There is a certain special quality to Dallas.
Home of Americas Team and in the heart of Texas, the city is one of the most popular destinations in the entire country. Several college football teams, three professional sports teams from top-four leagues and numerous entertainment outlets all call the city home.
The venues are almost as incredible as the teams and events themselves, and today we are going to take a look at some of them. Unfortunately, the most high-profile team associated with the Dallas – the NFLs Dallas Cowboys could not make the list since AT&T Stadium (aka Jerry World) is located in Arlington.
Despite missing the Cowboys, the venue list is still very impressive and is worth taking a good look at. If you want to stay at a hotel close to your venue, make sure to book quickly.
Here are the top sports venues in Dallas/Fort Worth:
American Airlines Center
Though not as massive and high-profile as Jerry Jones billion-dollar stadium for the Cowboys, the American Airlines Center in the heart of Dallas is more than capable of serving the entertainment needs of the citys residents.
Like many modern sporting arenas, the American Airlines Center serves as the home of both an NBA team and an NHL team in this case, the NBAs Dallas Mavericks and the NHLs Dallas Stars.
In 1998, the Mavericks and the Stars expressed to the city a strong desire to get a new venue to replace the outdated Reunion Arena, where they had both played for many years.
After deciding upon a site and acquiring the necessary funds, the stadium designing and planning commenced. Before the center broke ground in September 1999, American Airlines acquired the naming rights in a $195 million deal.
After nearly two years of construction, the American Airlines Center finally opened on July 27, 2001 and had their first event the following day with a concert from The Eagles.
Despite being the designated home venue for the Mavericks and the Stars, the first sporting event to ever take place at the American Airlines Center was actually a WISL indoor soccer game on August 19, 2001 between the Dallas Sidekicks and the San Diego Shockers.
The Dallas Mavericks have enjoyed incredible success at their new home, making the playoffs 14 of 15 times since they moved into the American Airlines Center. In that time they have captured two division titles and two Western Conference titles, along with an NBA Finals title win over the Miami Heat in 2011.
The Dallas Stars have been considerably less lucky than the Mavericks at the American Airlines Center than they were at the Reunion Arena. In the years since the move, they have claimed three division titles and seven playoff appearances since settling in at the Center a sharp contrast from the seven playoff appearances, five division titles, two Presidents trophies, two Conference titles and a Stanley Cup Championship in 1999 in the eight years prior.
Mixed martial arts and professional wrestling have also found the Center an appealing venue. The UFC has held three different pay-per-view events since 2009, while WWE has held four pay-per-view events and multiple live wrestling events.
The American Airlines Center has had no shortage of high-profile concerts either, with Rush, Beyonce, Metallica, Justin Beiber and Lady Gaga all performing in the last five years alone.
The Cotton Bowl
One of college footballs most famous venues, the Cotton Bowl is one of the biggest and oldest stadiums in the country.
The stadium was constructed in 1930 and was dubbed Fair Park Stadium upon its completion later that year. Initially the stadium hosted high school games and had a capacity of 45,507. Half a dozen football and soccer leagues have tried to establish a residence at the venue in the 86 years since it was built.
The SMU Mustangs used the Cotton Bowl as their college football home field from 1932 through 1978 during which the stadium saw multiple capacity increases due in large part to the overwhelming popularity of SMU running back Doak Walker. The number of seats grew to 67,000 in 1948, and then to over 75,000 just a year later.
For the next few decades the number of seats would be increased and decreased for special events. But in 2008, the team finally completed a long-awaited expansion to increase the total capacity to over 90,000 permanently.
From 1937 through 2009, the Cotton Bowl served as the venue for college footballs famous Cotton Bowl Classic. However, after 72 years hosting the venue was moved to AT&T Stadium. The stadium later became the host venue for the Heart of Dallas Bowl starting in 2011.
When the Dallas Cowboys were first introduced to the NFL as an expansion team in 1960, the Cotton Bowl was used as their home until 1971. Interestingly, the team shared the Cotton Bowl with their AFL counterparts the Dallas Texans (now the Kansas City Chiefs) until 1962.
