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Cotton Bowl Board Votes to Move Game to New Cowboys Stadium
Associated Press via Houston Chronicle ^ | Feb. 27, 2007 | Matt Curry

Posted on 02/27/2007 3:32:28 PM PST by COEXERJ145

DALLAS — Hoping to get the Cotton Bowl back on college football's national stage, the board that oversees the game voted Tuesday to move it to the new Dallas Cowboys stadium starting in 2010.

Cotton Bowl Athletic Association Chairman Bruce Gadd declined to reveal details of the contract with the Cowboys but said it will last more than a decade.

"This is one of the most important decisions in the 71-year history of the AT&T Cotton Bowl," Gadd said in a statement. "Moving the Classic preserves the Classic's legacy and, at the same time, secures its future as one of college football's best postseason bowl games."

Backers want to get the Cotton Bowl into the Bowl Championship Series mix and make it the future location of a national championship game.

The move was approved by a voice vote during a somber regular meeting of the Cotton Bowl Athletic Association board of directors, Gadd said. He said no negative votes were voiced, although some board members may have declined to vote.

"There were tears in the room," he said. "When it was over it was unanimous, and there was some applause. ... It was a move we had to make. There was not one incident of someone standing up and saying maybe we shouldn't do this."

The first game at the new venue in Arlington, between Dallas and Fort Worth, will be on New Year's Day, 2010.

(Excerpt) Read more at chron.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; US: Texas
KEYWORDS: chat; cottonbowl
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To: ThomasThomas; COEXERJ145; YoungSoutherner; PAR35; Rte66; speedy; PhiKapMom; onyx
Dallas has a new stadium in Arlington?

The Dallas Cowboys were having a contest to see which city in the D/FW metroplex would cough up the most money to build a new state of the art stadium for the Cowboys. Arlington won.

21 posted on 02/27/2007 4:28:18 PM PST by Paleo Conservative
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To: ThomasThomas

Well they are building one in Arlington. I actually live a few miles away from where the new stadium will be. I wonder how the parking will be, because across the street is a Super Walmart that stays crowded. The location will be a few blocks from where the Rangers play, Six Flags, and Hurricane Harbor (water park).


22 posted on 02/27/2007 4:30:23 PM PST by YoungSoutherner
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To: Rte66; speedy; COEXERJ145
Heck, I didn't want Oilers season tickets - anyway, my business always had plenty of freebies for that, even Skyboxes.

At least with skybox seats even if the game sucked, it still was a pretty good party with catering.

23 posted on 02/27/2007 4:30:55 PM PST by Paleo Conservative
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To: Paleo Conservative

Last year was the first time I ever went to the state fair. It just seemed like a waste of money, considering it was 2 adults and 2 kids. IMO the food and rides was expensive and not worth the price.


24 posted on 02/27/2007 4:34:37 PM PST by YoungSoutherner
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To: YoungSoutherner

I wouldn't have gone when I did except that my uncle was involved in WFAA's HDTV exhibit. I had an awful herniated disc in my back that made it quite painful to walk around the fair grounds. It was murder having to walk back to the back yard where the car I came in was parked.


25 posted on 02/27/2007 4:40:17 PM PST by Paleo Conservative
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To: Rte66

Wow, one of those great old games that the Mizlou Network used to televise. Tulsa vs. Mississippi sure sounds like it should be right. Wasn't that the Gary Rhome to Jerry Levias team? Ever see the Oilers in the Hennigan/Tolar days when they played at Jeppensen (I think that was the name) Stadium? If memory serves, it was a high school field.


26 posted on 02/27/2007 4:42:16 PM PST by speedy
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To: speedy

I'm with you on all that! The annual trek to Dallas the first weekend in October was always the *real* start of fall for me as a child.

It was a huge deal, whether coming from the south, living in Houston, or from the north, living in Oklahoma. Oh, or from across town, my SMU dorm room.

But as a kid, it was when I got my new winter coat each year at Neiman's and we ate out at the best restaurants and did everything with huge groups of friends from both sides of the river (but only the red side of the stadium, lol). It was a huge reunion and a ton of fun, for 4-5 days.

