Economists like the return on Cowboys Stadium -- so far.
Sports economists say the impact of Cowboys Stadium is unprecedented, but also say it's still early in the game.
City leaders are happy with the stadium's performance, which has seen rock concerts, world championship boxing matches and professional soccer games on top of preseason and regular season NFL games.
"I knew it was going to be more than just football," Mayor Robert Cluck said.
Sales tax revenue is up 2 percent since the stadium's opening in early June.
"We saw from the first, even to today, our sales tax beginning to creep up while other cities kind of going the wrong way," Cluck said.
Arlington taxpayers contributed $325 million to the Texas-sized stadium.
Sports Connection
Connecting you to your favorite North Texas sports teams as well as sports news around the globe.
"Arlington certainly benefits from having the Cowboys Stadium plus Texas Rangers," said Bernard Weinstein, an economics professor at Southern Methodist University. "Those two venues bring in a lot of people who spend a lot of money, and that generates sales taxes and hotel tax collections."
But Weinstein also said some of that money is coming at the expense of other North Texas cities.
"In terms of the overall Metroplex, some of the business that goes to Arlington is coming out of other cities that would have captured that business," he said.
Economists and city leaders are watching to see if the stadium can maintain its frenetic pace; the venue is hosting a major event about every 10 days.
"This is an iconic structure known throughout the country," Clack said. "The more events that are publicized, the more popular it will become."
Two major events are already on the schedule -- the NBA All-Star Game in two weeks, and next year's Super Bowl.
NBCDFW's Ellen Goldberg contributed to this report.
