ARLINGTON — The Dallas Cowboys and Texas Rangers have reached a deal to share parking spaces. The move ensures there’ll be room for most ticket holders at the new 80,000-seat Cowboys stadium in Arlington to park within about a mile — or a 20-minute walk.
It also means the two teams must work closely together each year on scheduling. The football and baseball seasons overlap between August and October, including the preseason and playoffs. “We’ll work within our dates to ensure we don’t have games going on in the same time period,” Cowboys team owner Jerry Jones said.
The Cowboys and Rangers each control about 12,000 parking spots. Together, they can provide most of the parking needed for regular season events at the football stadium. A capacity crowd of 80,000 people could bring as many as 26,675 cars into the area. And, the stadium can be expanded to 100,000 seats for big events such as the 2011 Super Bowl, when as many as 33,350 parking spots may be needed. For those extreme cases, Cowboys officials have identified parking spaces within a two-mile radius.
The Texas Rangers will keep almost 100 percent of the game-day parking revenue generated by football traffic on their lots, said Rob Matwick, Rangers executive vice president of ballpark operations. The only exception is a small number of spots that may be presold by Cowboys ticket representatives, who would then get a small percentage of the sale as a commission.
Matwick declined to disclose how much Cowboys fans will be charged for parking in Rangers lots. For baseball games, the regular price is $12 per car. But the cost could be higher for football parking.
Cowboys officials have already disclosed that they’re charging $750 per season — or the equivalent of $75 a game, including preseason and regular season contests — for premium parking up close to the stadium. Other parking prices have not been publicized.
“Our prices will be a step down from what they’re paying in the Cowboys lot,” Matwick said. “Proximity to the stadium will play a major factor.”
On Cowboys lots, the cost to motorists includes a $3 parking fee, which according to the team’s agreement with the city goes toward repayment of $147.8 million in construction bonds. But football fans who park in Rangers lots will not pay that $3 fee, Matwick said. Bonds sold for the Texas Rangers’ facility are already paid off.
GORDON DICKSON, 817-390-7796
Dear Mr. Jones;
You will be approving a permenant placement of the Tom Lanadry bronze monument very soon. The creator, Robert Summers, at robertsummers@summersstudio.com has not been contacted by your people to date but has a desire to state that the maximum exposure to the figure would be with a southern 'frontal' image. This could happen at whichever gate you place him by turning the work a few degrees to catch the sun more hours of the day. Thank you for consideration. An avid Cowboy fan. Nadine Bell
Posted by: Nadine Bell | April 03, 2009 at 12:01 PM
Better bend over and get ready for the steep parking prices at a 20 minute walk away from the stadium. What a FU--ING rip off!!! I'm going to be paying almost as much to park as I am for one of my tickets! Then I have to walk a mile!!! Absolute Bull---t!!!
Posted by: JT | April 04, 2009 at 08:51 PM
I find it amazing that with all the time Jerry has had to plan this new stadium and his desire to make this edifice the premier sporting venue in the world, that he skimped on the parking. Bad move, Jerry. It won't matter how great your stadium is, all anyone is going to hear or read is how the parking "sucks" at JerryWorld.
Posted by: larry giusti | April 11, 2009 at 12:19 PM
I assume they can run trams or something like that right? When I am in town for the game I'd sure like a ride ;-)
Posted by: arizona auto insurance | May 19, 2009 at 02:06 AM
In the short term, there are no plans to offer commuter rail directly to the stadium. A very busy Union Pacific freight line runs through Arlington, and the NFL and UP are working on a plan to provide commuter rail during the 2011 Super Bowl. In the long-term, Dallas-Fort Worth regional leaders are working on a plan to bring daily commuter rail service to Fort Worth, Arlington and Dallas on the UP line, but those talks are pretty preliminary and the service is likely a decade or two away. There is currently a Trinity Railway Express commuter rail line connecting FW and D on the old Rock Island line through northern Tarrant and Dallas counties, but that line is about five or six miles north of Arlington's entertainment district. There is some talk about running express buses from the TRE to Arlington. Sorry if this is info overload ...
Posted by: Gordon | May 19, 2009 at 10:32 AM
The Rangers run trams to their parking lots, and I imagine the Cowboys will do something similar ... But I'll ask around and try to get you a definitive answer.
Posted by: Gordon | May 19, 2009 at 10:34 AM