{"id":264265,"date":"2026-04-24T11:34:07","date_gmt":"2026-04-24T11:34:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/264265\/"},"modified":"2026-04-24T11:34:07","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T11:34:07","slug":"arlington-officials-bypassed-voters-on-stadium-funding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/264265\/","title":{"rendered":"Arlington officials bypassed voters on stadium funding"},"content":{"rendered":"

Few cities in the world have repeatedly proven to love professional sports teams more than Arlington, Texas, which does not justify what its elected officials<\/a> did to its citizens in a recent announcement with the Dallas Cowboys.<\/p>\n

Rather than give Arlington\u2019s voting citizens the chance to say \u201cyes\u201d or \u201cno\u201d to a measure that would give the Cowboys $273 million, Arlington Mayor Jim Ross and the Arlington city council approved the measure without any \u201chelp\u201d from the people who put them in their respective positions of power.<\/p>\n

Even if it is legal, it is wrong.<\/p>\n

For reasons known only to a select few, this week the Arlington city council approved an agreement to give the Cowboys $273 million over the next 20 years, and the Cowboys will invest at least $750 million for the \u201cmaintenance, operation, and improvement of the complex\u201d through 2055.<\/p>\n

The people spending the money don\u2019t get a say in this.<\/p>\n

The justified issue with this latest Cowboys-Arlington deal<\/p>\n

Ross did not return a call to the Star-Telegram.<\/p>\n

During the Arlington city council meeting on April 21, Arlington City Manager Trey Yelverton explained this latest decision as an \u201cextension\u201d of the original agreement with the Cowboys. Hence the reason this didn\u2019t go to a public ballot.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s using the existing authorities that all exist,\u201d Yelverton said, \u201cand moving forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yelverton\u2019s PowerPoint presentation included all sorts of big numbers and bullet points illustrating what an incredible run of deals their investments in the stadium has been for the city. Every city that funds these kinds of team-friendly projects follows this script.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not hard to find an economist who can create a bunch of numbers to make a case. For anything.<\/p>\n

One of Ross\u2019 predecessors in the job, former Arlington Mayor Richard Greene, took to his Facebook page to ask his followers, \u201cIf you were among those casting a \u2018yes\u2019 vote in 2004 (for the initial measure to help build AT&T Stadium), did you know you were approving unlimited future funding for the Cowboys after the original debt was paid off last year?\u201d<\/p>\n

Greene was one of the most important figures in the city\u2019s efforts to build The Ballpark in Arlington (now Choctaw Stadium), and he is a fierce advocate for the city.<\/p>\n

Greene told the Star-Telegram, \u201cThe response from the people across the city is understandable. They wonder why they didn\u2019t have a role in this decision.\u201d<\/p>\n

Seems like a fair question.<\/p>\n

Longtime Arlington resident and attorney Warren Norred<\/a> has been one of the loudest critics of the city\u2019s willingness to throw hundreds of millions of dollars at these projects, and he plans to fight this latest agreement.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy goal is to file a suit based on Texas constitution that says you can\u2019t do this,\u201d Norred told the Star-Telegram. \u201cI have been against all of these projects in the past, but in the case of every one of them there has been a \u2018family gathering.\u2019 I was a member of the \u2018Touchdown Cowboys\u2019 group to bring the Cowboys to Arlington, but I wanted the city not to give them as much as we did.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow, we\u2019re not even going to have a family gathering. We\u2019re going to just give it all to the Cowboys with no one allowed a say in the matter?\u201d<\/p>\n

How there are nearly $1 billion in expenses to maintain and keep AT&T Stadium looking pretty is a mystery, but it should satisfy designers and contractors, all of whom will be only too eager to say, \u201cYou need this.\u201d<\/p>\n

After the presentation, and pro\/con arguments were made by multiple people during the city council meeting, the measure was passed by a 7-2 vote.<\/p>\n

Arlington\u2019s generous history with pro sports<\/p>\n

Arlington has been in the pro sports business since it built Turnpike Stadium in the mid-\u201860s<\/a>, which along with a financial package lured MLB\u2019s Senators to move from Washington, D.C., to Texas.<\/p>\n

In January 1991, Arlington voters approved by a near 2-1 margin a half-cent sales tax to help finance the new $191 million home for the Texas Rangers, The Ballpark in Arlington.<\/a> The measure assured the Rangers would be there for 30 years.<\/p>\n

In November 2004, Arlington voters<\/a> approved another half-cent sales tax increase, this time to help fund the new stadium for the Cowboys. Arlington\u2019s costs were capped at $325 million, with Jerry Jones and the Cowboys covering the rest.<\/p>\n

The initial estimates to build the stadium were in the area of $700 million. Ish. The final tab was closer to $1.15 billion, and the stadium became the standard in sports and entertainment.<\/p>\n

In November 2016, Arlington voters approved the extension of a half-cent sales tax, as well as a 2 percent hotel occupancy tax and 5 percent car rental tax, to help the Rangers build a new, retractable-roof stadium, which opened in 2020. Estimates had Arlington spending $500 million for a stadium that cost $1.2 billion to complete.<\/p>\n

In case you don\u2019t have a calculator handy, beginning in January 1991 and with this latest deal, Arlington has spent\/committed $1.28 billion on sports stadiums.<\/p>\n

This was all completed with the public\u2019s consent, until this last $273 million.<\/p>\n


\n \"Profile
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

Mac Engel<\/a><\/p>\n

Fort Worth Star-Telegram<\/p>\n

Mac Engel is an award-winning columnist who has covered sports since the dawn of man; Cowboys, TCU, Stars, Rangers, Mavericks, etc. Olympics. Movies. Concerts. Books. He combines dry wit with 1st-person reporting to complement an annoying personality.
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