{"id":253051,"date":"2026-04-16T19:25:12","date_gmt":"2026-04-16T19:25:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/253051\/"},"modified":"2026-04-16T19:25:12","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T19:25:12","slug":"arlington-to-consider-273-million-in-payments-to-keep-cowboys","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/253051\/","title":{"rendered":"Arlington to consider $273 million in payments to keep Cowboys"},"content":{"rendered":"

Arlington officials are planning to spend up to $273 million to keep the\u00a0Dallas Cowboys<\/a> in town. \u00a0<\/p>\n

The idea already is drawing pushback from a longtime critic who\u00a0says voters are being cut out of the decision.<\/p>\n

The City Council will discuss a lease extension at the city-owned AT&T Stadium next week to ensure the football team stays put<\/a> through 2055, according to the city\u2019s agenda. Their current lease runs through 2040.\u00a0<\/p>\n

If approved, the agreement would add 15 more years to the Cowboys\u2019 lease. It would also enable the city to create a $273 million account for stadium upgrades, operation and maintenance over two decades using venue taxes the city already collects.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Cowboys said in a statement that the partnership with the city has “exceeded the high expectations\u201d of the team and the \u201cproposed extension is a reflection of our continued trust, collaboration and proactive approach to the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

But a\u00a0taxpayer advocate is alarmed that voter approval is absent from the city\u2019s plans.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not the right way to do it,\u201d said Warren Norred, an attorney who has long been critical of Arlington\u2019s streak of stadium deals. He said the city\u2019s contract with the Cowboys allows for an extension but \u201cit doesn\u2019t say more money needs to be borrowed.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Norred said the city hasn\u2019t clearly explained what it\u2019s getting and what it\u2019s giving up.<\/p>\n

The city of Arlington did not immediately respond to comment from The Dallas Morning News.<\/p>\n

Arlington voters have used hospitality and rental taxes to pay for stadiums before.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In 2004, voters greenlit a Texas-sized $325 million deal to lure the Cowboys from Irving. The approval meant Arlington used a half-cent sales tax increase, 2% hotel occupancy tax and 5% rental car sales tax to pay down the debt it had taken on building and upgrading the stadium.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Voters were asked once in 2016 to decide if the city could use the same funding structure to build Globe Life Field, the Texas Rangers\u2019 new stadium. Supporters of the stadium won in a landslide<\/a> election.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Last year, the city completed its debt payments for the Cowboys stadium a decade earlier than scheduled.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Cowboys will invest at least $750 million toward the sports complex, and will draw from the city\u2019s account for reimbursements for eligible stadium expenses, according to a city memo. They have until 2043 to complete the upgrades.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The lease terms also would reduce the rents for the space and the naming rights to a combined $1 million. The football team is currently paying the city $2 million in base rent and $500,000 in naming rights rent. The Cowboys will also give half a million annually for youth programs.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Staff writer Calvin Watkins contributed to the report.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Arlington officials are planning to spend up to $273 million to keep the\u00a0Dallas Cowboys in town. \u00a0 The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":253052,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[102,104,103],"class_list":{"0":"post-253051","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-dallas","8":"tag-dallas","9":"tag-dallas-headlines","10":"tag-dallas-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/253051","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=253051"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/253051\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/253052"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=253051"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=253051"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=253051"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}