Reply With QuoteI'm a little surprised that there aren't some local alumni that would get behind this and make it happen. I guess, in the end, they're going to travel to see the game no matter the location.
Clock is ticking on UT-OU
Dallas could be loser if city, fair can't deliver on promise to defray costs
10:32 PM CDT on Friday, October 3, 2003
By KATIE FAIRBANK / The Dallas Morning News
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcont...sou.13cf3.html
The University of Texas and University of Oklahoma are threatening to take their football and go home-and-home.
The city of Dallas, the State Fair of Texas and various private groups have a month to come up with hundreds of thousands of dollars – the actual amount is in question – to keep the Longhorns-Sooners matchups at the Cotton Bowl.
Failure to come up with the money could mean the Dallas-based classic would become a home-and-home series, alternating between Austin and Norman, Okla.
"If we don't meet demands by Nov. 11, then they have the choice to move the game outside of Dallas," said Sandi Bailey, executive director for the Hotel Association of Greater Dallas. "We're in an emergency state."
The schools already each collect $1 million a year from Red River Shootout ticket sales.
But after last year's game, UT and OU officials said that wasn't enough. They said they needed a total of $350,000 extra to defray costs such as insurance and travel and lodging expenses for their bands and cheerleaders for the 2003 game, scheduled for next Saturday.
The State Fair of Texas and Dallas Convention & Visitors Bureau committed to the payment and the November 2003 deadline but didn't specify where the funds would come from. State Fair officials have ponied up $50,000, but no other money is on the table yet. And school officials didn't say if they would accept a lesser amount.
Members of a newly formed "Save the Game" committee are beating the bushes to try to raise another $50,000 to add to that amount.
Some fear giving in would allow UT and OU to increase their demands every year. "We can't keep upping the ante," said Tracey Evers, a committee member and executive director of the Greater Dallas Restaurant Association, whose members are being asked to contribute to the Texas-OU fund.
This year's game is not in danger. But starting next year, Dallas could end up as just a pit stop on an Interstate 35 series.
UT and OU have a contract with the State Fair of Texas to hold the annual grudge match at the Cotton Bowl through 2006, but they can opt out any time they like.
Larry Naifeh, associate athletic director at Oklahoma, refused to speculate on what would happen if Dallas doesn't make the Nov. 11 deadline.
"Our fans have really indicated their longtime enjoyment of the game. It's one of those special kinds of college events," Mr. Naifeh said.
"But," he added, "we also have to recognize that everybody that wants it to be there needs to participate in keeping it there."
Mayor Laura Miller says she wants to keep the game, but she declined to say whether she supported this year's $350,000 payment. She is backing the private efforts to supplement the State Fair's $50,000 contribution.
"We just need private money to the tune of $50,000," she said, adding that some money may come from "taxpayer sources."
Ms. Miller said she also will try to negotiate a multiyear contract that gives the schools extra money. She declined to say how much the city is willing to offer.
"We're going to talk to the teams and offer a five-year deal, but I'm not going to talk about the terms of the deal," Ms. Miller said. "I'm trying to put together an incentive package, so we don't revisit this problem every 12 months."
Ms. Miller declined to speculate on the Texas-OU game's future should the schools reject the city's offer.
"The teams may say, 'We're not interested.' The teams may say, 'We want more.' I just know we have a game plan and we're going to execute it," she said.
The Texas-OU game is an economic boon to the city.
The State Fair has hosted the game annually since 1929, and fans from both teams flood Dallas on game weekends, spending on average $18 million to $20 million on such things as food, liquor, hotel rooms and gasoline.
With that kind of economic impact, downtown businesses are eager to keep the game.
"We love the fans that come with the football game," said Priscilla Hagstrom, spokeswoman for the Hyatt Regency, which has sold out all 1,122 rooms on game day.
About $244,000 of the money the schools want this year would be paid to OU and UT directly for travel expenses. The other $106,000 would be used to pay Fair Park expenses, such as increased insurance and security costs.
"It might appear the universities are being a little pushy and aggressive, but on the other hand the need to raise athletic funds is just incredible," said Errol McKoy, the State Fair's president. "They just need to raise revenues, and we agreed it would be in everybody's interest to work these things out."
Texas athletic director DeLoss Dodds agrees that extra money is key to keeping the game in Dallas but said Cotton Bowl improvements are important, too.
The Cotton Bowl has 71,500 seats, but the UT and OU stadiums seat about 80,000 each – which means more money from ticket sales.
"The money part was just part of the deal. That amount won't go up. What we really need is additional seats," said Mr. Dodds, adding that UT fans love going to Dallas. "It's a lot of years of tradition, and it's something that's been a national game. We like that. I think the fans like that. It's something we don't want to change."
The issue of moving the game has come up several times in the last 20 years, but the latest negotiations are the most serious.
"I've yet to talk to anybody that sells this short," said Mr. McKoy. "I think the universities are dead serious, and that's how we as a city should take this fund-raising responsibility."