Sometimes it was the only time all year that I got to see a Broadway road show or some important exhibit, like King Tut or Catherine the Great's fabulous things.

I lost out every year on the "perfect attendance" award in my grade school years because of OU-TX weekend and my parents taking me out of school for at least 2 days. And my love for the "gathering" never wavered through 50 years - until I've recently been too sick and too broke to go.

Big 12? What's that, lol?


27 posted on 02/27/2007 4:43:37 PM PST by Rte66
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To: mgstarr
While old and in disrepair, I'll miss that stadium.

Yeah, we always miss them when they are gone. A lot of history at the Cotton Bowl.

28 posted on 02/27/2007 4:44:40 PM PST by speedy
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To: speedy

Yup, it was Jeppesen, also my own HS stadium.


29 posted on 02/27/2007 4:44:59 PM PST by Rte66
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To: COEXERJ145

fairpark sucks


30 posted on 02/27/2007 4:45:30 PM PST by mylife (The Roar Of The Masses Could Be Farts)
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To: Paleo Conservative

You bet!


31 posted on 02/27/2007 4:46:07 PM PST by Rte66
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To: Rte66

Nice memories, Rte66. I'm not from that neck of the woods, but I appreciate the tradition. One of my earliest college football memories was a Cotton Bowl between Air Force and TCU that ended in a scoreless tie. They don't make them like that anymore!


32 posted on 02/27/2007 4:48:09 PM PST by speedy
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To: Rte66

How neat that Jeppesen was your stadium. I remember old AFL games broadcast from there -- Curt Gowdy and Paul Christman -- Lou Rymkus was the coach -- George Blanda was the QB. In addition to Charlie Hennegan and Charlie Tolar, I remember Billy Cannon on those teams. In fact the Oilers won the very first AFL championship, beating the (then) Los Angeles Chargers.


33 posted on 02/27/2007 4:52:22 PM PST by speedy
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To: speedy

Oh, yeah. Blanda's really the only one I recall vividly from that time period - Billy Cannon, from later shenanigans. Yes, the AFL! Wow. That's back when I still liked pro football, ha. No more - just college and mostly just OU.


34 posted on 02/27/2007 4:57:17 PM PST by Rte66
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To: COEXERJ145

Cotton Bowl officials have stadium decision to make in March

By CHUCK CARLTON
The Dallas Morning News
February 21, 2007

For the AT&T Cotton Bowl Classic, the world changed two years ago.

A New Year's Day tradition since 1937, the bowl suddenly realized that its place in college football was anything but secure. Houston and glitzy top-of-the-line Reliant Stadium emerged as a real threat to claim the Cotton Bowl's teams.

Officials learned that a storied past and a sterling reputation might not be enough to maintain a place in the bowl hierarchy. A slip to second-tier status would have been a major blow to the game's prestige, one from which it might never have recovered.

The lessons have stayed with the bowl and made it reach hard decisions, including a $500,000 obligation if it does not move to the Cowboys' new stadium by 2010.

The Cotton Bowl Classic board continues to face difficult decisions. By the end of March, the board is expected to vote on a recommendation to move from its namesake Dallas home to the Cowboys' new stadium in Arlington.

"For the first time, it really opened our eyes that it was a real threat," Cotton Bowl president Rick Baker said. "The danger of losing our picks, and quite frankly, a great deal of our stature in the bowl community, was a real one."

In 2005, Cotton Bowl officials thought they were in routine negotiations to extend their contract with the Big 12 and Southeastern conferences. While they understood that the bowl world had become more competitive, especially with new stadiums like Reliant, nothing prepared them for what they heard during a meeting with Big 12 officials in May 2005 at the D-FW Airport Hyatt Regency.

At a meeting with Big 12 Commissioner Kevin Weiberg and several Big 12 athletics directors, a small group of Cotton Bowl officials discovered that Houston was making a major pitch for their teams. The Cotton Bowl was guaranteed the first Big 12 selection and the second SEC pick after the Bowl Championship Series.

Houston offered a retractable roof, lavish amenities and revenue streams that allowed it to offer payouts of $1 million per team each year.

