA) (1937-2009) Red River Rivalry (NCAA, Big 12) (1932-present) Dallas Cowboys (NFL) (1960-1971) Dallas Texans (AFL) (1960-1962) Dallas Burn / FC Dallas (MLS) (1996-2002, 2004-2005) SMU Mustangs (NCAA) (1932-1978, 1995-2000) Dallas Texans (NFL) (1952) Dallas Tornado (NASL) (1967-1968) Dallas Independent School District, Playoffs (1974-present)

The Cotton Bowl is a stadium which opened in 1932 and became known as "The House That Doak Built" due to the immense crowds that former SMU running back Doak Walker drew to the stadium during his college career in the later 1940s. Originally known as Fair Park Bowl, it is located in Fair Park, site of the State Fair in Dallas, Texas, USA. Concerts or other events using a stage allow the playing field to be used for additional spectators. The Cotton Bowl was the longtime home of the annual Cotton Bowl Classic college football bowl game, for which the stadium is named. (Beginning with the January 2010 game, the Cotton Bowl will be played at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington.)

The Cowboys hosted the Green Bay Packers for the 1966 NFL championship at the Cotton Bowl. Artificial turf was installed in 1970 and removed in 1993 in preparation for the FIFA World Cup tournament in 1994.

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), and soccer teams, 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.

[edit] History

Construction began on Fair Park Stadium in 1930 in Fair Park, Dallas on the same site as a wooden football stadium. Completed that year, the first game in the stadium was between Dallas-area high schools in October 1930. Built for a cost of $328,000, the stadium held 46,200 spectators. In 1936, the name officially changed to the Cotton Bowl.

In the late 1940s, the stadium was decked on both the west and east sides, increasing capacity to 75,504. These decks were added to respond to the demand for fans to watch SMU halfback Doak Walker, lending the Cotton Bowl to be known as "the house that Doak built." The superstructure was also built at this time, creating the distinctive facade for the stadium. In 1968, chairbacks were installed, reducing capacity to 72,032. In 1970, the Cotton Bowl installed an AstroTurf surface, which remained until 1993.

In 1950, as a way to break the Texas League record for opening-day attendance, Richard Burnett got permission to play in the Cotton Bowl, which at the time could hold as many as 75,000. In order to draw a big crowd, he wanted a lineup of former stars to don Dallas Eagles uniforms and face one Tulsa hitter in the top of the first inning. Most of the retired stars were cool to the idea, except for then-current Dallas Eagles manager Charlie Grimm. When the legendary Ty Cobb agreed to come to Dallas, the others followed his lead. Preceding the game was a parade through downtown Dallas. "It was the pre-game show that got 'em," bellowed Dizzy Dean by way of self congratulation. "Cobb, Cochrane, Home Run Baker, Speaker, and Ol' Diz in Dallas duds." The 54,151 who showed up were lucky enough to see Ty Cobb hit several balls into the stands, just to show he could still handle the bat. The Kilgore Rangerettes drill team performed on the field prior to the game. Texas governor Allan Shivers threw out the first pitch. Defensively, the old-timer lineup of the Eagles were: Duffy Lewis in left field, Cobb in center field, Texas native Tris Speaker in right field, Frank "Home Run" Baker at third base, Travis Jackson at shortstop, Charlie Gehringer at second base, manager Grimm at first base, Mickey Cochrane at catcher, and former Houston Buffaloes star pitcher Dizzy Dean on the mound. Dean walked the leadoff batter for Tulsa, Harry Donabedian, on a 3-2 count, and then the regular Dallas players took the field. Dean got into an orchestrated rhubarb and was tossed from the game. The crowd of 54,151 still stands as the largest in Texas League history and second largest in the history of the minor leagues.

In 1994, the Cotton Bowl hosted games for the 1994 World Cup. In preparation for these game, the stadium field was widened and press box was enlarged. ^[1]

In the 2000s, the renewed dominance of both the Oklahoma Sooners and the Texas Longhorns created a new interest in the stadium. Temporary stands were erected in each end zone to increase seating for these games.

In November 2006, the city of Dallas and the State Fair of Texas finally agreed on funding for a long-planned^[2] $50 million renovation, with $30 million of this amount from a city bond.^[3]. Thus, in April 2007, the schools signed a contract to play at the Cotton Bowl through 2015, coupled with a $57 million fund for upgrades and improvements to the aging stadium.^[4]. The 2008 game was held on October 11.