But, given the current economic climate, "you can imagine hustling to find that money," said Greg Elam, spokesman for the Dallas Convention & Visitors Bureau. "It's the pits."
Peter Kline, chairman of the convention bureau, hopes this is the last round of Texas-OU talks for a while.
"We shouldn't have this hanging over our head every year," he said. "We need to come up with a solution that is multiyear."
E-mail kfairbank@dallasnews.com
“We shape our Cities, thereafter they shape us.”
I'm a little surprised that there aren't some local alumni that would get behind this and make it happen. I guess, in the end, they're going to travel to see the game no matter the location.
I heard about a year ago that the TMS was going to talk to UT and OU about the game being played their since its already right on I35.
But i don't know how they can play a football game at a speedway. Very Awkward.
But i didn't know if anything came of this.
It think the plan was to place the field near the front straightaway in front of the grandstand and place temporary bleachers around the field. A flimsy plan at best and I'm not sure it made it much further after it left Gossage's mouth. If they're going to move it out of Dallas because of stadium capacity and money issues, they might as well move it back to the campuses.
not real sure it's about just capacity.....both teams allegedly have additional travel expenses that they would not normally have to incur...
oh yeah, having the game played at the TMS would have been the worst decision ever.....and not a fun game to go to!
TMS is great...not for football though
“We shape our Cities, thereafter they shape us.”
I know, that's why I also mentioned money issues as a concern.Originally posted by GCarey
not real sure it's about just capacity.....both teams allegedly have additional travel expenses that they would not normally have to incur...
Fans say tradition sets UT-OU apart
For many, rivalry would be 'just another big game' without annual meeting in the Cotton Bowl
10:13 PM CDT on Thursday, October 9, 2003
By MICHAEL E. YOUNG / The Dallas Morning News
http://www.dallasnews.com/latestnews...alry.9cec.html
It doesn't much matter whether they favor burnt orange or crimson and cream. Ending the Red River Shootout and abandoning the Cotton Bowl for a long ramble on Interstate 35 each year makes no sense to many Texas-OU football fans.
Why, that might be the only thing they've ever agreed on.
"It's a tradition. It's like Thanksgiving. It's something you can depend on every year," said Ken Sandoval, who leads the Collin County Chapter of Texas Exes, the University of Texas alumni group.
"You know you're going to see a group of friends no matter what because they'll be here for the game."
Mark McHughes, Mr. Sandoval's University of Oklahoma counterpart in the McKinney-Allen-Frisco orbit, couldn't agree more.
"From my standpoint, a tradition standpoint, I'd hate to see the game leave this area," he said. "I'm actually from Norman originally, and I understand the reasons why they're talking about moving it. But this setting really sets the game apart from any other event."
"This setting," of course, is the venerable Cotton Bowl, plunked down in the heart of Dallas' Fair Park, which is wall-to-wall this time of year with thousands of happy visitors to the State Fair of Texas.
"The excitement of the State Fair, the additional crowd that will be there, that's just great," said Paul Lee, head of the Dallas Longhorn Club and a perennial Shootout attendee.
"If the game is a runaway, it gives fans of the losing team a place to go if they have to bail out. Of course, that's kind of rare."
True. For much of its long history – the game has been a Dallas fixture every year since 1929 and was an occasional visitor long before that – the rivalry between the Longhorns and Sooners has been magical, filled with close games and shocking upsets and generally securing the schools' reputations as gridiron giants.
Oklahoma goes into Saturday's game rated the top team in the nation, with Texas ranked 11th. But rankings don't mean much when these two teams meet.
"Look at the last three years," Mr. Sandoval said. "OU was ranked below us, and they won all three times. It's something you can't predict from year to year. Anything can happen."
And like the outcome of the game, the fate of the Red River Shootout is difficult to call.
Big money
UT and OU each collect $1 million from ticket sales but announced last year that they needed $350,000 more to defray costs for insurance and travel and lodging expenses for their bands and cheerleaders.
The alternative is a home-and-home series, with the game in Austin one year and in Norman the next and all the game-related revenue going to the schools.
And in the world of big-time college athletics, every dollar from a football game is a dollar that can be used to support sports programs that don't pay their own way.
"Money dictates so much of where games are played now that a lot of schools don't want to compromise revenue on a neutral-site game," Mr. Lee said.
"I think people are pretty attuned to what's happening in college athletics. There are a lot of dynamics involved, with schools spending a lot of money on non-revenue-generating sports. That has to be made up somewhere, and typically it falls on donors and ticket holders."
The schools can't help focusing on the bottom line. But neither can their alumni.
P.K. Dailey, president of OU's alumni chapter in Dallas, said her 1,400-member group raises about 90 percent of its annual income during Texas-OU weekend.
"How can we do all that on one weekend? I'm not sure, but we do," she said. "People really open their checkbooks on OU-Texas weekend. If the game left, we'd lose all that revenue. We'd be devastated as a club."
