AT&T Stadium is a retractable roof stadium in Arlington, Texas, United States. It serves as the home of the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL) and opened in 2009. It is also the home of the Cotton Bowl Classic and the Big 12 Championship Game, and hosted the Southwest Classic until 2024. The stadium was one of 11 US venues that hosted matches during the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The facility, owned by the City of Arlington, has also been used for a variety of other activities, such as concerts, basketball games, soccer, college and high-school football contests, rodeos, motocross, Spartan Races and professional wrestling. It replaced the partially covered Texas Stadium, which served as the Cowboys' home from 1971 through the 2008 season.
The stadium is widely referred to as Jerry World after Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, who originally envisioned it as a large entertainment venue. The stadium seats 80,000 people, but can be reconfigured to hold over 100,000 people by the use of standing room, making it the largest stadium in the NFL by seating capacity. Additional attendance is made possible by the Party Pass (open areas) sections behind the seats in each end zone that are positioned on a series of six elevated platforms connected by stairways. The record attendance for an NFL regular season game was set in 2009 with a crowd of 105,121. It also has twin video boards that are among the top 100 largest high-definition video screens in the world.
Construction and design
Originally estimated at $650 million, the stadium's actual construction cost rose to $1.15 billion, making it one of the most expensive sports venues ever built. To aid Cowboys owner and general manager, Jerry Jones, in paying the construction costs of the new stadium, Arlington voters approved the increase of the city's sales tax by 0.5%, the hotel occupancy tax by 2%, and car rental tax by 5%. The City of Arlington provided over $325 million (including interest) in bonds as funding, and Jones covered any cost overruns. The NFL provided the Cowboys with an additional $150 million loan, following its policy for facilitating financing for the construction of new stadiums.
The lead architect on the design team at HKS Architects for the project was Bryan Trubey, who has stated that the overarching concept for the stadium was "...that this should not be just a stadium, but should almost be built like a civic structure."
A pair of nearly -tall arches spans the length of the stadium dome (one of the tallest domes in the world), anchored to the ground at each end. The new stadium also includes "more than 3,000 Sony LCD screens throughout the luxury suites, concourses, concession areas and more, offering fans viewing options that extend beyond the action on the field". It also houses a center-hung Mitsubishi video display board that was the largest HDTV screen in the world at the time of its installation. It has since been surpassed in size by the Panasonic "Big Hoss" video board (218 feet (66 m) wide and 94.6 feet (28.8 m) tall) at Texas Motor Speedway. Glass doors, allowing each end zone to be opened, were designed and constructed by Dallas-based Haley-Greer glass systems.
The retractable roof was designed by structural engineering firm Walter P Moore and the systems were implemented by mechanization consultants Uni-Systems. The electrification of Cowboys Stadium's retractable roof was developed by VAHLE, Inc. These kinetic architecture fundamentals are employed to create quick conversions of the facility to accommodate a variety of events. When the design was officially unveiled on December 12, 2006, it showed that from inside the stadium, the roof (membrane installed by K Post Company of Dallas) would look very similar to the Texas Stadium roof, with its trademark hole. However, it can be covered by the retractable roof panel to protect against the elements.
The football turf field was built by Hellas Construction, which developed a special SoftTop Convertible Turf system that has 26 interchangeable panels to allow the stadium to host a variety of events from concerts, dirt bike races, and monster truck rallies to college football, basketball, and soccer games.
Timeline
1994: Cowboys owner Jerry Jones proposed to expand the 65,000-seat Texas Stadium by up to 40,000 seats, add retractable roof panels and install a climate-control system to make the stadium a year-round venue for sporting events, including the Super Bowl, concerts, and conventions. 1997–2000: The Cowboys held preliminary talks with Arlington officials about building a stadium there. The team also publicly discussed a $260 million plan to upgrade Texas Stadium. In 2000, the Cowboys compiled a list of potential stadium sites, which included Grapevine, Coppell, and Arlington. The team continued negotiating with Irving to renovate Texas Stadium. 2001: Jones said Arlington is a leading contender for a $500 million stadium. The primary site considered is the Lakes of Arlington tract on Farm to Market Road 157. Other cities in the running included Grapevine and Grand Prairie. In October, Jones discussed the new stadium with the mayors of Arlington, Irving, Grapevine, and Dallas. 2003: The Cowboys asked the Irving City Council to extend their lease at Texas Stadium, which was to expire at the end of the 2008 season, on a year-to-year basis. They narrowed their search to sites in Las Colinas and Dallas, and state legislators filed bills that would allow Dallas County to increase its hotel-occupancy and car-rental taxes to pay for a new stadium. 