Three huge games will fill seats with thrills.
You can almost hear the thunder (of feet), see the lightning (when six teams clash on the field) and feel the storm (of college rivalry). Cotton Bowl Stadium is ready and waiting for a downpour of excitement in its completely renovated glory.
Three huge games during the State Fair of Texas—Grambling State University vs. Prairie View A & M (October 4), University of Texas vs. University of Oklahoma (October 11), and Texas
A & M Commerce vs. East Central University (October 18)—will have fans cheering as never before.
“The Cotton Bowl now has seating capacity of 92,000 people,” says Errol McKoy, President of The State Fair of Texas. “And so many enhancements across the board are now evident: a huge new screen, media center, triple the concession stands and restrooms, incredible new exterior/interior graphics and turf that makes every game even more thrilling.”
Both teams and fans are impressed with the enhancements.
“We’re hearing rave reviews from the staffs of all the universities with teams playing this fall,” he continues. “Many more colleges have contacted us about possible games in the near future.”
The Grambling vs. Prairie View State Fair Classic continues a 20+ year tradition, and is the biggest social event of the year for these schools…drawing over 65,000 fans last year. “We expect ticket sales to skyrocket whenever the Prairie View Panthers beat the Grambling State University Tigers,” believes Mr. McKoy. “That’s something that hasn’t happened in the history of this rivalry, but this could be the year.”
Texas and OU have a 103-year Red River Shootout going on, and the game gets more popular each meeting. “It’s always sold out at our former capacity of 76,000 seats and most certainly will sell out 92,000 seats,” states Mr. McKoy. “The game is consistently rated one of the top 10 sporting events in America by USA Today, right alongside the Indy 500 and Kentucky Derby….and even above the Rose Bowl!” Its economic impact on the Dallas/Fort Worth area, including related TX/OU events, is a whopping $36 million annually. The Texas Longhorns and Oklahoma Sooners will collide at the Cotton Bowl through 2015 and hopefully well beyond that.
Texas A & M Commerce and East Central Oklahoma are about the same size (in estimated tickets that will be sold) as Grambling and Prairie View were when that matchup first started and 18,000 tickets were sold. Says Mr. McKoy, “As this new annual competition between the Lions and Tigers gains steam with fans from North Texas and Oklahoma, you can bet it will become a very big deal.”
Beyond the Cotton Bowl Classic, plenty of room for more excitement.
The last AT&T Cotton Bowl Classic to be played at the Cotton Bowl will happen on January 2, 2009. It will also be unforgettable, filled with many special events. The championship will then move to the new Dallas Cowboys stadium in Arlington. But there is a silver lining, according to Errol McKoy. “Several other bowl teams and organizations have expressed serious interest in moving into the spot.”
Cotton Bowl management is also visiting with soccer promoters from Mexico, Central America and South America to bring major games here. “Soccer is IT in these countries,” says Mr. McKoy. “The technique and ball handling skills are something to see!”
Get ready for the battles of the black/gold vs. purple/gold, the burnt orange vs. red, and navy blue/gold vs. orange/black. These games in the brand spankin’ renovated Cotton Bowl are State Fair traditions that will score big with everyone.
