AT&T Stadium Facts: Learn More About The Home of The Dallas Cowboys

Cowboy Stadium is the second-largest dome-shaped stadium on the planet.

Completed and opened on May 27, 2009, the stadium was built for the Dallas Cowboys, a professional American football team. It's considered one of the engineering miracles of humankind.

This stadium poses one of the world's largest and most expensive venues. It also houses one of the world's largest video board and column-free rooms, with an occupancy of 80,000 seats. However, for major events, the stadium is expandable to accommodate 100,000 viewers.

The Arlington Stadium, renowned for its open-roof design, was the former football stadium of the Dallas Cowboys. The Arlington Stadium had a capacity of 35,700 people. In 2009, the Cowboys moved to the AT&T Stadium. The owners of the new stadium wanted to provide their guests with the same open-air stadium experience. But now, with a retractable one that can be closed during unfavorable weather.

Dallas Cowboys played their first game in the stadium on September 20, 2009.

Details About The Stadium

Built in Arlington, Texas, the United States, a unique attribute of the AT&T Stadium is probably the 180 ft (54.86 m) in width and 120 ft (36.57 m) in height operable glass doors and the 660,000 sq ft (61,316 sq m) retractable roof.

In early 2006, the city of Arlington was seeing major land purchases as the city was being excavated for a futuristic project.

In March 2006, a joint pact was signed for the stadium's construction between Manhattan Construction and two other general contractors hailing from Grand Prairie and Dallas.

With a construction cost of about $1.15 billion, the stadium is considered one of the most expensive venues on Earth. The stadium's twin arches at 300 ft (91 m) above the ground cover the length of the entire dome with only four massive concrete compartments anchored at each end. Each arch weighs thousands of tons that distribute an enormous thrust into the anchored compartments.

The retractable cover takes about 18 minutes to open or close. Along with the Cowboys playing in the Dallas Stadium, several other events were also held here, such as the Big 12 Championship Game, Cotton Bowl Classic, 2010 NBA All-Star Game, WrestleMania 32, and Super Bowl XLV.

On September 7, 2009, the stadium hosted its first high school football game between Euless Trinity and Bingham (Utah). The first Texas high school game was held on November 12, 2009, in the Dallas Stadium.

Concerts Held At The Stadium

After its opening, the stadium held its very first event on June 6, 2009, hosting Country star George Strait. It brought headlines. A few days later, another concert was held on June 20, 2009, by Jonas Brothers.

On August 19, 2009, Paul McCartney held his concert as part of the Summer Live '09 Tour. Taylor Swift held her first concert in the Dallas Stadium on October 8, 2011. Many artists, musicians, and bands held their concerts in the AT&T Stadium.

On May 25, 2014, Beyonce and JayZ, on July 22, 2014, One Direction, on August 3, 2016, Guns N' Roses, on August 27, 2016, Coldplay, on June 16, 2017, Metallica, on October 27, 2018, Ed Sheeran, and on November 2, 2019, Post Malone.

Facilities And Equipment

This stadium at Arlington was made into reality by the joint efforts of HKS architects and Jerry Jones, the owner of the Dallas Cowboys. Even after a decade, the AT&T Stadium still represents the future of the NFL.

The stadium features luxury suites, concession areas, and about 3000 Sony LCDs. The giant center-hung video board offers a panoramic view of the entire stadium so that the fans can cheer on their teams without any trouble.

Even to a fan sitting near the end zone, the stadium houses two 50 ft (15.24 m) wide and 28 ft (8.53 m) tall end zone facing monitors.

The football field has a convertible turf system that can be changed and installed within 24-40 hours.

The parking fees and the tickets to the stadium vary from game to game and are also different for the concerts. For the Dallas Cowboys game, the parking tickets are estimated at $75 per game. However, for special events like Super Bowl XLV, the prices can soar up to $990.

FAQs

Q: Why is there a hole in the roof of Texas Stadium?

A: The Texas Stadium, built-in 1971, had a hole on its roof due to the initial plans of building a retractable one.

Q: Why did they demolish Texas Stadium?

A: After the Cowboys shifted to their new home, the Texas Stadium was demolished because the officials decided that they required more land.

Q: What's the biggest stadium capacity?

A: Narendra Modi Stadium, Gujrat, India, is the biggest stadium that has a maximum capacity of 132,000 seats.

Q: Who built Texas Stadium?

A: The design for the stadium was envisioned and laid by HKS architects. But the retractable roof designs were presented by Walter P Moore engineering Firm and implemented by Uni-Systems.

Q: Does AT&T Stadium have real glass?

A: Yes, the stadium has glass doors that allow the end zone to be opened. This was designed and constructed by Dallas-based Haley-Greer glass systems.

Q: What is the temperature inside AT&T Stadium?

A: The inside temperature of the stadium can be controlled and ranges between 68-76 F (20-24.44 C).