Some longtime fans said they're already troubled by the costs involved in college athletics.
"All in all, I'm somewhat disappointed in the universities," Mr. Sandoval said. "Everything is about money these days. It seems that the people who supported the teams are getting pushed out because the schools want to reserve tickets for the people who donate money.
"The stadiums are putting in luxury seats and selling rights to them. The whole thing is geared more and more to people who have money. I understand the nature of that, but I think it should be different in college. It shouldn't be like the pros.
"The schools say the state is cutting funding, and we need to get money somewhere, but all this talk of money is losing its novelty."
Plus, Mr. Sandoval said, moving the Texas-OU rivalry from Dallas to Austin and Norman means it will be just another game.
"I go to Austin for a few games every year, and I don't get the same feeling walking into the stadium that I get for Texas-OU," he said. "It doesn't matter where I sit in the Cotton Bowl, on the 50-yard line or the last row. When I walk into the stadium, I get chills."
"We could do home-and-home, but we'd lose a lot," said Larry Libby, president of the Texas Exes in Southwest Dallas County.
"As an alum, it makes me mad that it's all about money. I want it to stay here, and I think everyone else does, too," he said.
"The Red River Shootout is an event that cannot be missed, no matter what," said Stuart Myhill, a 1990 UT graduate who travels to Dallas each year from Denver for the game. " 'You say your wedding is that weekend? Sorry, not going.'
"It's a time to see friends, Okies and 'Horns, in a setting comfortable for both. If it moved from the neutral site, it would be just another big game, like A&M."
Neutral-field allure
There's a certain cachet to a big-time college football game played on a neutral field, mostly because there are so few such events left – Army-Navy in Philadelphia, Florida-Georgia in Jacksonville and Grambling-Prairie View A&M, also at the Cotton Bowl.
Mr. Lee attends all of Texas' home games in Austin. So what's the biggest difference with the Texas-OU game?
"Other than the fact that you have half of the stadium dressed in red? Typically we don't have that in Austin," he said. "That's what makes it such a great setup. You have half the field in orange and the other half in red. And the Cotton Bowl has been such a great venue for so many years."
Even Darrell Royal, the much-revered former UT coach who has attended the Texas-OU game more than 50 times as a player (for the Sooners), coach and fan, likes the game right where it is, in Big D.
"Are the Oklahoma people going to like driving to Austin and sitting in the end zone?" he asked. "Do Texas fans like driving to Norman and sitting in the end zone?"
Dallas, meanwhile, treats everyone the same, a good thing to Mr. Royal's way of thinking.
"It's halfway in between, and the stadium is divided down the middle," he said. "They've got half the tickets and we've got half the tickets. It's a very good deal and a pretty good program.
"It's been sold out since 1946, so it's pretty hard to fix."
Staff writer Brad Townsend contributed to this report.
E-mail myoung@dallasnews.com
“We shape our Cities, thereafter they shape us.”
I particularly enjoyed seeing Texas piss all over themselves once again. It would be a shame for Dallas to miss out on this.
Well this Texas Alum doesn't enjoy that at all.
Let the game leave. The city doesn't care. It will be back when Jerry World shows up anyway.
That's probably true. Really the State Fair location has nothing to do with the Football game, but keeping it during the State Fair and in Dallas is. Therefore, having it at the new Cowboy stadium would be great idea. I'm sure this is another reason why some want Jerryworld at Fair Park. But Fair Park can't hold JerryWorld. Fair Park would have to become JerryWorld. And do you really want to see that big white bubble that's in Valley Ranch in Fair Park?
The Texas-OU game shouldn't leave Dallas. Its like saying the Cowboys are not playing on Thanksgiving. In someways its like breaking up the Southwest Conference. That was wrong. And this is wrong. If they can't work out this problem until JerryWorld is built, then someone screwed up royaly.
It should stay at Fair Park...period. The game being played in Dallas at the Cotton Bowl and during the State Fair of Texas is as big of a tradition as the game itself!
“We shape our Cities, thereafter they shape us.”
Texas-OU a keeper
http://dallas.bizjournals.com/dallas...ditorial2.html
Speaking of tourism, this week's Texas-Oklahoma football game at the Cotton Bowl marks the continuation of a long and profitable tradition for Dallas, one the city cannot let get away. Every October, tens of thousands of fans come from all directions and fill our hotels and restaurants. Juxtaposed against the festivities of the sainted Texas State Fair, Texas-OU weekend is the Metroplex equivalent of New Orleans' Mardi Gras, minus the beads and most of the nudity and alcohol-induced comas (thank God).
Because of limited capacity at the Cotton Bowl, among other reasons, our area might lose this annual showdown and revenue-booster. Perhaps new Dallas Convention & Visitors Bureau chief Phillip Jones has some creative ideas on how to prevent that.
“We shape our Cities, thereafter they shape us.”
In what year will we be able to ride the future DART rail line to the State Fair?