Everything from the game experience to the climate control to the money favored the striking steel-and-glass construction. No longer would schools have to worry about cold or ice or cramped fan conditions in a stadium built during the Great Depression.

Baker remembers thinking it was "a watershed moment" as he left with Cotton Bowl board executives Gayle Earls and Fin Ewing III and board attorney Mike Baggett.

The feeling was similar on the other side.

"It was a different world for the Cotton Bowl Classic than it had faced before," said Oklahoma's Joe Castiglione, one of the Big 12 athletics directors who attended the meeting.

The Cotton Bowl immediately checked with people in the college football and bowl communities to see if Houston really was a legitimate threat. Maybe the Big 12 was merely trying to get a larger payout as part of the negotiating process.

Take Houston very seriously, the Cotton Bowl was told.

"It was a very competitive landscape," said Derrick Fox, president and CEO of San Antonio's Alamo Bowl. Houston "took a very serious run at moving up and targeted those bids. They were very aggressive in going after that spot."

SMG-Reliant officials did not return phone calls seeking comment. Reliant had made no secret of its attempt to land marquee games, having made a try in 2003 for the annual Texas-Oklahoma football game. The SMG-Reliant management company had a new stadium and a desire to get as many big events as possible.

David Bradley, manager of the Reliant-based Texas Bowl, said he wants to run the best bowl possible, develop a solid reputation and improve its selection position in the next negotiations.

For the conferences and the Cotton Bowl, it was serious business.

"We're always interested in trying to maximize the dollars associated with these games," the Big 12's Weiberg said. "That's part of how we grow revenue with our members and part of how we pay the expenses to cover all bowl opportunities."

Weiberg wondered how much the negotiations served as a Cotton Bowl catalyst for future stadium improvements and a possible move to Arlington.

"I think there has been a long-term interest on the part of the Cotton Bowl folks for being in the mix for the Bowl Championship Series," Weiberg said. "I personally believe there is more to it than the position they have with the conference currently."

I think perhaps that last negotiation was a factor in considering how the bowl can make improvements, but I don't think it was necessarily the only factor."

Certainly, it forced the Cotton Bowl to scramble during the two months remaining in the negotiating process.

"At that point, we realized that we really needed to dig deep [on] where we were going to go from here and what was going to be our future," Baker said.

Baker said the Cotton Bowl took "a leap of faith" to continue to keep its teams and bowl position.

Even though the Cotton Bowl had maximized the revenue from the aging stadium, it agreed to increase its payout per team from $3 million to $3.5 million

And as part of the contract, if the game has not relocated to the Cowboys' new stadium by 2010, it must pay an extra $500,000. Baker likened it to a balloon payment in a mortgage.

"Things were changing, and we needed to be very aggressive," Baker said.

Asked if he would feel comfortable going into the next negotiations without any changes to the Classic, Baker hedged.

"Some might say the stadium situation has hindered our efforts to remain competitive in the college football postseason landscape," Baker said. "We've learned through this last negotiation that history and tradition will only take you so far."


35 posted on 02/27/2007 5:06:56 PM PST by Paleo Conservative
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To: PhiKapMom

Not sure the implications for the OU/Texas game now that the Cotton Bowl has moved.. It may well become a home and home affair now.


36 posted on 02/27/2007 5:19:16 PM PST by deport ( Cue Spooky Music...)
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To: deport; PhiKapMom

I wonder how much longer the Cotton Bowl will be maintained by the city of Dallas if both those games move. I bet it will be imploded in the not too distant future.


37 posted on 02/27/2007 7:14:26 PM PST by Paleo Conservative
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To: Paleo Conservative

I cannot wait until the new stadium opens. Did you view the graphics that takes you around the stadium and then in through the door like you are in a Star Wars ship?


38 posted on 02/27/2007 7:16:49 PM PST by PhiKapMom (Broken Glass Republican -- RudyforPresident2008@yahoogroups.com or http://www.rudygforamerica.com/fo)
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To: deport

We have a contract signed I think through 2010 to keep the game in Dallas.


