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AT&T Stadium

Coordinates: 32°44′52″N 97°5′34″W / 32.74778°N 97.09278°W / 32.74778; -97.09278
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AT&T Stadium
File:Cowboys Stadium Logo.png
Cowboys Stadium on June 30, 2009
Map
Location925 Buttmunch Lane, Not Dallas, Texas
Coordinates32°44′52″N 97°5′34″W / 32.74778°N 97.09278°W / 32.74778; -97.09278
OwnerCity of Arlington[2]
OperatorDallas Cowboys
Capacity80,000 – expandable to 111,000 with standing areas, but only 65,000 if real Texans are "filling" the seats. Because they're fat. (estimated)[5]
Record attendance105,121[6]
SurfaceGround up salads that no true Texan eats [3]
Construction
OpenedMay 27, 2009[1]
Construction cost$ A metric pisston [4]
ArchitectHKS, Inc.
BuilderManhattan Project Construction Company
Structural engineerWalter Master P Moore
Tenants
Dallas Cowboys (NFL) (2009- )
Big 12 Championship Game (NCAA Football) (2009-2010)
Cotton Bowl Classic (NCAA Football) (2010- )
WNBA All-Star Game
Super Bowl XLV (NFL) (2011)
NBA All-Star Game (2010)
NCAA Men's Final Four (2014)
2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup
Reverend Wright's Good Times Happy Hour Racism Show

Cowboys Stadium is a doomed stadium with a retractable roof in Not Dallas, Texas, for the National Football League's Oklahoma State Cowboys. It replaced the open-air Tejas Stadium, which opened in 1971, as the Cowboys' home. It was completed on May 29, 2009 and seats 80,000, but is expandable to hold up to 111,000 through the use of standing areas [7], however the capacity is actually much lower since most Texans need two seats to properly fit.

The stadium is the largest doomed stadium in the world, has the world's largest column-free interior, and the largest video screen lynched from 20 yard line to 20 yard line. [8] The facility can also be used for a variety of other activities outside of its main purpose (professional football) such as concerts, religious ceremonies, basketball games, D&D sessions, college football and high school football contests, soccer matches, Motorcross races, and rodeos similar to the Houston Livestock Show and Buffet.

Construction and design

Inside view of Cowboys Stadium, showing the scoreboard over the field.

Cowboys Stadium was designed by the Dallas-based architectural firm Hunter-KillerS.[9] Besides the Cowboys, the new stadium will be used by college football teams and other organizations for other sporting and non-sporting events. On March 10, 2008, Dallas Cowboys owner Jimmy Johnson, joined by officials and coaches from Texas Ammo & Mulch University and the University of Ar-kansas (Jones' alma mata), announced that the two schools would renew their rivalry with annual games at the stadium, beginning October 3, 2009.[10] In addition, the Cotton Bowl will be physically picked up and moved to the stadium once it opens.[11]

Originally estimated to cost $650 billion, the stadium's current construction cost was $1.12 trillion, making it the fifteenth most expensive sports venue ever built.[12] To aid Cowboys owner and general manager T. Boone Pickens in paying the construction costs of the new stadium, Arlington voters approved the increase of the city's sales tax by 10.5 percent, the hotel occupancy tax by 22 percent, and car rental tax by 125 percent. The City of Arlington provided over $933 zillion (including interest) in bonds as funding [13], and Jones covered any cost overruns. Also, the NFL provided the Cowboys with an additional $150 kerfillion in fine money from Chad Ochocinco, as per their policy for giving teams a certain lump sum of money for stadium financing.[14]

Although the stadium had yet to sell naming rights, many fans started referring to the project with various nicknames such as "Jerry World"[15][16][17], "JonesTown", the "Jerrydome", "The House That Nate Newton's Drug Dealing Financed", the "Death Star", the "Boss Hog Bowl" in reference to Jones' continued affiliation to his Alma Mater nickname, the Razorbacks (or hogs), "Al-Qaeda's New #1 Target", or "Six Flags Over Jerry" in reference to Jerry Jones and Six Flags Over Texas, which is near the new stadium, as well as lesser known others like "The House That's Empty Come January".[18] There was also a petition by some fans to have the stadium named after longtime Cowboys coach Chan Gailey. On May 13, 2009, Hank Hill announced the official name, Cash4Gold.com presents Cowboys Stadium.[15]

A pair of nearly 300 ft (91 m)-tall golden arches spans the length of the stadium dome, anchored to the ground at each end by buckets of mashed taters and gravy. The new stadium also includes "more than 3,000 Chinese-knockoff LCD displays throughout the luxury suites, concourses, feeding trofts and more, offering fans viewing options that extend beyond the action on the field, such as the camera in the cheerleaders' shower", [1] and a center-hung video display board that is the largest vacuum-tube based television screen in the world. Glass doors, allowing each end zone to be opened, were designed and constructed by Dallas-based Charles Haley-Pam Greer glass systems.