HOUSTON (AP) -- If Reliant Stadium officials get their way, the Texas-Oklahoma football rivalry could be played well south of the Red River.
The Red River rivalry has been played annually at the the Cotton Bowl in Dallas since 1929, but the schools are threatening to pull out of their contract with the State Fair of Texas and go home-and-home if the city of Dallas, State Fair and other private groups don't come up with enough money to keep the game in Dallas.
Houston television station KRIV reported Monday night that Reliant Stadium officials have begun talks with the schools.
"We have had some discussions with the schools to let them know that to the extent they cannot make a deal happen in Dallas or if Dallas is not able to make the commitment, that we are interested and we are prepared to make a commitment for them to play here," Shea Guinn, Reliant Park president and general manager, told the station.
"It would be huge for the city, great for the facility," Guinn said.
Texas and Oklahoma get $1 million each from the ticket revenue from the game. The schools are asking for an additional $350,000.
"I feel confident, very confident that we can meet the financial commitments that the schools would need to play the game," Guinn said.
Reliant Stadium is home to the Houston Texans and the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. The Super Bowl will be played there in February.
The current contract calls for Texas and Oklahoma to hold their matchup at the Cotton Bowl through 2006. However, they can opt out whenever they want.
I'm sure most people would hate it leaving. Its kind of like the white man moving the Indians out off their turf where they have probably had family traditions for 100s if not 1000s of years.
When white man money talks, other white men are willing to destroy others lives.
The game might as well go home and home before Houston. Dallas works geographically for more fans, the State Fair is going on, there's lots of tradition. I say go home and home until Jerry World is built.
Oklahoma, UT await concessions
City has until Tuesday to ante up more to keep annual football game
01:09 AM CST on Friday, November 7, 2003
By KATIE FAIRBANK / The Dallas Morning News
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcont...out.aaa83.html
Time runs out on Tuesday for the city to pay the University of Texas and University of Oklahoma to keep the schools' annual football match-up in Dallas. But it may actually be several weeks before anyone knows whether the game is going to stay put.
The city, the State Fair of Texas and various private groups, have been working for about a month gathering the money needed to keep the Longhorns-Sooners contest from moving.
"Our group was responsible to get $50,000, and we've done that," said Sandi Bailey, co-chair of the "Save the Game" committee, a group created to try to keep the game in Dallas. "The city and State Fair have also put together some contributions."
But whether the schools will be satisfied is still in question.
UT and OU, which make about $1 million in ticket sales each year for the game, told the city and State Fair last year that they needed an additional $350,000 by Nov. 11 this year or they'd start playing the game on their home turfs.
About $244,000 of the requested money would be used to defray the cost of bringing the team, band and cheerleaders to Dallas, and the rest of the money would be used to pay Fair Park expenses, such as security and insurance costs. The schools also want the city to add more seats to the stadium and make other improvements.
"We both have strong fan followings," said Doug Messer, senior associate athletic director for UT. "I'm sure both schools are not able to meet the fans interest in acquiring tickets."
The universities have the power to make the demands because their contract with the State Fair allows them to back out if they're not happy.
That fact doesn't sit well with Dallas officials. The game adds about $18 million to $20 million to the local economy each year so losing it would be a blow. In addition, officials are worried that the teams will keep upping the ante each year until the contract ends in 2006.
So they're looking to renegotiate the agreement rather than just pay the schools the money they requested.
"We have a multi-year offer, we're going to want a multi-year commitment," said Dallas Mayor Laura Miller.
Ms. Miller declined to say whether the full $350,000 would be paid. She also refused to say whether taxpayer funds would be used toward keeping the game in Dallas.
"I can't talk about any money," she said Thursday. "All I can tell you at this point is we had a meeting earlier this week. We've got a plan of action. I'm going to meet with the two teams and the State Fair, probably in Austin and Oklahoma over the next couple of weeks."
The teams are prepared to come to the table and hear details about a new deal, according to Mr. Messer.
"I'm sure both schools would be interested in considering anything they would propose that would enhance the relationship," he said.
E-mail kfairbank@dallasnews.com
“We shape our Cities, thereafter they shape us.”
WOoooohoooooooo!
Groups Raise Money To Keep Red River Shootout In Dallas
$350,000 Needed To Keep Texas-OU Game In N. Texas
POSTED: 7:57 a.m. CST November 11, 2003
UPDATED: 8:00 a.m. CST November 11, 2003
http://www.nbc5i.com/money/2627698/detail.html
DALLAS -- The groups trying to save Texas-OU weekend have their money, NBC 5 reported.
Tuesday is the deadline set to come up with the $350,000 needed to keep the game in north Texas.
Hotel and restaurant groups in Dallas' West End were trying to fend off empty seats on one of the biggest money-making weekends in town, and their efforts apparently have paid off.
By some estimates, if the game left town, about $20 million in fan spending money would go with it.
