The Dallas City Council unanimously approved an agreement Wednesday that paves the way for a new women’s professional soccer team to call Cotton Bowl Stadium its home starting this summer.
The City Council approved a two-year, $592,000 subsidy to Fair Park operators, with an option to continue the annual $296,000 subsidy for a third year, to secure a deal with an unnamed USL Super League team to play home games at the 90-year-old stadium in South Dallas.
The City Council approved the city grant by a vote of 14 to 0. Councilwoman Carla Mendelsohn was absent from the vote.
“The addition of a USL franchise to the Cotton Bowl will not only allow Dallas to witness the rise of women’s soccer, but it will also actively shape the future of the sport while providing opportunities for those who otherwise would not have access to it,” said Monica Paul, executive director of the Dallas Sports Commission. The Sports Commission promotes sporting events and competitions in the D-FW region as a division of VisitDallas, which the city contracts with to promote conventions, public events, advertising and tourism in Dallas.
The move marks the second time in as many months that the Dallas City Council has approved a deal to attract a professional women’s sports team. The move was hailed Wednesday as a move that is expected to boost Dallas’ status as a spectator sports destination, help Dallas participate in the continued growth of women’s professional sports and be an economic development engine for the southern half of the city.
The deal to allow more frequent use of Cotton Bowl Stadium, which seats more than 90,000 spectators, “is something everyone at Fair Park has been waiting for,” said City Councilman Adam Bazaldua, who represents the area.
“I think it speaks volumes that our city is so proactive in investing in and highlighting the importance of women’s sports,” he said.
New Soccer League
The USL Super League is a new eight-team women’s soccer league that will play matches from August to December, with a mid-season break until January, before further matches are scheduled to be played from February to May.
The team is expected to unveil the club’s name, logo and other branding, as well as details about next season, at an event at Klyde Warren Park on Thursday morning.
Jim Neal, the team’s CEO, whose family owns the team, told city council members on Wednesday he was excited about the team becoming the city’s first women’s professional soccer team and said he looks forward to helping bring more investment to women’s sports.
He said the team is in negotiations with the University of Dallas to secure space for a practice field. The team aims to host youth clinics and tournaments, plans to have more than half of its employees be women and wants to have a minority team owner who is a woman or a person of color.
“We’re committed to building this team for Dallas and a team the city of Dallas can be proud of,” Neal said.
Under the proposal, the city would subsidize Fair Park’s management company, Oak View Group, and the company would continue to book the stadium on days when it’s not booked for a football team. A proposed resolution ahead of Wednesday’s vote outlined $296,000 in annual event subsidies of $18,500 per game, but it was not immediately clear what the full terms of the agreements for teams to play at the stadium were or if the city was offering any other incentives.
On April 24, the City Council approved a 15-year, $19 million deal for the WNBA’s Dallas Wings to relocate from Arlington to downtown Dallas. The proposal, which still awaits approval from the WNBA Board of Governors, would see the Wings play games at the Dallas Memorial Auditorium beginning in 2026.
“We are thrilled that another Dallas women’s sports team will once again play in such an iconic and historic venue,” said Interim Mayor Kimberly Biser Tolbert.
Cotton Bowl Renovation
The Cotton Bowl Stadium is undergoing a roughly $140 million renovation that is expected to be completed by the Texas State Fair in the fall of 2025. Plans for the stadium’s renovations include improvements to restrooms, concessions, seating and new escalators.
The venue annually hosts the Red River Showdown football game between the University of Texas and the University of Oklahoma, as well as the State Fair Classic football game between Grambling State University and Prairie View A&M University. Formerly the home field of Major League Soccer’s FC Dallas, it regularly hosts soccer matches, including a preseason game between FC Dallas and Inter Miami in January.
In 2026, the Cotton Bowl will host a FIFA Fan Festival with public viewing of World Cup matches. AT&T Stadium in Arlington will host nine World Cup matches that year, including the semi-finals.
Wednesday’s deal certainly drew scrutiny, with City Council member Gay Donnell Willis expressing concern about the deal’s involvement of OVG and Fair Park First, the nonprofit that oversees management of the city-owned 277-acre park.
At least two audits have been underway since Fair Park First CEO Brian LeAllen issued a statement in April alleging that OVG may have been using charitable donations for day-to-day operating costs when they should have been used for capital improvements at the site.
OVG has denied any wrongdoing. City officials were told Luallen stepped down as the nonprofit’s CEO on May 1, but the nonprofit’s board of directors announced on May 5 that Luallen would continue in his role and would be taking 45 days of paid leave as part of a review of his ability to perform his job.
Asked whether Dallas’ contract with the football team would be affected if it cut ties with Fair Park First and OVG, Deputy Director of Parks and Recreation Ryan O’Connor said, “There would be no functional change from the team’s perspective.”
“The city will be taking over that contract,” O’Connor said, “and we’ll continue to manage that contract just like any other party on campus.”
Mayor Eric Johnson, who has been credited with playing a key role in helping Dallas attract the Wings and the new soccer club, said Wednesday he has no plans to stop adding Dallas-based sports teams. He has set up a City Council committee in 2022 to explore ways to attract more professional sports franchises and events to the city and retain the ones already there.
“Rest assured, our work in the field of sports is not over yet,” the mayor said. “The best is yet to come.”
