A new professional sports team could call Dallas' Cotton Bowl Stadium at Fair Park starting this summer under a proposed deal.
The Dallas City Council is scheduled to vote Wednesday to approve an agreement to pay Fair Park's management company, Oakview Group, $296,000 a year to allow an unnamed sports team to play its home games at the stadium. .
The City Council agenda document does not list the names of the teams or sports involved. The document also does not specify whether there are any other city incentives being paid to the team.
The resolution states that $296,000 will be paid in event grants worth $18,500 per game, meaning the team will play 16 home games.
“The City Council has designated Cotton Bowl and Fair Park as an economic development initiative and strategic priority for the Southern Division,” city documents state. “In line with this strategy, the City, through Convention & Event Services and OVG, has begun negotiations with professional sports teams to bring seasonal league games to the Cotton Bowl beginning in the summer of 2024.”
OVG spokesperson Julian Bowman declined to comment on the proposal Monday.
Under the proposal, the city would give OVG a subsidy and OVG would continue to reserve the stadium on days when the venue is not reserved for an unknown team. According to the agreement, the city's budget will be no more than $592,000 over two years.
A new women's professional soccer league called the USL Super League will begin in August. One of the eight teams is based in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. The team has not yet been named, but its website shows a 17-second video featuring footage of the downtown Dallas skyline and ends with the message, “Women's professional soccer is coming to Dallas this August.” There is.
Team owners Dori Arraiza and Tripp Neal declined to comment when asked Monday if they would play in the Cotton Bowl.
“These are exciting times for women's sports and we appreciate the interest and support,” Araiza said. “Our leadership has been in contact with several local venues as different options for the team to play.”
Neil said the team will reveal its name, logo, other branding and details about next season at an event at Klyde Warren Park at 10:15 a.m. Thursday.
“North Texas has never had a professional women's soccer team and is a hotbed for female youth players, so I'm really looking forward to it,” Neal said. “It’s been a long time coming, but I’m looking forward to jumping into the largest sports city in the country and being a part of the fabric here.”
On April 24, the City Council approved a 15-year, $19 million contract for the WNBA's Dallas Wings to relocate from Arlington to downtown Dallas. The proposal still needs approval from the WNBA Board of Governors, but the Wings would play at Dallas Memorial Auditorium starting in 2026.
The more than 90,000-seat Cotton Bowl Stadium is undergoing an approximately $140 million renovation that is expected to be completed by the 2025 State Fair of Texas in the fall. Improvements to restrooms, concessions, seating and new escalators are among the plans to renovate the more than 90-year-old stadium.
During the State Fair, this venue hosts the annual Red River Showdown football game between the University of Texas and the University of Oklahoma, and the State Fair Classic football game between Grambling State University and Prairie View A&M University .
The Cotton Bowl also hosts soccer games. The venue will host FC Barcelona vs. Club América in December, Club Atlético River Plate vs. CF Monterrey on January 17th, and the Major League Soccer preseason game on January 22nd, FC Barcelona vs. Club America. Dallas vs. Inter Miami FC was held. In the January game, FC Dallas hadn't played in the Cotton Bowl since 2009.
FC Dallas, formerly known as the Dallas Burn, was home to the Cotton Bowl from 1996 to 2002, again in 2004, and for part of the 2005 season. The team became FC Dallas in 2005 and has since been based at the approximately 20,000-seat Toyota Stadium in Frisco.
The 2026 Cotton Bowl will also host the FIFA Fan Festival, a public viewing event for World Cup matches. His AT&T Stadium in Arlington would host nine World Cup games that year, including one semifinal game.
Staff writer Devyani Chhetri contributed to this report.