For soccer, the stadium was a preferred site in the 1990s. The United States hosted the FIFA World Cup in 1994 and chose the Cotton Bowl as one of the nine venues they would use. Six games were played at the Cotton Bowl during the tournament: four group stage matches, one Round of 16 match and one quarter-finals match.
The Cotton Bowl also served as the home venue for FC Dallas in Major League Soccer from its founding in 1996 as the Dallas Burn until the team moved out in 2005.
Amon G. Carter Stadium
Located in Fort Worth, Amon G. Carter Stadium has been the permanent home of the TCU Horned Frogs stood since 1929.
The TCU football team had played their home games at the schools athletic field since their founding in 1896. But after the school decided to build a new library on the athletic field, the team needed to build a new field for their program.
A substantial donation from newspaper magnate Amon G. Carter for whom the stadium is baned – in 1928 allowed the school to put the plans to action. The school broke ground on the stadium in 1929 and completed it the next year, opening on October 11, 1930 for a game between TCU and Arkansas.
Over the years the stadium has been expanded multiple times, going from 22,000 when it first opened to over 30,000 by the 1940s and over 40,000 by 1956. In 2008, the stadium was further expanded to 44,358.
In 2010, TCU announced a full reconstruction of the stadium in order to better serve the fans. Two years and $164 million later, the stadium upgrades were complete.
16 of TCUs 18 total conference championships have come since the teams move to Amon G. Carter Stadium, including both of the teams national championship wins in 1935 and 1938.
In addition to TCU, the stadium has been the host of the annual Armed Forces Bowl since 2003. TCU lost their first and only appearance in the bowl when they fell to Boise State in the inaugural game.
Texas Motor Speedway
Home to some of the most high-profile NASCAR races, the Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth is easily the biggest venue on the list.
With a seating capacity of 181,655 atop 1,500 acres of land for the 10 different races offered year-round, the Texas Motor Speedway could easily contain four fully-furnished football stadiums. Between the IndyCar Series, Sprint Cup Series, Xfinity Series, Camping World Truck Series and others, there are always more than enough competitions to bring the racing fans back year-round.
The incredible size of the Texas Motor Speedway has also inspired other events to be put on at the venue with concerts and other sporting events being no exception.
Music festivals at the massive grounds have attracted full crowds and beyond. While hosting a 1997 music festival, the Texas Motor Speedy had an estimated 385,000 fans attend.
The size and versatility of the speedway have made it an intriguing prospect for football games. But a proposal to host the Texas-Oklahoma rivalry game fell through in 2004.
Kay Bailey Hutchinson Convention Center
Originally called the Dallas Memorial Auditorium, the KBH Convention Center is one of the premier multi-purpose venues in the city of Dallas.
Constructed in 1957, the KBH Convention Center is primarily used for conventions, concerts and live performances. Though it is built as a convention center as opposed to a sports arena, the KBH can still host some small-area competitions like volleyball and cheerleading. Led Zeppelin, The Doors and Queen have all performed at the KBH over the years. The Convention Center was also put to use as a shelter for victims of Hurrican Katrina back in 2005. In April 2013, the Convention Center was renamed the Kay Bailey Hutchinson Convention Center in honor of Texas U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson.
Fort Worth Convention Center
Designated as a competitor to the Kay Bailey Hutchinson Convention Center, the Fort Worth Convention Center formerly the Tarrant County Convention Center was approved in 1967 and opened in 1968.
There is an exhibit hall floor, a breakout meeting room and a ballroom at the Convention Center, but little in the way of permanent sports readiness.
Various minor league hockey, arena football and basketball teams have tried to maintain a presence at the Convention Center, but rarely has a team managed to stay more than 10 years. Since the NBA D-League Fort Worth Flyers folded in 2007, the Convention Center has not hosted a professional sports team.
The Convention Center was renovated in 1983 and then again from 2002 to 2003.