Texas Tech and Baylor Might Have a New Place to Play, But It’s Still Not Lubbock
Texas Tech and Baylor have played their match up in Arlington, Texas at the Dallas Cowboys home stadium since 2009, with the exception of one year where they played in the Cotton Bowl. The neutral field game is complimented by a cool trophy and a name: The Texas Farm Bureau Insurance Shootout.
It's not the coolest name, but it's appropriate given the scoring output of the two teams generally.
The home game for Texas Tech is during the even years and the game falls on Thanksgiving weekend, which is the main reason that the school holds the game in Arlington to avoid a poor crowd during the holiday weekend.
The two teams have a contract with Jerry Jones and AT&T Stadium through 2018, but there may be a new play after the game next season.
According to LubbockOnline.com, Texas Tech officials have been in contact with the Texas Rangers about playing in the new Globe Life Field.
Football teams playing in baseball stadiums isn't new, but it's pretty rare. The New York Yankees host a bowl game, and the Oakland Athletics host the Raiders football games weekly.
The Texas Rangers new stadium won't be ready until the 2020 season but it will be a brand new $1.1 billion complex that will have much more available than just a field to play on. The new Globe Life Field will have an atmosphere similar to the St. Louis Cardinals who have a strip of restaurants and an assortment of entertainment options right by the stadium.
The game would still be in Arlington of course, something that provides familiarity to Kirby Hocutt, “Obviously, our baseball team has played here in Arlington before, and we hope that continues to be an opportunity in the future."
The positives of playing Arlington are apparent. The DFW area Alumni get a chance to see the squad. The recruiting pitch of playing in an NFL stadium. The Money the team makes has to outweigh the amount they make for that home game every other season, or else they wouldn't do it.
There's always a chance this game continues in AT&T Stadium, but the contract hasn't been renewed yet but it's only a matter of time that something is iron clad and it will most likely be a neutral site.
"Again, this is all just exploratory conversations," with the Rangers, Hocutt reiterated. "We haven't talked about the Texas Tech-Baylor game with them. It's just brainstorming what opportunities, how can we continue to have as great of a presence in this area as possible. They know how important this market is to us, and I tell you, that’s a great organization that we share a great relationship with. We appreciate them sharing with us their plans into the future."
The neutral site game is seemingly an overwhelmingly positive experience for the Athletic Department, but is it a positive for Lubbock?
The local economy loses a home game (and everything that comes with that) every other year. If Baylor stays in the dumps like they are this season, it's also another win in front of the home crowd that the Red Raiders are losing every other year.
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