As the City of Dallas and the State Fair of Texas struggled to keep up with the cost, the City of Houston and its new stadium were trying to lure the game down to the Bayou.
NBC 5 learned late Monday the money is there: $50,000 from a group called "Save the Game," and another $50,000 from a hospitality committee. Both of these groups tied into hotel and restaurant groups and the State Fair of Texas, which will kick in $250,000.
“We shape our Cities, thereafter they shape us.”
Good news! That really would have hurt if the game had left.
Miller makes pitch to UT, OU officials
Meeting an attempt to keep annual game in Dallas
08:53 PM CST on Thursday, December 18, 2003
By KATIE FAIRBANK / The Dallas Morning News
http://www.dallasnews.com/latestnews...sou.2cbfe.html
The University of Texas and the University of Oklahoma are going to mull over an offer from the city of Dallas that could keep the schools' annual grudge match at Fair Park.
Dallas Mayor Laura Miller made the proposal – which is being kept tightly under wraps – to the two schools during a 90-minute meeting Thursday at the Hotel Crescent Court.
And Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones showed up to talk about how a potential new home for his football team could also house the Red River Shootout.
The schools, the State Fair of Texas and the city set up the talks to deal with the contract for the football game, which adds as much as $20 million to the local economy each year.
The current contract gives the universities the power to make additional demands each year or back out.
Last year, UT and OU said they'd need an additional $350,000 for this year's game or they'd move it to their home turfs. That worried Dallas leaders, who fear the schools will keep upping the ante each year until the contract ends in 2006 if something isn't done. So they've been working to negotiate a contract that would lock the teams into something more solid.
"I really think that all of us want to get on the same page and have the game stay in Dallas," Ms. Miller said after the meeting.
The contract on the table would reportedly last five years. Early in the discussions, the city was considering offering an additional $350,000 each year, but the schools were asking for drastically more. No one privy to the current deal wanted to detail the financial breakdown.
Ms. Miller would only verify that the offer is for multiple years. UT athletic director DeLoss Dodds and Oklahoma athletic director Joe Castiglione also refused to give details.
"I think it was a positive proposal and one we're going to consider," said Mr. Dodds. "I left the meeting with really good feelings about all of this. I know Dallas wants the game, and I know the University of Texas wants it in Dallas."
Mr. Castiglione said he was happy to hear Mr. Jones' presentation, which focused on downtown Dallas.
"I think all of us felt very, very good about the new stadium being located in downtown Dallas," Mr. Castiglione said. "But that's down the road. There's no certainty that's going to happen."
Mr. Jones was vague in his talk about when the stadium would be ready, saying the earliest possible date would be 2009.
A new stadium would please both schools, which have complained about the condition of the Cotton Bowl. UT and OU want more seating capacity and an updated facility. This year the plumbing failed on the south side of the stadium during the Texas-OU game.
"We still have issues that must be addressed between now and when a new stadium would be built," said Mr. Castiglione. "Those details haven't been worked out yet, although we've made progress."
The city and State Fair came up with the $350,000 promised for this year's game by gathering $50,000 from hospitality businesses and $50,000 from tapping the South Dallas Fair Park Trust Fund. The State Fair came up with $50,000 and added $200,000 in relief from rent, security and insurance.
"It was a very easy expenditure because it helps the Fair Park area to have the game there," said Ms. Miller.
Staff writers Jean-Jacques Taylor and Chip Brown contributed to this report.
E-mail kfairbank@dallasnews.com
“We shape our Cities, thereafter they shape us.”
That's reason enough to look for a new place to play. Allow your cutsomers to expect that you cant go pee pee, and they will go go somewhere else. duhThis year the plumbing failed on the south side of the stadium during the Texas-OU game.
Perhaps the Cotton Bowl Classic would have kept more prominence (revenue generating prominence) if the city had the foresight to notice the inadequadicy of the venue by today's standards. Wouldnt it be nice to have the college football's championship played in Fair Park?
Mayor to make announcement on future of Texas-OU game
01:25 PM CST on Wednesday, March 10, 2004
From Staff Reports
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcont....7118dd25.html
Dallas Mayor Laura Miller plans a major announcement this afternoon in her effort to keep the Cotton Bowl as the site of the annual grudge match between the University of Texas and the University of Oklahoma.
The two schools, along with the city and the State Fair of Texas, have been in talks to come up with a new contract for the October football game, which adds as much as $20 million to the local economy.
Last year, the schools said they'd need an additional $350,000 for this year's game or they'd move it to their home turfs. That worried Dallas leaders, who feared Texas and Oklahoma would keep upping the ante each year until the contract ends in 2006. So they've been working to negotiate a contract that would lock the teams into something more solid.
Ms. Miller's news conference is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. at the Cotton Bowl at Fair Park
“We shape our Cities, thereafter they shape us.”
The press conference will be aired live on 1310 AM. Probably also on 1080.
Surely they wouldn't hold the pc at the Cotton bowl if the game was headed elsewhere?