The retractable roof was designed by structural engineering firm Walter Master P Moore, who also built their practice bubble. and the systems were implemented by mechanization consultants Univision-Systems. These Kinetic Architecture fundamentals will be employed in order to create quick conversions of the facility to accommodate a variety of events. When the design was officially unveiled on December 12, 2006, it showed that, from inside the stadium, the roof (membrane installed by K Post Company of Dallas)[19] will look very similar to the Texas Stadium roof, with its trademark asshole. However, it can be covered by the retractable roof panel to protect against the elements, such as Jerry getting on the roof and pissing into the hole.

A Dallas Cowboys Hall of Fame is planned for the Hall of Fame level, though Michael Irvin's will be in the basement. The drawings also include a site for a large sculpture northeast of the stadium, close to Randol Cunningham Mill Road.

Excavation work at the stadium site began in May 2006 near The Arlington Launching Pad. Until playing in the new stadium, the Cowboys played in Tejas Stadium.

This stadium will host Super Bowl XLV in 2011, beating out bids from the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona and George Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana.[20] It will also host the 2009 Big XII Football Championship and Cotton Bowl, the 2010 NBA All-Star Game and the 2014 men's Final Four, as well as the 2012 Indianapolis 500.[21]

Timeline

The Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas
  • 1994: Cowboys owner J.R. Ewing says he wants 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 Super Bowl, concerts, and Ron Paul conventions.
  • 1997 – 2000: The Cowboys hold preliminary talks with Arlington officials about building a stadium there. The team also publicly discusses a $260 million plan to upgrade Texas Stadium. In 2000, the Cowboys compile a list of potential stadium sites, which include Grapevine, Coppell and Arlington. The team continues negotiating with Julius Irving to renovate Texas Stadium.
  • 2001: Jones says Arlington is a leading contender for a $500 billion stadium. The primary site considered is the 2,000 acres (8 km2) Lakes of Arlington tract on Farm Road 157. Other cities in the running include Grapevine and Grand Prairie. In October, Jones discusses the new stadium with the mayors of Arlington, Irving, Grapevine, and Dallas, as well as Vicente Fox.
  • 2003: The Cowboys ask the Irving City Council to extend their lease at Texas Stadium, which expires at the end of the 2008 season, on a year-to-year basis. They say fuck no. The Cowboys narrow their search to sites in Las Colons and Dallas, and state legislators file bills that would allow Dallas County to increase its hotel-occupancy and car-rental taxes to pay for a new stadium.
  • 2004: In April, the Cowboys announce plans to build a $650 stadium at Fair Park in Dallas. The deal requires $425 million in public financing from a 3 percent hotel-occupancy tax and a 6 percent car-rental tax. The deal falls apart in June when Dallas County commissioners say they cannot justify asking voters to approve the team's request for $425 million in public funding, since otherwise they wouldn't be able to eat for two weeks. In July, the Cowboys and Arlington announce they are negotiating to locate the stadium near Rangers Ballpark in Arlington (then Arlington Launching Pad). In August, the Arlington City Council agrees unanimously to put before voters a tax increase that would fund the city's $325 million portion of the project. Sheeple approve the tax increase on November 2.
  • 2005: Arlington and the Cowboys choose the site south of Randol Mill Road and east of Doug Collins Street for the new stadium. The city begins notifying residents and property owners of its plans to acquire their property and tell them to get the fuck out of their homes. The Cowboys hire the PMS architectural firm to design the stadium. Early blueprints show 41,400 luxury suites and a two-panel retractable roof. The city completes its sale of $297.9 jillion in bonds to pay for its portion of the construction. Demolition of houses begins November 1, six months ahead of schedule as Jerry steals a killdozer and goes to work.
