ARLINGTON - Cowboys Stadium (80,000)

[rantanamo]

With the great circulation and lots of natural light, it seems they could, but the roof doesn't look designed for it though. Their current artificial surface is incredible though. One of a kind(company only did one install) that is basically two of the infill turfs on top of each other. One more rigid than the other, with a more course sand and rubber mix. Voted twice as the best surface in the NFL by the players. Wondering if Jerry didn't buy that company and will have them do the new stadium

[nomarandlee]

You Dallas fans should have fun


I wonder with all these new stadiums what the Super Bowl rotation will look like in the next twenty years. Dolphin Stadium and the Superdome are already getting a bit archaic for the big show (though still very capable). But those cities are also very associated with having the game every few years. With Houston, Phoenix, and Dallas (not to mention domes in Indy, Detroit, and maybe Minny? one day) getting great new stadiums I wonder if they will expand the rotation some cities will replace some more the others. The northern cities likely will not get them more then once every ten years and probably more like twenty if that though. I am guessing the new Dallas stadim will get at least two within the first twelve years it opens.

[rantanamo]

Miami has actually announced a renovation and addition of a retractable roof. Atlanta has a reno on the table for the Georgia Dome. The Superdome was just completely renovated. You're right, it should be very interesting. I'm still thinking it stays in cities that are warm during January. Dallas isn't really(though it can be) and the stadium is a decent drive to each downtown in the metroplex. I'd be surprised, even with this great stadium if the metroplex gets more than one. I see Phoenix, LA/SD, Miami, New Orleans rotating once the new stadium dust settles.

[rantanamo]

[rantanamo]

Nice

[rantanamo]

I know I'm doing an image overload, but they've provided a ton

[rantanamo]

[rantanamo]

Its great how much the roof resembles Texas Stadium's







more concourse and other facilities coming later.

[Calvin W]

Nice but to be honest it borrows lots from Phoenix.

[rantanamo]

Originally Posted by Calvin W

Nice but to be honest it borrows lots from Phoenix.

Phoenix and the new stadium borrowed from Texas Stadium. Both have publicly stated many times and both were concieved around the same period. Obviously they don't have the capcity demand or suite or club seating demand that the Cowboys have though. So you end up with 4 levels of suites vs 2. 2 club levels vs 1. 4 tiers vs 3. Both endzones bowled in vs 1. Upper deck endzone seating vs none. 80,000 vs 63,000 permanent seats. I think of this as more of a modern design of Lucas Oil Stadium A lot of the same concepts in both. One retro, one modern.

[rantanamo]

need a big version of this one.

[rantanamo]

[EADGBE]

Wow!

So much for my 'stadium/arena' theory then!

Some of these numbers are mind-boggling. I've done some quick comparisons with Wembley, which is the only other project of this scale that I can think of. Even then, it eclipses Wembley in a number of areas:

Features:

- $1.1 billion dollars(Stadium alone). ...or ~£600m. Wembley is (at today's rates) still slightly more expensive (!), coming in at around £800m.

- 80,000 permanent seats, expandable to 100,000 through terraces and temporary seating. Wembley has 90,000 with generous spacing which (if you believe the rumours) can be expanded to over 100,000 if they're all made more cramped.

- 2.3 million square feet. Wembley has a circumference of 1km. My maths tells me the site therefore occupies a 856,500 sq ft footprint. I presume the Texas figure is the total area of all floors.

- 4 seating tiers and 4 levels of luxury suites. Wembley has 3 tiers, split by 2 levels of continuous luxury suites.

- dual 50 foot tall x 180 foot wide jumbotrons as well as two 23 x 48 boards facing each endzone. Wembley struggles to come close to this. The two Jumbo screens at Wembley are billed as 'the size of 600 domestic TV's'. Again, a bit of maths and an assumption of 28" as a 'standard' size gives a figure of around 3,217 sq ft screen coverage for each of the two screens. Assuming a 16:9 ratio, that gives an approximate size of 42 x 76 feet, bigger than the endzone-facing screens, but about a third of the size of the 'main' screens.

- Retractable roof that opens to replicate Texas Stadium's roof. Retractable roof at Wembley, though not one that closes fully.

- supported by two 1,290 foot arches. Wembley, as we all know has its own single arch. The height is billed as '133m above the level of the external concourse'. Convert that to feet and it becomes around 436 feet at its highest point. There has been a presumption that the figure of 1,290 feet is the equivalent height measurement of the two arches at Arlington. That's ridiculously high, taller than the roof (but not the spire) of the Empire State Building, so I think the figure relates to the length of the curve of each arch. I can only speculate that this suggests a height of about 300 feet at its highest point, but it's safe to say not as tall as Wembley.