Texas-OU game gets new deal with Dallas
03:51 PM CST on Wednesday, March 10, 2004
From Staff Reports
Dallas Mayor Laura Miller said Wednesday a new five-year contract for the annual grudge match between the University of Texas and the University of Oklahoma had been approved. Miller and other city officials spoke at a news conference at the Cotton Bowl in Fair Park.
The city will pay each school $250,000 a year for expenses and waive the stadium rental at Fair Park, a cost of $94,000.
In addition, 4,000 seats will be added to the end zones at the stadium.
The two schools, along with the city and the State Fair of Texas, had been in talks to come up with a new contract for the October football game, which adds as much as $20 million to the local economy.
The city's previous contract with the school was set to expire in 2006. The new deal is for the next five years.
Last year, the schools said they'd need an additional $350,000 for this year's game or they'd move it to their home turfs. That worried Dallas leaders, who feared Texas and Oklahoma would keep upping the ante each year.
Texas-OU in Cotton Bowl for 5 more years
"You look at Chicago, New York, San Francisco, you'll find lots of small businesses. But here in Dallas, they hold up big businesses and kick out small businesses, and that's not good."
Perhaps now we'll get a brief reprieve from our new favorite sport --- Mayor Bashing?
We all had preconceived notions about her coming in, but when something absolutely needs to get done, it seems to me she finds a way to get it done. I am more hopeful than ever the same will apply to Dallas Cowboys Park.
In my opinion, this issue was a no-brainer, and lacked little political courage, muscle or capital. There is NO WAY that the Powers-That-Be in the business community, much less the huge contingent of UT and OU alumni residing in Dallas, would have ever allowed the game to be moved. Even if the Mayor were against succumbing to the schools' demands, many in the metroplex would have forced her hand.
Interesting side note though (how does this affect the argument for a "Jerry World" on the Fair Park site? The rationale used by most proponents of this plan call for the Cotton Bowl to be refurbished or torn down altogether to make way for a new stadium. Don't you think it will be impossible to host Texas-OU at the same time you build on/refurbish the Cotton Bowl site?)
You can temporarily move UT-ou to Texas Stadium while Jerry stadium is built in Cotton Bowl, but when we do so we will have to be VERY careful and generous, you don't want to have the schools say "well while you're building we'll do a home and home for the game" cause they just might decide that works pretty well. So if we do that we need to be sure we make Texas Stadium a sweet deal for those years.
Miller criticized over Cotton Bowl games
Some seek funding for Grambling-Prairie View before UT-OU is OK'd
07:15 AM CDT on Thursday, August 26, 2004
By DAVE LEVINTHAL / The Dallas Morning News
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcont...cil.133e5.html
A Dallas City Council discussion about football games boiled into a racially charged dispute Wednesday, with council member Maxine Thornton-Reese accusing Mayor Laura Miller of prejudice for prioritizing one contest – the University of Texas vs. the University of Oklahoma – over another – Grambling State University vs. Prairie View A&M University.
"You want to push, push, push whatever the white agenda is!" Dr. Thornton-Reese screamed into her microphone while jabbing her index finger at Ms. Miller, who sat two seats away. "You are showing that you are prejudiced." Ms. Miller flatly denied racial considerations entered into her thinking. Grambling and Prairie View A&M are historically black colleges. The ruckus began Wednesday evening as the council debated whether to subsidize the Texas-OU game, played annually at the Cotton Bowl in Fair Park, with $450,000 over three years in economic development funds or more. As part of the contract, Dallas would also pay the schools $125,000 each over five years.
Council member Leo Chaney, whose South Dallas district includes the Cotton Bowl, then asked whether his council colleagues would consider subsidizing the Grambling-Prairie View game, also played annually at the stadium, with $50,000 over five years. The game is a financial boon to his district, Mr. Chaney said, and without incentives from the city, Dallas risks losing the game to a city such as Houston. Because city lawyers advised Mr. Chaney that he must wait one week before the council could vote on his motion, Mr. Chaney asked the mayor to delay the Texas-OU vote one week "to send the right message to the African-American community – so that you don't treat one game differently than the other."
Ms. Miller resisted.
"It sends a terrible message to Texas and OU ... to delay," Ms. Miller told her colleagues. "There's no downside to approving this contract now." And with that, Dr. Thornton-Reese launched an eight-minute verbal attack on Ms. Miller. "Every time we try to get something, you try to knock us down. I'm tired of that," Dr. Thornton-Reese said. Added Mr. Chaney: "You're sending a terrible message to the African-American community. All I'm asking is to delay it one week – seven days."
The council voted 12 to 2 to delay the Texas-OU vote one week; Ms. Miller and council member Mitchell Rasansky voted against the delay, and council member Bill Blaydes was absent. The council directed Interim City Manager Mary Suhm to find $50,000 in the proposed 2004-05 budget, from which most discretional spending is trimmed.
“We shape our Cities, thereafter they shape us.”
