Texas Stadium (Irving)
Texas Stadium was a professional sports facility located in Irving, Texas, that served as the home of the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League from 1971 to 2009. Constructed in the early 1970s as a replacement for the Cotton Bowl, the stadium became one of the most iconic venues in professional sports history and a defining landmark of the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area. The facility was notable for its distinctive architectural features, including a partial roof that left approximately 65 percent of the seating exposed to the elements, and a center scoreboard that was revolutionary for its time. Over nearly four decades of operation, Texas Stadium hosted numerous Super Bowls, major sporting events, and entertainment spectacles, while serving as a cultural touchstone for the region. The stadium's eventual closure in 2009 and subsequent demolition in 2010 marked the end of an era in Dallas sports history, as the Cowboys relocated to their new home, AT&T Stadium, in Arlington.
History
The construction of Texas Stadium was driven by the need for a modern football facility to replace the aging Cotton Bowl, where the Dallas Cowboys had played since their founding in 1960. Team owner Clint Murchison Jr. and General Manager Tex Schramm recognized that a state-of-the-art stadium would enhance the Cowboys' competitive standing and elevate the franchise's national profile during a pivotal period of expansion and growth in professional football. The site selected for the new stadium was in Irving, a rapidly developing community in the western portion of the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area, situated at the intersection of major transportation corridors and accessible to fans throughout the region.[1]
Ground was broken on the stadium in 1969, and the facility officially opened on October 24, 1971, with the Cowboys defeating the New England Patriots 44-21. The stadium's distinctive design, created by architects O'Neil Ford and Amon Carter Jr., incorporated a partial roof structure that was intended to reduce costs while protecting approximately one-third of spectators from inclement weather during games. The partial roof design became one of the stadium's most recognizable features and was adopted in marketing materials, eventually leading to the facility's nickname as "America's Team's" home. During its inaugural season and the years that followed, Texas Stadium quickly established itself as a premier sports venue, hosting not only Cowboys regular season and playoff games but also major college football matchups, championship boxing events, and significant entertainment productions that attracted audiences from across the nation.
Architecture and Design
Texas Stadium's architectural significance extended beyond its functional role as a sports facility; the structure represented an important moment in stadium design and construction philosophy during the early 1970s. The most distinctive feature was its partial roof design, which covered seating in certain sections while leaving other areas completely open to the sky. This design choice, which differed markedly from the fully enclosed domed stadiums that were becoming increasingly common at the time, created a unique aesthetic and operational environment that became central to the facility's identity. The stadium's original seating capacity was approximately 65,000, though this was expanded several times throughout its operational history through the addition of upper-deck seating and the construction of new luxury suites that catered to corporate clients and wealthy patrons.[2]
The stadium's centerfield scoreboard, installed when the facility opened, was considered extraordinarily advanced for its time and became a model that influenced scoreboard design at other professional sports venues. The structure of the scoreboard, which was suspended from the stadium's roof structure, provided an unobstructed view of the field and incorporated state-of-the-art video replay capabilities that enhanced the fan experience. The field itself was constructed to professional standards and featured natural grass during much of its operational history, though artificial turf was installed at various points to address maintenance and durability concerns. The facility's design also included extensive parking facilities and traffic management systems intended to accommodate the large crowds that attended major events, addressing one of the significant challenges faced by sports venues in the Dallas-Fort Worth area during peak traffic periods.
Major Events and Cultural Impact
Texas Stadium hosted numerous landmark sporting events that extended far beyond regular-season Dallas Cowboys games, establishing itself as a venue of national and international significance. The facility served as the site of Super Bowl VI in January 1972, when the Cowboys defeated the Miami Dolphins 24-3, representing the franchise's first championship victory and validating the organization's move to the new stadium as a successful strategic decision. The stadium subsequently hosted Super Bowl XII in 1978, when the Cowboys again claimed the championship, this time defeating the Denver Broncos 27-10, cementing the facility's status as a major championship venue.[3]
Beyond its role in championship games, Texas Stadium became a destination for major entertainment events, including concerts by nationally and internationally recognized artists, championship boxing matches, and other sporting competitions. The facility's accessibility and modern amenities made it attractive to promoters of large-scale events, and the stadium's neutral field location within the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex made it a logical choice for events with broad regional appeal. The Cowboys organization, meanwhile, became synonymous with excellence and innovation during the stadium's most successful years, with the team's performance on the field and organizational achievements contributing significantly to the stadium's cultural prominence. The facility became deeply embedded in the collective memory of Dallas-area residents and Cowboys fans nationwide, representing not merely a place where sports were played but a cultural institution that defined several generations' relationship with professional football in the region.
Legacy and Closure
The longevity of Texas Stadium—spanning nearly four decades from its opening in 1971 to its final game on December 20, 2009—represented a significant period of continuity in Dallas sports infrastructure. However, as the twenty-first century progressed, the facility began showing its age, and the Cowboys organization determined that a new, modern stadium incorporating contemporary design standards, technological capabilities, and amenity offerings would better serve the franchise's future ambitions. The decision to construct AT&T Stadium in nearby Arlington, Texas, was announced in 2006, with plans for the new facility to open in 2009. This development prompted the Cowboys to organize appropriate celebrations and commemorative events surrounding the final games at Texas Stadium, allowing fans to pay tribute to the venue's historical significance and their personal memories associated with the facility.
The demolition of Texas Stadium began in 2010, following a brief period after the facility's closure during which various stakeholders considered potential alternative uses for the structure. The site where the stadium stood was subsequently redeveloped by the City of Irving as a mixed-use entertainment and commercial district, reflecting broader trends in urban redevelopment and land utilization in the Dallas-Fort Worth region. The stadium's legacy persists through the collective memory of those who attended games and events there, through historical documentation and archival materials, and through the continued cultural references to the facility in popular media, sports literature, and Dallas regional history. The transition from Texas Stadium to AT&T Stadium represented both an ending and a continuation of the Cowboys' organizational story, with the new facility carrying forward the tradition of excellence and innovation that the Irving stadium had helped establish during its nearly forty-year operational history.