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Morning Brew: Texas, OU expected to renew contract with State Fair of Texas for Red River Showdown
The Texas-Oklahoma rivalry has been played at the Cotton Bowl every October during the State Fair of Texas since 1932.
247sports.com
DESTIN, Fla. — While Texas and Oklahoma are attending the SEC’s spring meetings (without a vote yet until they formally join the league next summer), one order of business became clear this week between the Red River rivals moving forward:
There are no plans to move the Red River Showdown from the Cotton Bowl — smack dab in the middle of the State Fair of Texas — every October once the rivals join the SEC.
Oklahoma athletic director Joe Castiglione told Horns247 that while the current contract for the Texas-OU game at the Cotton Bowl expires in 2025, the plan is to renew the deal with some improvements to “fan amenities” moving forward.
“We’ll probably start having some conversations (with the State Fair of Texas) soon,” Castiglione said.
Castiglione didn’t want to go into detail about the requests for improvements in fan amenities until Texas and Oklahoma could first express those requests to the State Fair of Texas.
“We understand playing that game at a stadium with as much history as the Cotton Bowl, that there are certain limitations with regard to fan convenience,” Castiglione said. “But we always want to try to make it the best we possibly can for the fans.”
In the past, Texas and Oklahoma have been able to get the State Fair of Texas to increase the number of seats in the Cotton Bowl (from 68,252 to 92,100 in 2008); increase concessions outlets within the stadium; as well as make improvements to the bathrooms (which is always an ongoing issue).
Currently, Texas and Oklahoma each receive $500,000 from the State Fair of Texas, plus a cut of ticket sales for playing their annual showdown at the Cotton Bowl.
For a typical home game at their own stadiums, Texas and Oklahoma would each take in between $4 million and $5 million in revenue. The Red River Showdown also counts as a home game (for Texas in odd-numbered years, for Oklahoma in even-numbered years), even though it’s played in Dallas every year.
But despite those so-called inconveniences, Castiglione and Texas athletic director Chris Del Conte agree that the Red River Shootout should never leave the Cotton Bowl in October smack dab in the middle of the State Fair of Texas.
“There’s nothing like it in sports,” Castiglione said.
With the addition of the Red River Showdown, the SEC will have two of the most celebrated neutral site rivalries in all of college football along with the Florida-Georgia game (played in Jacksonville, Fla., since 1933), known as the “World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party.”
Officials told Horns247 here in Destin that the current Texas A&M-Arkansas series that’s been played at Jerryworld (AT&T Stadium) in Arlington since 2008 will come to an end in the next couple of years.
