Dallas Plays Second Fiddle to Arlington Events

Jerry Jones tried to locate his 21st century version of the Roman Coliseum in downtown Dallas. Then-Mayor Laura Miller and county commissioners told Jones to take his $1 billion-plus project elsewhere.  So, he did.
 
Since it opened about a year ago with the first event, a George Strait concert, the venue stole the Cotton Bowl Classic, ouch, and it continues to bill top entertainment acts -- Paul McCartney, anyone -- plus other big-time sports events -- hello Super Bowl XLV -- and now Jones and the boys take aim at the Academy of Country Music awards, spiriting the event away from Las Vegas like it did a recent boxing match.
 
The ACM awards could take place in Arlington as early as 2012, according to a post on the Cowboys Stadium blog at the Dallas Morning News, after the organization’s contract with the Vegas MGM Grand expires next year. Smart money says it will happen.
 
When -- likely not if -- it does, a stream of country-music celebrities will flow in to Six Flags City and the spotlight will follow them, heaping massive amounts of publicity on Arlington.

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Dallas, meanwhile, will catch some overflow and associated celebrity sightings, but nothing like what would occur if the Cowboys Coliseum were located at Fair Park.
 
Dallas citizens burn while the city plays second fiddle to a suburb.
 
Bruce Felps owns and operates East Dallas Times, an online community news outlet serving the White Rock Lake area. He wishes he could take a DART train to Fair Park to watch a Cowboys game, but he couldn't afford a ticket anyway ... for the train, the games are out of the question.
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