- 120 foot tall, by 80 foot wide retracting glass walls that will feature 10 panels at each end of the stadium. Again, a similar but not identical measurement at Wembley helps compare. The roof height is billed as '52 metres above the pitch'. That equates to 170 feet which is a good indication of the height of the external glass walls.

- Two large exterior video screens. Something like this is implied by the early Wembley renders but I think that the image shown there will be a still photo printed onto a fabric or canvas covering. No external screens then!

- New Cowboys ring of honor. Not quite clear what this means. I think it means the sort of patio area behind the 'open' end of the ground. No equivalent at Wembley.

- 1600 restrooms(many reversible to gender). Famously, Wembley has 2,618 toilets, billed as the most for any building in the world. Trying to work out what 'reversible to gender' means. Guessing that they can be gender-reassigned as and when needed, in order not to need to have as many?

- 286 concession areas and 23 bars or lounges. No data to hand. I expect a similar amount at Wembley, though perhaps with fewer distinct, but more capacious (number of diners) catering facilities. The main restaurant is supposed to be the biggest in London for the number of diners.

- 15,000 club seats(huge amount). Ah, this sounds like the debenture holders' middle tier. From memory, this seems a similar number to Wembley.

- Field level suites with exclusive content and access to team. No equivalent. I'm still curious to see how this would work for Jerry. Surely, the action would be obscured by all the Offense/Defense/Special players milling about between you and the field of play...

- FieldTurf surface(no surprise, Jerry loves it). Natural grass! No other choice, I'm afraid. Soccers fans, British sports fans and most importantly, FIFA not only love it, but insist on it!!

[Calvin W]

Originally Posted by rantanamo

Phoenix and the new stadium borrowed from Texas Stadium. Both have publicly stated many times and both were concieved around the same period. Obviously they don't have the capcity demand or suite or club seating demand that the Cowboys have though. So you end up with 4 levels of suites vs 2. 2 club levels vs 1. 4 tiers vs 3. Both endzones bowled in vs 1. Upper deck endzone seating vs none. 80,000 vs 63,000 permanent seats. I think of this as more of a modern design of Lucas Oil Stadium A lot of the same concepts in both. One retro, one modern.

I'm not knocking it. It's nice, but like I said it is similar to Phoenix. Not that its a bad thing. Just that Phoenix is already there and now Dallas is building something that has an overall similarity. As for Phoenix and Texas Stadium looking similar I'll grant you that.

One thing I don't understand is the field turf? $1 billion in price and they can't get a natural surface?

[Bigmac1212]

The "ring of honor" is a part of the fascia where they put the name and number of retired Cowboy greats.

It's very complicated.

[hngcm]

I hate domes, even retractable ones.

[irving1903]

WOW...how bout them cowboys

im glad they kept the Texas Stadium look so now....
GOD CAN STILL WATCH HIS BOYS

[rantanamo]

video fly-through now up at http://stadium.dallascowboys.com/

Looks much more spectacular in the video!

[Calvin W]

Found this article. One thing that jumped out at me. The AVERAGE ticket price will be $100.

Fans love, hate new stadium design
By SALLY CLAUNCH and ANDREA AHLES
STAR-TELEGRAM STAFF WRITERS

ARLINGTON — A computer mouse? A Space Age football? A Bose Wave radio?

Those comparisons and more have been among the reactions of fans and experts today as final designs for the new Dallas Cowboys stadium were made public.

Roger DeFrang, a Cowboys season ticket holder from Arlington, was most pleased to see the hole in the $1 billion stadium’s retractable roof, echoing the trademark of Texas Stadium in Irving.

“So many times tradition is eliminated,” he said. “But the fact that they left the hole in the roof, that’s beyond tradition.”

DeFrang called the design fan-friendly with its numerous video screens and plaza area where patrons can gather to watch the game while standing at bar tables. Those features will offer fans a suite-like experience without the suite-level price.

Though the stadium will have 80,000 permanent seats, DeFrang said he was surprised that the venue isn’t bigger. Texas Stadium seats almost 58,000; the new stadium will be expandable to 100,000 seats for other events.

Critics called the stadium design a monstrosity and decried the projected average ticket price of $98.88 that the Cowboys have cited in financing documents. They also complained about the $325 million contribution that Arlington voters committed toward the project through various taxes.

But Bruce Deramus, Chairman of Concerned Taxpayers of Arlington, a watchdog group opposed to the stadium, said the building looks like a cross between a whaling ship and a Bose Wave radio.

“A big problem with this kind of design is it becomes dated really quick,” he said.

Deramus said team owner Jerry Jones should have been more conscious of the traditional architecture that’s already in Arlington, such as Ameriquest Field.

“With the ballpark, this is a style that Arlington has committed to, and the new stadium is not that,” he said. “But of course, this isn’t about Arlington.”

[rantanamo]

traditional style of Arlington? LOL