39 posted on 02/27/2007 7:49:34 PM PST by PhiKapMom (Broken Glass Republican -- RudyforPresident2008@yahoogroups.com or http://www.rudygforamerica.com/fo)
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To: PhiKapMom; deport
But why should the city of Dallas spend $30 million upgrading the stadium in addtion to $20 million upgrading the fair grounds if the game is only played there another four years?

Cotton Bowl moves; what about Texas-OU?

School officials say bowl game's decision won't affect future for Longhorns, Sooners — at least for now.

By Randy Riggs
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF

Wednesday, February 28, 2007

The Cotton Bowl Classic, a holiday football fixture at Dallas' Fair Park since 1937, is on the move. Is the Texas-Oklahoma game far behind?

The Cotton Bowl Athletic Association voted Tuesday to move its bowl game to the Dallas Cowboys' stadium in Arlington when the $1 billion retractable-roof facility opens in 2009. The first Cotton Bowl there will be on New Year's Day, 2010.

The change of address might allow the venerable bowl to regain its status as one of college football's elite games. Its prestige took a devastating hit in 1994 when it was excluded from the rotation of the Tier I Bowl Alliance, which became the Bowl Championship Series in 1999. The main reasons cited were Dallas' unpredictable weather at the end of the year as well as the scruffy state of the stadium, built in 1930.

Tuesday's announcement also could open the door for a move for the Texas-Oklahoma game, played on the grounds of the Texas State Fair yearly since 1929.

The possibility of making the game a home-and-home affair, alternating annually between the campuses in Austin and Norman, Okla., has been broached in the past. But last May, the Longhorns and Sooners extended their contract with the Cotton Bowl stadium through the 2010 season.

In November, Dallas voters approved a $30 million improvement package to the stadium in addition to $20 million earmarked for the project by the State Fair and the city. The $20 million currently is being spent on new scoreboards and seating.

Officials say it's too early to tell if the Texas-OU game will follow the Cotton Bowl Classic to Arlington or break with the neutral-site tradition to go to the home-and-home format.

"This move of the Cotton Bowl Classic to Arlington does nothing to change our agreement for the Texas-Oklahoma game," Texas athletics director DeLoss Dodds said in a statement. "We have no plans beyond that."

Joe Castiglione, OU's athletic director, said the Cotton Bowl Classic's decision to move was not a surprise.

"But I really can't say whether it will have any effect on future (Texas-OU) decisions because that's so far down the road," he said.

Castiglione added the majority of Sooner fans want to keep the game in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex.

"I think our fans really embrace the tradition and uniqueness of the game," he said. "They want to preserve the tradition for as long as they can. It's established itself as one of the unique phenomenons in the pageantry of college football, and people want to see that tradition upheld.

"The dynamics for that (bowl) game are totally different than for OU-Texas," Castiglione added. "What they're trying to do is keep the Classic viable to put them in position for a BCS game."

Cotton Bowl Association President Rick Baker said the Texas-OU game enjoys two benefits that the postseason bowl doesn't — typically less inclement weather in early October and the backdrop of the Texas State Fair.

"The factors we had to face as we went through this decision process are different than what Texas and Oklahoma will face," Baker said.

Baker added the ability to enclose the roof at the Cowboys' stadium "is the one missing piece we feel can make our game great again. (Weather) has always sort of been our Achilles' heel."

Whether that's enough to put the Cotton Bowl in the mix if the BCS decides to expand is unknown, although "I don't think the move hurts them in that regard, that's for sure," said Big 12 Commissioner Kevin Weiberg, a former BCS coordinator.

The BCS just completed the first of a four-year "double-hosting" format in which one of its bowls — the Fiesta, Orange, Sugar and Rose — hosts the BCS title game as well as its traditional bowl.

Baker believes the new stadium will put the Cotton Bowl in contention should the BCS alter its format.

"I don't know what the odds are," he said. "But looking at the landscape, it makes sense that if they add a city to the BCS, they look at the state of Texas. As important as football is here, and being in the relative center of the country, it seems very logical that Texas would be a preferred location.

"We know we have strong competition with Houston and San Antonio," Baker added. "All we can do is put ourselves in the best position to be competitive, and we believe we've done that."


40 posted on 02/27/2007 8:00:45 PM PST by Paleo Conservative
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