Sounds kind of petty, but I can see the other 12 council members' point.
goodness. no real comment. Let's just do what we can to keep the game.
Have those other teams asked for money?
I'm asking in ignorance, not sarcasm.
They probably haven't, UT-OU on the otherhand are constantly threatening to move or play home and home. I've heard only a few Houston or Memphis rumblings about Grambling-Prairie View.
Cotton Bowl update on fast track
Dallas: Proposed upgrades may not be enough for UT, OU
11:53 PM CDT on Friday, October 7, 2005
By COLLEEN McCAIN NELSON / The Dallas Morning News
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcont....220afe2c.html
The city could start adding seats to the Cotton Bowl as soon as next year in an effort to prevent Texas and Oklahoma from taking their football game and going home, Dallas Mayor Laura Miller said Friday. Plans to remodel the stadium in Fair Park are on the fast track, the mayor said. And before the Red River Rivalry kicks off next year, the city could pass a bond package to finance repairs and begin expanding the capacity of the aging Cotton Bowl.
"All this will happen quickly," Ms. Miller said during a panel discussion. "We don't have time for it not to." As Longhorn and Sooner fans streamed into the city Friday, the mayor underscored her commitment to keeping the annual autumn rite in Dallas, saying she's "absurdly optimistic" that a yet-to-be-unveiled plan will persuade the schools to stay put. But Texas and Oklahoma officials have sounded warnings recently, suggesting that perhaps there's no place like home for this gridiron grudge match.
In Austin and Norman, Okla., the stadiums are bigger, the amenities are more modern, and the money flows directly to the schools. Ms. Miller said she is working with State Fair of Texas officials and stadium consultants to put together a two-phase plan to update the art deco stadium and increase its capacity. She said details and dollar amounts would be revealed soon, but she added that the price tag probably would not top $50 million. Darrell Jordan, who has led past efforts to refurbish the Cotton Bowl and put a dome over it, said during Friday's discussion that the city could not afford to lose what he deemed the best sports event in the state.
"We need to be on top of this," he said. "This is a huge issue for the city." City and fair officials have voiced strong support for upgrading the stadium. But financing for the project and other key details remain unresolved. Ms. Miller said that a bond package could be used to pay for at least part of the repairs but that the city probably would explore selling naming rights and using other private financing options as well. The mayor said that she is so confident voters would be willing to chip in that she would advocate putting a bond proposal on the ballot next year.
"To me, it's not even a close call that whatever we put on the ballot would pass," she said. But that doesn't mean the city is willing to write a blank check. Ms. Miller deflected suggestions that the project could cost $60 million or more, adding that "$60 million is a little high for me." Ms. Miller said she hopes the city's efforts would compel Texas and Oklahoma to make a 10-year commitment to Dallas. Rumors suggesting that the game would move to the UT and OU campuses have surfaced repeatedly during recent years. Each time, the city has offered financial perks and minor modifications to the Cotton Bowl, and the schools have agreed to short-term contracts.
Texas and Oklahoma are committed to play in Dallas through at least 2007. So far, the schools' athletic directors have shown little interest in long-term contracts. They generally have been unwilling to say much about the future of the Cotton Bowl, adding that it's not up to them to decide what Dallas does with its stadium. OU athletic director Joe Castiglione declined to comment Friday on the future of the game.
But privately, Oklahoma officials have said the school won't commit to a long-term contract based only on assurances that the Cotton Bowl will be upgraded. They have expressed frustration with the city of Dallas, saying they want results – not more rhetoric. UT athletic director DeLoss Dodds said Friday that the schools aren't going to tell Dallas what to do with the Cotton Bowl and that they'll wait to make a decision until the city decides what to do with it. "I think we're going to talk in November, and we'll discuss things then," he said. Mr. Jordan said the city should not push for a 10-year commitment but should make needed repairs and encourage the schools' fans to show their support for keeping the game in Dallas.
"Those two schools are both going to listen to what their fans want," he said. OU President David Boren has suggested that it might be too late for the city to save the game. "We have given Dallas every opportunity, and I think Dallas has really missed the boat," he recently told the Norman Transcript. Kevin Sherrington, a sports columnist for The Dallas Morning News , said during the panel discussion that both schools want to move the game home. Complaints about the Cotton Bowl are a convenient excuse, but potential profit would be the driving force in this decision, he said.
"That's what they're all about," Mr. Sherrington said. Still, Mr. Jordan and Ms. Miller said they remain convinced that Dallas could retain the Texas-OU game and attract other high-profile college football games if the Cotton Bowl is upgraded. Despite the mayor's effusive praise for the game and the "magical element" in the Cotton Bowl, her chief of staff said Friday that Ms. Miller would not be at today's game. Ms. Miller plans to deliver gifts to the wives of officials from both schools before the game, but her husband and her son will be sitting in her seats, Frank Librio said.
