With one week before the FIFA World Cup opens, crews on Thursday draped a custom vinyl cover over the lettering on the stadium’s roof. The fabric closely matches the roof’s color.
The home of the Dallas Cowboys will be known, if only briefly, as Dallas Stadium. Yes, it’s true. The stadium must change its name to comply with FIFA regulations that prohibit corporate sponsors from representing host venues.
AT&T Stadium is certainly not in Dallas, as North Texans know. It’s in Arlington, the city between Dallas and Fort Worth that has long forged its own identity.
AT&T Stadium is not the only venue preparing for a name change. New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium, which will host the tournament’s final game, will be renamed New York New Jersey Stadium. Boston Stadium is actually in Foxborough, Mass., and Los Angeles Stadium is in Inglewood, Calif., but both suburbs are far smaller than Arlington.
Arlington, which has a population of some 400,000, is home to the Dallas Cowboys, Texas Rangers and the award-winning National Medal of Honor Museum. Arlington taxpayers point out they footed the bill for the stadium. Earlier this year, the city council approved a plan to spend $273 million on upgrades to keep the Cowboys in town until 2055.
To comply with FIFA, the stadium also widened the field and installed grass. But the name drew the most ire, with some residents grumbling on social media. “Does this mean we get a refund on all the tax money we spent on this?” one person asked in response to the name. Another asked “Hasn’t Arlington earned the right to not be referred to as Dallas?”
Mayor Jim Ross has repeatedly pushed for the stadium’s temporary name to include his city. “We’re happy to call it the Arlington-Dallas Stadium,” he once suggested at a city council meeting.
Those pleas seemed to be working. Last year, Monica Paul, executive director of the Dallas Sports Commission, said she talking with FIFA about possibly tweaking the name.
But alas, it will still be known as Dallas Stadium, FIFA confirmed Thursday.