Fanbogs - College Football Weblogs

October 5, 2004

New NFL stadium pitch includes keeping Red River Shootout

A glossy mailer sent out recently in the Dallas area includes a pitch for the new Dallas Cowboys NFL stadium, moving the Red River Shootout between Texas and Oklahoma away from it's traditional home, the Cotton Bowl.

This idea is not entirely new, but the Stadium is coming up for a public vote, and the proponents have pulled out all the big guns to ensure the public stadium is approved.

And one of those weapons, is the yearly Red River Shootout at the Cotton Bowl during the State Fair of Texas.

The Cotton Bowl has fallen in disrepair, and Dallas officials have dismissed any ideas of upgrading the facility, due to age.

This year marks the first of a five year contract between the two schools, but from the looks of things, an all out war for the match-up is about to commence.

Last year, Texas Motor Speedway, based out of Fort Worth, made noise that it too would make a pitch to host the annual rivalry game.

Now it appears that the new NFL stadium group has made the game one of the many points folks need to consider when voting for or against it.

As of now, both Texas and Oklahoma's AD's are playing it cool.

Oklahoma's athletic director, Joe Castiglione, has said he hopes the Texas-OU rivalry can continue at the Cotton Bowl because the hoopla surrounding the State Fair makes the game special.

DeLoss Dodds, UT's athletic director, said he also hopes the game remains in Fair Park as long as stadium upgrades are completed.

"If I had my druthers, I'd like to keep the game in its traditional setting -- the State Fair and the Cotton Bowl," said Dodds.

One wonders if that will still be the case as talks heat up.

Posted by

Share|

 

Comments:

  1. Fanblogs Author Robert Knodell said:

    posted on October 5, 2004 11:42 AM — 168.166.80.205 — link — abuse?



    Actually, it is my understanding that the city and the state fair have committed to upgrading the Cotton Bowl in a manner satisfactory to both schools. Where does it say they have now "dismissed any ideas of upgrading the facility"?

  2. Fanblogs Author Josh McClain said:

    posted on October 5, 2004 12:14 PM — 198.207.0.5 — link — abuse?



    In the article I linked under This idea isn't entirely new.

    They signed the five year agreement, mostly because of tradition.

    TMS made the noise when those discussions were going on, and the schools invited Jerry Jones in to hear his pitch on how his new stadium could host the game. The new five year deal was essentially a hold over until better options come along, which they assume will, in 2009.

  3. Mike Ellington said:

    posted on October 7, 2004 3:02 PM — 64.58.39.208 — link — abuse?



    To be quite honest with you, I am really not sure how big of a political issue this is and the ramifications that it has in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area. I do agree that the Cotton Bowl needs some renevation work if the OU-Texas Red River shootout is going to continue to host the big game of the Big 12.

    As of now, I don't have any figures inasmuch as to how much it would cost to renevate the Cotton Bowl. Also, I agree with many people that the Texas State Fair and the OU-Texas game go hand in glove. Remove the game from the atmosphere and you remove a lot of the hoopla and frenzy that goes with the shootout. I really don't think that by building a new NFL stadium is the answer for resolving the OU-Texas game, however I can see it making a lot of Dallas Cowboy fans plenty happy.

  4. Dick Shinary said:

    posted on October 7, 2004 8:18 PM — 68.14.172.181 — link — abuse?



    I think screw the tradition and make Texas come to Oklahoma every other year or up the payment to the Sooners.
    Oklahoma needs the money that could be earned in Norman or Oklahoma City just like Dallas does.

Please note that all comments are subject to the Fanblogs Comment Policy.