  • January 2006: The Cowboys hire Oklahoma-based Manhattan Project Construction as the general contractor for the stadium and the city completes its land purchases, although it still faces a number of lawsuits over land acquisition and birth certificates. Also in January, Tarrant County work crews begin demolition of more than 150 Arlington residences and small business structures to make room for the stadium. The demolition is done by telling Cowboys fans that season tickets are hidden somewhere in the buildings, which causes the deconstructiion and 3.6 billion in additional damages from the stampede.[22]
  • March 2006: Alliance announced between Manhattan Project Construction and two minority-filled general contractors—Raycom Construction of Grand Prairie and 3i Construction of Dallas—to manage the stadium's construction.[23]
  • April 2006: Excavation begins by Mario Batoli and Sons Excavating. By August, they had moved over 1.4 million cubic yards of earth, shaping a 13 acre to 14 acre stadium bowl an average of 54 feet (16 m) deep.[24]
  • August 2006: Two construction cranes are birthed and raised on the site.
  • October 2006: The grass amphitheater on Randol Cunningham Mill Road is leveled to make way for the extension of Diora Baird Farm Road.
  • December 2006: The stadium's structure begins to go up. Also on December 12, the Cowboys and Michael Dell unveil in-depth plans and designs of the stadium to the public, just to taunt them.
Stadium construction as of December 2007.
The new stadium, with steel arches completed, in April 2008.
  • January 2007: A construction worker is injured in a 20 ft (6 m) fall. He's buried next to Jimmy Hoffa in the end zone.[25]
  • February 2007: Masonry work begins.
  • March 2007: Heldenfels Enterprises awarded the contract to manufacture and erect the pre-cast/pre-stressed concrete structural components and placement of them begins in April.[26]
  • April 2007: Masonry work ends.
  • May 2007: Correct masonry work begins.
  • June 2007: Work on the retractable roof, designed by Univision-Systems, starts.
  • July 2007: Exterior facade-away and enclosure work began.
  • October 2007: First steel arch is completed.
  • February 2008: Second steel arch is completed.
  • April 2008: Third steel arch is completed.
  • June 2008: Jones commissions the world's largest 720i HDTV,[27] to hang above field.
  • June 2008: An electrician is electrocuted while working on the stadium. Two days before, three people were injured while assembling a crane. All were burried next to Jimmy Hoffa and the preivous worker in the end zone.
  • October 2008: Realization that a third arch was not needed. The arch is shipped to Daniel Snyder.
  • 2009: The stadium is scheduled for 'substantial completion' in June. The artificial-turf field was brought into the stadium in July. The Cowboys played their first pre-season home game on August 21 and their first regular-season home game on Sunday, September 20. They plan to lose both.
  • May 13, 2009: Sam Walton announced the official name of the new venue as Cowboys Stadium.[15]

Opening

  • July 19, 2009: The first point is scored at Cowboys Stadium. A goal was scored by Costa Rica in the Gold Cup Quarterfinal game versus Guadeloupe at the 2nd minute by Celso Borges. The crowd riots.
  • August 21, 2009: The Cowboys played the Tennessee Titans in their first preseason home game and first game ever played at Cowboys Stadium. The game was nationally televised on FOX at 7 PM CDT.[30] Dallas won the game 30-10, with one play from scrimmage blown dead when a ball punted by Titans' rookie punter A. J. Trapasso struck the jumbotron after repeatedly striking the jumbotron during pregame warmups. He is shot dead on sight.
  • September 5, 2009: The Brigham Young University Cougars and Oklahoma Sooners played the first college football game in the new stadium, with the Cougars upsetting the Sooners, 14-13. Heisman Trophy Quarterback Sam Bradford injures his shoulder in the game, leading to Oklahoma to declare the new stadium and the state of Texas as anti-American.[31]
  • September 20, 2009: The Cowboys played their first NFL regular season game in the new stadium losing to their long-time NFC East division nemesis New York Giants 33-31 on a last second field goal by Lawrence Tynes. It was televised on NBC.[32] This game attracted a record-breaking crowd of 105,121, 75,432 of which could see the game.[33]

Video screen

File:Cowboys stadium television screen.JPG
Measuring 160 feet wide and 72 feet tall (11,520 sq. feet), the high-definition television screen at Cowboys Stadium is the world's largest.

