The Cotton Bowl's capacity is currently 76k. The proposed renovations are projected to raise that to about 92k. But, as was mentioned above, there is not much point now. The new Cowboys stadium is supposed to be about 80k. For those that would be coming from LA, the new location is about 25 miles west of the old Cotton Bowl. Laura Miller really dropped the ball on letting that go to Arlington. She's a moron that doesn't realize the tremendous impact having the stadium in Dallas would be on tourism, property values, retail, etc. She passed because of the cost to the tax payers and Arlington was willing to put up 325 million. From wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cotton_Bowl_(stadium)
The capacity is at 68,252. With the renovations, once their completed, it'll be up to the 76K figure you've quote. From the link you provided... The Cotton Bowl is a stadium which opened in 1932. Originally known as "Fair Park Bowl", it is located in Fair Park, site of the State Fair in Dallas, Texas, USA. It has a natural grass surface and a capacity of 68,252 seats. Concerts or other events using a stage allow the playing field to be used for additional spectators to a capacity past 80,000. The Cotton Bowl is the home of the annual Cotton Bowl Classic college football bowl game, for which the stadium is named. Artificial turf was installed in 1970 and removed in 1993.............. However, amidst the ideas about moving from the Cotton Bowl, both schools have recently approved a deal with the Cotton Bowl to continue playing "The Red River Rivalry" at the Cotton Bowl until 2010. As a result of this extension, the city of Dallas will allocate $30 million towards an estimated $50 million (at least part of the final total could possibly come from a sale of the naming rights for the stadium) renovation from an upcoming city bond proposal for several modifications and updates to the stadium. These proposed renovations include expanding the seating capacity of the stadium from 76,000 to 92,107, new media and VIP facilities, a new scoreboard, updated restrooms and concession areas, lighting, utility and sound upgrades and the replacement of the stadium's seats. [1] After a little research I see that they plan on the new stadium seating around 80K which will be more than the old Cotton Bowl venue. (plans are being developed to take it to 100K) If there is one NFL team that can fill those seats regularly, it would be the Cowboys. Auburn v Nebraska didn't fill the old Cotton Bowl venue last year. (lowest total of seats filled in 6 years) It makes me wonder if it would take a team like Texas or Oklahoma playing in the "new Cotton Bowl venue" to fill the 80K. Kansas State couldn't do it when they played in '01...less of a turnout than last year.
Your points about Laura Miller are right on; she's been incredibly anti-development. If Ron Kirk was still the mayor of Dallas, the new stadium would've been built here. Instead, we're now going to be the Arlington Cowboys.
Did Miller offer (or the city of Dallas) any kind of incentive like what has been mentioned that Arlington did? She passed because of the cost to the tax payers and Arlington was willing to put up 325 million. It seems to me, from an outsiders point of view, it boiled down to tax breaks, etc. I'd imagine, it was the type scenario that put the stadium in Irving, wasn't it?
Miller didn't want to offer any incentive, so Dallas really didn't try to get the stadium. If she had been mayor when the American Airlines Center (Mavericks, Stars) project came up, those teams would still be playing in nasty Reunion Arena.
The new Cowboy stadium can hold up to 100,000 people so attendance could be much higher. I live in Arlington and am looking forward to the new stadium.