2004: In April, the Cowboys announced plans to build a $650 million stadium at Fair Park in Dallas. The deal required $425 million in public financing from a 3% hotel-occupancy tax and a 6% car-rental tax. The deal fell apart in June when Dallas County commissioners said they cannot justify asking voters to approve the team's request for $425 million in public funding. In July, the Cowboys and Arlington announced they are negotiating to locate the stadium near Globe Life Park (then Ameriquest Field). In August, the Arlington City Council agreed unanimously to put before voters a tax increase that would fund the city's $325 million portion of the project. Voters approved the tax increase on November 2. 2005: Arlington and the Cowboys chose the site south of Randol Mill Road and east of Collins Street for the new stadium. The city began notifying residents and property owners of its plans to acquire their property. The Cowboys hired the HKS architectural firm to design the stadium. Early blueprints showed 414 luxury suites and a two-panel retractable roof. The city completed its sale of $297.9 million in bonds to pay for its portion of the construction. Demolition of houses began November 1. This included homes that the city had seized from residents who wanted to keep their house and refused to sell. One such resident characterized the negotiation for his home as "...giving me pennies and telling me to get out" January 2006: The Cowboys hired Oklahoma-based Manhattan Construction as the general contractor for the stadium and the city completed its land purchases, although it still faced a number of lawsuits over land acquisition. Later that month, Tarrant County work crews began demolition of more than 150 Arlington residences and small-business structures to make room for the stadium. March 2006: An alliance was announced between Manhattan Construction and two general contractors, Rayco Construction of Grand Prairie and 3i Construction of Dallas, to manage the stadium's construction. April 2006: Excavation began by Mario Sinacola and Sons Excavating. By August, they had moved over of earth, shaping a stadium bowl an average of deep. August 2006: Two construction cranes were raised on the site. October 2006: The grass amphitheater on Randol Mill Road was leveled to make way for the extension of Baird Farm Road. December 2006: The stadium's structure began to go up, and on December 12, Jerry Jones unveiled the in-depth plans and designs of the stadium to the public. January 2007: A construction worker was injured in a fall. February 2007: Masonry work began. March 2007: Heldenfels Enterprises was awarded the contract to manufacture and erect the precast/prestressed concrete structural components and placement of them began in April. June 2007: Work on the retractable roof, designed by Uni-Systems, started. July 2007: Exterior facade and enclosure work began. October 2007: The first steel arch was completed.
February 2008: The second steel arch was completed. June 2008: Jones commissioned the world's largest 1080p HDTV, to hang above field. June 2008: An electrician was electrocuted while working on the stadium. Two days before, three people were injured while assembling a crane. 2009: The stadium was scheduled for "substantial completion" in June. The artificial-turf field was brought into the stadium in July. The Cowboys played their first preseason home game on August 21 and their first regular-season home game on Sunday, September 20. May 13, 2009: Jerry Jones announced the official name of the new venue as Cowboys Stadium. June 6, 2009: The first event was held at the stadium, with country concert showcasing Lee Ann Womack, Blake Shelton, Reba McEntire, and George Strait. February 6, 2011: The 2010 NFL season Super Bowl was hosted at the Cowboys Stadium, which had the Green Bay Packers defeat the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XLV. July 25, 2013: Jerry Jones announced that the official name of the venue was changed to AT&T Stadium as part of a naming rights deal. April 5–7, 2014: The stadium was home for the Final Four of the 2014 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament. January 12, 2015: The stadium served as host of the first championship game in the College Football Playoff era. Ohio State defeated Oregon, 42–20. April 19, 2015: The stadium served as host of the 50th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards hosted by Blake Shelton and Luke Bryan. April 3, 2016: The stadium served as the host of WWE's WrestleMania 32. September 26, 2016: The Stadium Club opened, which was the first public five-days-a-week restaurant and bar located within the AT&T Stadium. April 2–3, 2022: The stadium served as the host of WWE's WrestleMania 38. June 22, 2026: The stadium hosted nine matches in the 2026 FIFA World Cup under the name Dallas Stadium.
Opening May 27, 2009: The stadium was completed and opened to the public. Ribbon cutting ceremony includes Cowboys players (including Rayfield Wright, Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith, Michael Irvin, Daryl Johnston, Preston Pearson, and Chad Hennings), North Texas mayors and various media personalities. June 6, 2009: Country music star George Strait, along with Reba McEntire, headlined the first event in the new stadium. Opening acts included Blake Shelton and Lee Ann Womack. July 19, 2009: The first sporting event is held in Cowboys Stadium. Costa Rica won in the Gold Cup Quarterfinal game versus Guadeloupe, with the first goal scored in stadium history during the 2nd minute by Celso Borges. That match was immediately followed by a sold out match between Mexico and Haiti, with 82,252 in attendance. July 26, 2009: The final match of the 2009 World Football Challenge is held between Chelsea F.C. and Club America. The London club won the match 2–0 in front of 57,229. The event was the second sporting event held in the new stadium, but was notable as the first event held during a severe thunderstorm. August 20, 2009: Jody Dean, a member of the Texas Radio Hall of Fame and KLUV-FM (98.7) talk show host, will be Cowboys Stadium's public address announcer. Dean replaces his longtime nemesis KTCK 1310 AM "The Ticket"'s George Dunham, the Hot Fry enthusiast and former voice of Texas Stadium.