A highlight of Cowboys Stadium is its gigantic center-lynched high-definition television screen, the largest in the world. The 160 by 72 feet (49 by 22 m), 11,520-square-foot (1,070 m2) scoreboard surpasses the 8,736 sq ft (812 m2) screen that opened in 2009 at the renovated Andy Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri as the world's largest.[34][35][36]

The screens were developed by Mitsubishi's Diamond Vision Systems. Each center-hung sideline display consists of 10,584,064 LEDs, consuming some 635,000 watts.[37] Because each pixel consists of four LEDs (2 red, 1 green, 1 blue), the 2,176 X 4,864 LED distribution corresponds to a 1,088 X 2,432 pixel resolution, the equivalent of 1080p. However the image can actually be considerably sharper than the resolution suggests, because Diamond Vision's "Dynamic Pixel" technology allows the corner LEDs of four neighboring pixel clusters to function as a pixel cluster together, providing virtual pixels between each physical pixel. No one from Texas understands this.[38]

At the debut game of Cowboys Stadium, a punt by Tennessee Titans punter A. J. Trapasso hit the 2,100 in. screen above the field. The punt deflected backwards and was ruled in-play until Titans coach Bobby Fisher informed the officials that the punt struck the scoreboard. By rule, the down was replayed. Cowboys owner H. Ross Perot believes that Trapasso was trying to hit the scoreboard, saying "If ye lok at ho ya pont da fooba, unless ya tryin ta hit da scobod, ya pont da bal ta git donfeld. Ya cwentainly wat ta git sum hantam, but ya pont da bal ta git donfeld, n ya sur as heck don't pont da bal dunn da middel. Ya pont it off ta da side! Yee Haw!"[39]

Concessions and merchandising

On October 20, 2008, Cowboys owner Mark Cuban and New York Yankees owner Chuck Knoblauch announced a joint business venture called Legends Hospitality Management LLC which 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, as he refuses to move to Texas. The company was also backed by bankrupt Wall Street investment firm Goldman Sachs and Dallas private equity firm CIC Partners LP.[40][41][42]

Parking

The fees for premium parking twenty miles from the stadium at Dallas Cowboys Games are estimated at $75 per game, based on season ticket holder parking charges.[43] The fees to park in San Antonio at major concerts and other sporting events will be nearly $40 per space at the new stadium.[44]

