Networking At Cowboys Stadium In Arlington Texas
My wife Diana and I had the satisfaction of participating in a great networking event in Arlington Texas this week at Cowboys Stadium. This was our first ever before visit to the stadium, not only was the networking awesome so was this spectacular stadium. It is absolutely jaw dropping! We were given the grand tour of the facilities, the locker rooms, the suites, and finished up on the field for our networking. I've never been in such a large building but only in Texas everything is bigger. The imported wood lockers costing over $4000 apiece blew me away. The luxury suites were awesome, we didn't want to leave. They definitely put the "L" in luxury.
Cowboys Stadium is a domed stadium with a retractable roof in Arlington, Texas. It will host the 2011 NFL Superbowl. It provides the home of the Dallas Cowboys. It replaced Texas Stadium, which started out in 1971, and served as the Cowboys' home through the 2008 season. It was finished on May 27, 2009. The stadium seats 80,000, creating the forth largest stadium in the NFL by seating potential. The highest capacity of the stadium, including standing room, is 110,000. The Party Pass (open areas) sections are at the rear of seats in each end zone and on a series of six raised platforms connected by stairways.
The stadium is the greatest domed stadium in the world, has the world's biggest column-free interior and the largest high definition video screen which hangs from 20 yard line to 20 yard line. The stadium can also be used for a range of other functions outside of its main purpose (professional football) such as concerts, religious ceremonies, basketball games, college football and high school football contests, soccer matches, motocross races and rodeos.
Cowboys Stadium was created by the Dallas, Texas based architectural firm HKS. Apart from the Cowboys, the brand new stadium is used by college football teams and other organizations for other sporting and non-sporting events. On March 10, 2008, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, joined by officials and coaches from Texas A&M University and the University of Arkansas, announced that the two schools would renew their rivalry with annual games at the stadium. In addition, the Cotton Bowl Classic has moved to the stadium.
Originally estimated to cost $650 million, the stadium's construction cost was $1.3 billion, making it one of the most expensive sports venues ever built. To aid Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones in paying the construction costs of the new stadium, Arlington Texas voters approved the increase of the city's sales tax by .5 percent, the hotel occupancy tax by 2 percent, and car rental tax by 5 percent. The City of Arlington provided over $325 million in bonds as funding, and Jones covered any cost overruns. Also, the NFL provided the Cowboys with an additional $150 million, as per their policy for giving teams a certain lump sum of money for stadium financing.
A couple of nearly 300 ft arches span the length of the stadium dome, anchored to the ground at each end. The new stadium also includes "more than 3,000 Sony LCD flat-screen TVs all through the luxury suites, concourses, concession areas and more, supplying fans viewing options that extend beyond the action on the field," and a center-hung video display board that is the largest high-definition television screen in the world. Huge glass doors at each end zone can be opened.
The retractable roof was designed by structural engineering firm Walter P Moore and the systems were implemented by mechanization consultants Uni-Systems. This is the fastest retractable roof in the world, taking only 12 minutes to retract. It looks very similar to the Old Texas Stadium roof, with its trademark hole. The roof is opened so God can watch His team play.
Happy Trails,
DK
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