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ARLINGTON — Cowboys Stadium attracts thousands of American Idol hopefuls, and a couple hundred of the team’s faithful for the first tours.
OK, so about 10,000 came for American Idol auditions, but a strong contingent of a couple hundred Cowboys faithful arrived at 9 a.m., to be the first to be guided through the massive stadium’s 2.6 million square feet.“Very impressed. Amazing,” Cowboys fan Jason Bass of North Richland Hills said.Bass brought his wife Traci, 7-year-old daughter Maddison and his mother Pat Fausnight. Tickets (normally $15 for adults, $12 for children) were discounted $3 because some aspects of the stadium, such as the field, are not completed.“This is awesome,” Fausnight said. “I just hope I can afford to go to a game.”The tour begins inside the team’s Pro Shop and heads upstairs to the Club Level which offered a terrific view of the gigantic video board hanging above the auditions below where the synthetic football field will soon be installed.Jeff Felkins drove eight hours with his wife and two daughters from Flippin, Ark. Felkins tried to spot 16-year-old daughter Jacey and wife Charla in the stands as Jacey nervously waited for her audition number to be called.While they waited, Felkins and his 14-year-old daughter Shaley marveled at the pomp of the new stadium. “We’re Cowboys fans, definitely,” said Jeff Felkins, a produce manager at the Flippin Wal-Mart. “My grandmother got me hooked on them probably when I was 9.“This is beyond description,” he continued. “I told my wife if we can drive here eight hours for American Idol, we can drive here for a ballgame.”The tour ventured further up to the master control room, something like a network news production room, full of high-definition TVs, computers, panels, switches and buttons that control images seen on the huge video boards as well as the 3,000 HD TVs throughout the stadium.A stop at the largest sliding glass doors in the world offered a breathtaking view of Rangers Ballpark before everyone headed downstairs for a stop in the unfinished Cowboys locker room. The final attraction was at field level inside the Suite Owners Club, where those fortunate fans will cheer on the Cowboys as they make their way from the locker room and onto the field.Tours run seven days a week from 9 a.m., to 6 p.m., every half-hour and last about an hour. The only exception is on Sundays when the tours will be from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. excluding game days and other scheduled events such as concerts. For the next few months, though, along the way expect to see ladders, equipment and workers in hard hats putting on the finishing touches.Dallas Blythe didn’t mind. Originally from Iowa, he celebrates 28 years living in North Texas today. He became a Cowboys fan on Day One and spent many Sunday afternoons at old Texas Stadium.“You drive by Texas Stadium now and it’s pretty sad looking compared to this,” Blythe said. “It’s a work of art.”Jeff Caplan, 817-390-7760
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