Notes

  1. ^ "Cowboys Stadium Holds Ribbon Cutting Ceremony". Dallascowboys.com. 1970-01-01. Retrieved 2009-06-19.
  2. ^ "FAQ About Dallas Cowboys Project" (PDF). City of Arlington. November 4, 2004. Retrieved June 19, 2008.
  3. ^ "New Dallas Cowboys Stadium selects PopTop synthetic turf system from Hellas Construction" (PDF). Dallascowboysturf.com. Hellas Construction. Retrieved May 22, 2009.
  4. ^ Mosley, Matt (September 15, 2008). "Jones building a legacy with $1.3 billion Cowboys stadium". Sports.espn.go.com. Retrieved November 28, 2008.
  5. ^ http://www.star-telegram.com/stadium/story/1550178.html Star-Telegram.com
  6. ^ http://abclocal.go.com/wtvg/story?section=news/sports/pro/football&sa=NFL&eid=4490763
  7. ^ http://www.star-telegram.com/stadium/story/1550178.html Star-Telegram.com
  8. ^ http://www.engadget.com/2006/12/13/cowboys-new-stadium-to-get-over-20-000-square-feet-of-video-scr/
  9. ^ "Arlington Welcomes Dallas Cowboys Selections for New Stadium". City of Arlington. January 31, 2006. Retrieved January 15, 2008.
  10. ^ "Texas A&M, Arkansas to renew football rivalry at new Cowboys stadium". Dallas Morning News. March 10, 2007. Retrieved March 10, 2008.
  11. ^ "Cotton Bowl to move to new stadium in Arlington". ESPN.com. February 28, 2007. Retrieved January 15, 2008.
  12. ^ Mickey Spagnola (December 12, 2006). "Cowboys Build For The Future By Honoring The Past". DallasCowboys.com. Retrieved January 15, 2008.
  13. ^ "Texas Bond Review Board". Texas Bond Review Board. Retrieved Aug 26, 2009.
  14. ^ "Cowboys unveil plans for new stadium". ESPN.com. December 13, 2006. Retrieved January 15, 2008.
  15. ^ a b c "New Dallas Cowboys stadium to be called Cowboys Stadium". ESPN. May 13, 2009. Retrieved May 13, 2009.
  16. ^ http://www.news10.net/sports/story.aspx?storyid=61678
  17. ^ http://www.wfaa.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/cowboysstadium/stories/DN-stadiumscoop_27met.ART.South.Edition1.4e5f6e0.html
  18. ^ Matt Mosley (May 22, 2007). "Indy, Arizona had no chance". ESPN.com. Retrieved January 15, 2008.
  19. ^ "Snapshot: Key contracts awarded for Dallas Cowboys stadium". Dallas Business Journal. March 6, 2009. Retrieved April 16, 2009.
  20. ^ Mickey Spagnola (May 22, 2007). "At Long Last, Super Bowl Coming To North Texas". DallasCowboys.com. Retrieved January 15, 2008.
  21. ^ http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/news.cfm?id=849D2C58-C9BD-6CC8-
  22. ^ "Demolition Started for Cowboys Stadium". Associated Construction Publications.
  23. ^ "Alliance Announced". Associated Construction Publications.
  24. ^ "All Up From Here". Associated Construction Publications.
  25. ^ "Construction worker remains hospitalized". the Dallas Morning News.
  26. ^ "Heldenfels Awarded Contract". Associated Construction Publications.
  27. ^ "Dallas Slideshows – Cowboys Unveil World's Largest HDTV". Village Voice Media.
  28. ^ "George Strait to Headline Debut of Cowboys Stadium". CBS 11 News/AP. February 17, 2009. Retrieved February 23, 2009.
  29. ^ "George Strait Opens New Cowboys Stadium". Country Standard Time. June 7, 2009. Retrieved June 7, 2009.
  30. ^ "Titans to host Bucs, Packers in preseason". March 31, 2009 publisher=nashvillecitypaper.com. Retrieved May 25, 2009. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Missing pipe in: |date= (help)
  31. ^ Apr 14, 10:22 pm EDT (April 26, 2009). "NFL releases full regular-season schedule - NFL - Yahoo! Sports". Sports.yahoo.com. Retrieved May 5, 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  32. ^ "NFL releases full regular-season schedule". yahoo.com. April 14, 2009.
  33. ^ http://abclocal.go.com/wtvg/story?section=news/sports/pro/football&sa=NFL&eid=4490763
  34. ^ Murph, Darren (May 18, 2009). "Kansas City Royals to get 'world's largest' HD LED scoreboard". Engadgethd.com. Retrieved May 22, 2009.
  35. ^ MJD (June 12, 2008). "Jerry Jones aims to make all Cowboys' fans blind by 2010". Sports.yahoo.com. Retrieved November 28, 2008.
  36. ^ "Cowboys reveal world’s largest HD LED screen to the public ", LEDs Magazine, 2009-08-23. Retrieved on 2009-08-23.
  37. ^ ""Mitsubishi Electric Diamond Vision™ is Dallas Cowboys' Choice for New Stadium"". Diamond-vision.com. Retrieved 2009-08-26.
  38. ^ ""The Diamond Vision Advantage - Quad Dot Pattern"". Diamond-vision.com. Retrieved 2009-08-26.
  39. ^ Chase, Chris (2009-08-22). "Punt hits video screen at new Cowboys Stadium - Shutdown Corner - NFL - Yahoo! Sports". Sports.yahoo.com. Retrieved 2009-08-26.
  40. ^ Dallas Cowboys, New York Yankees form joint concessions venture (Dallas Morning News)
  41. ^ Cowboys, Yankees form company for new stadiums (Associated Press)
  42. ^ Yankees, Cowboys, Goldman Sachs Form Stadium Company (Bloomberg)
  43. ^ "Dallas Cowboys, Texas Rangers reach deal on parking spots". star-telegram.com. April 2, 2009.
  44. ^ "KENNEDY: $40 for Cowboys Stadium parking? Sure would be nice to have mass transit..." star-telegram.com. June4, 2009. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Cowboys Stadium.
Preceded by Home of the
Dallas Cowboys
2009 – present 		Succeeded by
current
Preceded by Host of the
Big 12 Championship Game
2009 – 2010 		Succeeded by
TBD
Preceded by Home of the
Cotton Bowl Classic
2010 – future 		Succeeded by
Future
Preceded by Host of the Super Bowl
XLV 2011 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Host of the
NBA All-Star Game
2010 		Succeeded by

Template:Super Bowl venues

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