Ms. Miller, a graduate of the University of Wisconsin at Madison, joked Friday about her lack of football knowledge. She added, though, "I know enough about football to know that the Texas-OU game is not leaving Dallas and can't leave Dallas."
The recent history:
In 2003, the schools and the city of Dallas announced a new contract after Dallas officials agreed to defray the universities' travel costs and stadium rental fees. The State Fair of Texas also promised to explore options for adding seats and suites at the Cotton Bowl. In 2004, the schools announced that the games would continue in Dallas after the city promised assorted financial incentives and agreed to add seats in the end zone and improve the Cotton Bowl's bathrooms. In August, officials from both schools raised concerns about the Cotton Bowl's condition, suggesting that they weren't likely to stick around if Dallas didn't make significant improvements.
What's next:
Dallas Mayor Laura Miller said she has been working with State Fair officials and consultants to develop a two-phase plan that would expand the Cotton Bowl's capacity and upgrade the 75-year-old stadium. She said she plans to present the plan to school officials and will seek a new, long-term contract during the next two to three months. A bond proposal to finance the project could go to Dallas voters next year.
Staff writers Brian Davis and Chip Brown contributed to this report.
E-mail cmccain@dallasnews.com
“We shape our Cities, thereafter they shape us.”
As many of you know, there is a pretty strong possibility of moving
TX/OU from the Cotton Bowl and making a home and home series. For me,
this would kill one of the great traditions of college football, making
it just another game. Think about it, no more Fletcher's Corn Dogs,
painted coolers, split fan bases, among other great memories of TX/OU
weekend.
http://www.PetitionOnline.com/TXOUDAL/
Is tradition dead? Isn't that what college football is all about? History, tradition, and losing to Oklahoma?
It's all about money.
Dallas uber alles
The update to all of this is that the game is in contract till 2014 for sure and 2015 as the last year if they dont take the option to back out and move it else where. Alot of rumors and eyes can see it going down the highway to Cowboys stadium in Arlington where revenue wouldnt have a limit due to the seating capacity. With the large amount of land surrounding the stadium alot of people invision a more festival atmosphere just around the two teams and not the state fair. FEEDBACK PLEASE!!!!!
I think that's a very poor idea. Don't get me wrong, the new stadium is magnificent, but this game should stay at the Cotton Bowl. I don't really know how to describe it but the UT - OU game just wouldn't feel right in a huge, ultra modern place like Cowboys Stadium. There is so much more character in Fair Park and I think it would be a real shame to see it moved to Arlington.
92,000 fixed seats at the Cotton Bowl vs 80,000 fixed seats at Cowboys Stadium...Originally Posted by arlingtonmayor
Please explain
I hope the Texas A&M v Ark. game will turn into a classic and anticipated game at Cowboys Stadium, but I agree the Cotton Bowl is a better venue for college games. I suspect the vainglorious appeal of Cowboys Stadium will be less appealing to university regents and alumni over the next few years.
College sports, college sports fans and college sports players need increased separation from the world of professional sports.
College sports are professional. They don't pay the players except in tuition. Everybody else gets paid the same way the pro teams do. The players are just not as good. The people concerned are not interested in any separation.
Teams that play at the BCS level live in that world.
Exactly. . . .and players at every level are preparing for the next level. That's why we see high schools playing in college (and even pro stadiums), and colleges increasingly playing in pro stadiums. Jerry's going to continue to bring these colleges to play at Cowboys Stadium for the foreseeable future. We might as well get used to it (Jerry and son Stephan [Cotton Bowl Classic Board] wield lots of influence among Big 12 schools, and others).
Now, as for the TX - OU Game, I think. . .I hope that the City of Dallas will continue to put together an attractive package for the teams to remain at the Cotton Bowl after 2014. I know that the game's tradition and the preference of the fans/alumni certainly lean toward that option. However, we'd all be naive to believe that Jerry is not already making the strongest pitch possible to get that game out to Arlington.
A wise man speaks because he has something to say; a fool because he has to say something. - Plato
If I recall correctly, when this question was posed to both ADs, the overwhelming consensus was that if the game wasn't played in the Cotton Bowl that it would go to a home-home format. Both schools have put a lot of capital into their stadiums and would make more money having a home-home series. The reason that it stays at Fair Park is due in large part to influential alumni and groups of alumni who like the tradition and the atmosphere at FP. No matter what kind of money Jerry throws at the schools, they depend on the ongoing support of their alumni and wouldn't do anything to alienate that.
I think this is one case where Dallas really does have the edge. That being said, Dallas shouldn't rest on that and continue to aggressively court these teams (and others).
My guess is that the ADs want to make more money offered by home/home, but need an opening to make it happen. If the real reason is to get a game for the NTX alumni accessible to both schools, Arlington works as well. They likely know that Cotton Bowl can't go much longer and 2015 looks like a great date to part ways.
Consequently it may mean Arlington is not really in the hunt. Unfortunately it also means Cotton Bowl is on a 5 year clock.
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