The 2008 renovations include the expansion of the seating capacity of the stadium from 76,000 to 92,200, mostly through the complete encircling of the second deck (as seen here in September 2008 photos [1] [2] [3]), new media and VIP facilities, a new scoreboard and video screen, updated restrooms and concession areas, lighting, utility and sound upgrades and the replacement of all the stadium's seats.

[edit] Football events

[edit] Red River Shootout

The annual Texas –Oklahoma college football game, recently renamed the Red River Rivalry, is played at the Cotton Bowl during the State Fair of Texas, instead of on either school's campus. Ticket sales are equally divided between the two schools, and the fans are split on the 50-yard line. Texas has a record of 57-40 against the Sooners. The game has ended in a tie 5 times.

[edit] State Fair Classic

In addition to the Red River Shootout, Grambling State University and Prairie View A&M University play each other at the Cotton Bowl in the State Fair Classic. This game often occurs the weekend before the Texas-OU game. It is a neutral site for both teams; Grambling (nicknamed the "Tigers") is in northern Louisiana and Prairie View A&M is located about 30 miles (48 km) northwest of Houston, Texas. The halftime "Battle of the Bands" is arguably more eagerly anticipated than the game itself. The State Fair Classic is heavily marketed in the DFW Metroplex, with local hip hop stations encouraging a large turnout among the region's African-American community.

[edit] Former tenants

[edit] Cotton Bowl Classic

See Cotton Bowl (game)

[edit] SMU Mustangs

The Cotton Bowl served as the home for the SMU Mustangs football team for two periods in the program's history. SMU played at least a few games at the Cotton Bowl from 1932 to 1947, and moved there permanently in 1948 due to Doak Walker's popularity. The Mustangs played at the Cotton Bowl until 1978, when they moved to Texas Stadium. The Cotton Bowl also served as home to SMU in the 1990s, after the team served the NCAA death penalty and played at Ownby Stadium on campus. Games moved back to campus in 2001 with the completion of Gerald J. Ford Stadium.

[edit] Dallas Cowboys

The Dallas Cowboys also called the Cotton Bowl home for 11 years, from the team's formation in 1960 until 1971, when the Cowboys moved to Texas Stadium.

[edit] Dallas Burn

FC Dallas of MLS called the Cotton Bowl home for its first 7 seasons, between 1996 and 2002 as well as for another 2 years in 2004 and 2005 before opening their own stadium, Pizza Hut Park in Frisco.

[edit] Concerts

The stadium has also been a venue for a number of historic concerts, most notably that which featured then 21-year-old Elvis Presley, which took place on October 11, 1956 and attracted what was then the largest audience in Texas history for an outdoor concert, in excess of 27,000.

Many consecutive summers of huge concerts featuring several bands began in July 1978 with the 1st annual Texxas Jam, which sold out with over 80,000 attendees. Over the years the Texxas Jam featured some of the top-billed headliner bands of the day, including The Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen, Aerosmith, Heart, Deep Purple, Boston, Journey, Ted Nugent, Scorpions, Loverboy, Cheap Trick, Van Halen, Blue Öyster Cult, Sammy Hagar, Nazareth, Styx, Foghat, Santana, Eagles, Triumph, and others. Each Texxas Jam had a unique lineup of major artists chosen by the promoter. The annual events came to an end in the summer of 1988, when Van Halen headlined the "Monsters Of Rock" tour. Since then, the stadium has continued to be used as a major concert venue; Eric Clapton notably held his first massive 3-day Crossroads Guitar Festival there in 2004. U2 chose the the Cotton Bowl as the site of its Dallas-area PopMart show. The Cotton Bowl Stadium was also the site for the 1991 Drum Corps International World Championships.

Panoramic view of the 2008 Cotton Bowl between Missouri and Arkansas

[edit] In popular culture

• The stadium was featured in a 1981 episode of Dallas where J. R. Ewing meets Dusty Farlow.
• The rock band Journey recorded two videos in the 1980s in the Cotton Bowl.
• The rock band Aerosmith recorded their first live concert at the Cotton Bowl in the late 1980s.
• The 2009 television reality series 4th and Long filmed the majority of its material at the Cotton Bowl.

[edit] Sources

• "Baseball in the Lone Star State: Texas League's Greatest Hits," Tom Kayser and David King, c.2005
• "Storied Stadiums: Baseball History Through Its Ballparks," Curt Smith, c.2001

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Texas portal

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Cotton Bowl

• Cotton Bowl - City of Dallas
• Cotton Bowl stadium guide
• Satellite image at Google Maps
• World Class Memories: VIRTUAL WCCW TOUR - COTTON BOWL