| Jones' stadium hopes set cities in motion Arlington makes a play for Cowboys; Irving still in game, others weigh plans 06/02/2001 By Richard Alm / The Dallas Morning News
Jerry Jones' quest for a new stadium for his Dallas Cowboys has produced
the first volley in a potential bidding war among the suburbs.
Irving and Arlington have talked with the Cowboys, and other cities are
considering the pros and cons of making a bid. Victory will go to the city
that offers the most desirable land and infrastructure, provides the most
generous taxpayer support and musters the political will to hammer out a
deal.
"Anybody would be very proud to have them in their city, but the cost
would be so high," said Tom Hart, Grand Prairie's city manager.
At an estimated $500 million, the stadium the Cowboys owner envisions
would be the most expensive sports project in Texas history.
Despite that, Arlington officials went on the offensive this week with
plans to lure the Cowboys from Irving to a 400-acre site just west of
Highway 360.
Irving officials worry whether the city can afford a new stadium. Even
so, the city may yet try to find a way to keep the Cowboys at or near
65,000-seat Texas Stadium, where the team has played since 1971.
Grand Prairie and Grapevine, now on the sidelines, might jump into the
fray.
And Dallas? The city hasn't had any contact with team officials, said
Assistant City Manager Ryan Evans, who oversees the Economic Development
Department. Nor is the city preparing to make a pitch for the Cowboys,
he added.
Even so, City Hall is keeping its doors open. "Obviously, we would be
interested in anything that would stimulate economic development," Evans
said.
Asked this week for an update about his stadium plan, Jones said the
Cowboys are exploring all options. There's no front-runner among local
cities, he said.
Jones said he hasn't set a timetable for striking a deal.
Last of the bunch
A new Cowboys stadium could be the last major Dallas-Fort Worth-area
sports facility up for grabs for decades. The Texas Rangers opened the
$190 million Ballpark in Arlington in 1994, and the Dallas Stars and
Dallas Mavericks will move into the $350 million American Airlines Center
this fall in downtown Dallas.
Jones has talked about moving the Cowboys for the 2006 season and
hosting a Super Bowl in his new digs in 2007. It would take four or five
years to negotiate a deal, arrange financing, design the stadium finance
and build it – so time is getting short.
Winning the Cowboys, by far the most popular sports team in North Texas,
would be an expensive proposition.
Jones wants a 100,000-seat, retractable-roof stadium with enough luxury
suites and other amenities to attract Super Bowls. His vision includes
enough extra land for a hotel, retail space, entertainment options and
Cowboys tourist attractions.
A project of this magnitude could run as high as $500 million. The cost
of new stadiums for the Cincinnati Bengals, Denver Broncos and Seattle
Seahawks exceeded $400 million each – and all are more than 24,000 seats
smaller than what Jones has in mind.
Dividing the cost
When it comes to paying for the project, Jones has talked about dividing
the cost among the Cowboys, the host city and the fans. The public's
portion of a new Cowboys stadium would be determined during negotiations,
but taxpayers in Cincinnati, Houston, Baltimore and Seattle are picking up
more than half the tab.
"No matter how much money a team owner has, it's hard for one individual
to finance a team and a new stadium at the same time," said Todd Gruen,
managing editor of the Chicago-based almanac Inside the Ownership of
Professional Sports. "There are very few facilities built with
private money."
In Texas, state law gives cities several options in funding new sports
facilities, including sales taxes and tourism taxes. The projects must
be approved by voters.
Arlington officials say the city has what it takes to win the Cowboys.
After several meetings with the Cowboys over the last six months, city
officials met last month to discuss where a stadium might go and how the
city would pay for it.
No other city has gotten even that far, according to a Morning News
survey of cities Friday.
"I've never wanted to hide the fact that we want them," said Joe Bruner,
an Arlington City Council member.
Not only has Arlington identified a site, but the city of 332,000 will
have a full cent available under the state's 8.25 percent sales tax cap
once the Ranger ballpark bonds are paid off in November.
Taxes may be Irving's biggest hurdle in keeping the Cowboys. The city is
already at its sales-tax limit, and the 2 percent hotel/motel taxes
wouldn't raise enough money for a project that large.
Irving, a city of 191,000, has tried to persuade the Cowboys to settle
for renovating Texas Stadium, a less costly option. Jones hasn't ruled
it out.
Mayor Joe Putnam doesn't know whether Irving can afford the Cowboys. "It
would be nice if they would stay in Irving," he said, "but the city will
survive either way."
Grand Prairie has a central location and the know-how to do big deals,
Hart said. But he's not sure the city is in a financial position to help
build a new stadium.
"We would always entertain conversations, but I don't know if that would
be the highest item on our radar screen," he said.
No one from the Cowboys has talked to city officials about moving the
team to Grand Prairie, Hart said.
Grand Prairie, with a population of 127,000, has a quarter-cent sales
tax available, which officials hope to use for street repairs. A
half-cent sales tax could be revoted when the bonds for Lone Star Park
at Grand Prairie are paid off in about 2007.
Grapevine, a northeast Tarrant city of 42,000, is the only major city
besides Arlington with a full cent of sales-tax room available.
City Manager Roger Nelson said Grapevine might welcome the Cowboys – at
the right price. City staffers are crunching numbers to determine what
it can offer Jones.
"The question is one of affordability," Nelson said.
Grapevine already has identified a possible site for the stadium –
nearly 300 acres situated near several highways and tourist attractions.
The city already has a Cowboy connection: In two weeks, the Cowboys Golf
Club, the country's first NFL-themed golf course, will open for business.
Having several cities bidding for the Cowboys may help Jones strike a
more favorable deal. "We all know Jones wants to play one city off of
every other city," said Bill Eastland, who campaigned against public
financing for the Ballpark in Arlington in 1990.
Staff writers Gromer Jeffers Jr., Jennifer Packer, Kelly D.
Patterson, Jean-Jacques Taylor and Stephanie Sandoval contributed to
this report.
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