Texas, Oklahoma to keep Red River Shootout in the Cotton Bowl through 2036; City of Dallas to renovate aging stadium
Texas and Oklahoma announced Wednesday that the two schools agreed to a contract extension to keep the Red River Shootout at the Cotton Bowl through 2036. In addition, the City of Dallas will give the stadium a two-year, $140-million renovation that includes widening concourses, adding escalators, renovating concession areas and restrooms, and increasing the number of premium environments.
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“We’re thrilled we’ve been able to extend the contract and continue our partnership with Oklahoma, the State Fair of Texas and the City of Dallas on our great game,” said UT athletics director Chris Del Conte. “There is absolutely nothing like the Allstate Red River Rivalry game, and with all of its history, tradition and pageantry, it needs to stay in the Cotton Bowl. So many memories have been made by generations of fans at the iconic stadium surrounded by the spectacle that is the State Fair of Texas, and we’re excited to be continuing that long into the future.”
The two schools announced that the first phase of renovations to the west side of the stadium is scheduled to be completed by September of 2026, while the City of Dallas is set to complete a second phase of renovations to the east side by September 2034.
“The relationship between the storied Allstate Red River Rivalry and the venerable Cotton Bowl is one-of-kind regardless of sport,” said OU athletics director Joe Castiglione. “Our new agreement guarantees this historic legacy of the University of Oklahoma and the University of Texas at the State Fair of Texas will stretch into a second century. Millions of fans throughout the years have cheered, in-person, for the Sooners or Longhorns on what’s become almost sacred ground. It only makes sense for us to do all we can with our partners to keep that tradition alive but also continue to improve upon the experience and access for our fans. The stadium renovations will be extensive, and we can’t wait for our fans to experience the enhancements.”
The City of Dallas has engaged Bryan Trubey, FAIA, project principal with Overland Partners, to head up the redesign efforts for renovations to Cotton Bowl Stadium, per release.
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The Cotton Bowl had showed signs of its age in recent years as the historic coliseum opened in 1930. It most recently was renovated in 2008 when seating capacity was increased from 68,252 to 92,100 thanks to the complete encircling of the second deck. Though there were fan experience upgrades like new scoreboards and seats, there remained limited concession and restroom availability for many of the older parts of the stadium.
Renovations will keep the game in Fair Park for the next decade and more, and prevent either the UT or the OU administration from moving the game off-site. Neither those in Austin nor in Norman in recent years had expressed any interest in being the ones to take the Red River Shootout out of its traditional home. The Longhorns and Sooners did meet once in AT&T Stadium in 2018 during the Big 12 Championship, but all involved spoke to how different it felt in the NFL stadium.
The renovations come as the Longhorns and Sooners are set to move to the SEC beginning July 1, 2024. Texas leads the all-time series with Oklahoma 63-51-5. OU won the most recent contest in 2023, defeating Texas 34-30 via a last minute drive.
