Arlington approves $273M deal to keep Dallas Cowboys in city through 2055
The Arlington City Council voted at its meeting on Tuesday, April 21 voted to approve a $273 million agreement to keep the Dallas Cowboys at AT&T Stadium.
The Cowboys’ current lease of the stadium, enacted after a voter-approved ballot measure and extended for one year during the COVID-19 pandemic, is set to run until 2040 with an option to extend toward the end of the lease. Under that lease, the city owns AT&T Stadium, but the Cowboys take care of the maintenance and upkeep. Arlington paid $325 million for the construction of the stadium, with the rest financed by the Cowboys.
Under the agreement approved on Tuesday, the Cowboys would extend their lease for another 15 years and invest at least $750 million into “maintenance, operation, and improvement of the complex” through 2055, while the city of Arlington would invest that $273 million over a 20-year period into a “maintenance and operation account.”
When voters approved the city’s contribution to AT&T Stadium in 2004, they also agreed to pay a half-cent sales tax increase, a 2% hotel room tax, and a 5% rental car tax. Those taxes allowed the city to pay back its debt 10 years early. In 2016, Arlington voters also approved a ballot measure to give $500 million in tax revenue to fund a new Texas Rangers stadium.
The council approved the proposal 7-2, with District 3 council member Nikkie Hunter and District 7 council member Bowie Hogg voting against it.
