Multi-billion dollar growth of Arlington Entertainment District brings new ways to take in Rangers game days

The Texas Rangers gameday experience has changed tremendously over the years as the Arlington Entertainment District has gone from vision to reality.

That district is now home to the Dallas Cowboys, Texas Live! and multiple hotels in the area, along with a new Rangers ballpark, and city leaders tell NBC 5 that growth isn’t slowing down.

Longtime Rangers fans remember when walking out of the ballpark after a game didn’t lead to the view you’ll find these days outside of Globe Life Field. 

“I mean obviously this is a whole community and development that didn’t exist years ago,” said Kimberly Branch. “It’s a lot of entertainment here, people that don’t even necessarily go to a game, they’re here because of the environment, the vibe."

Today attending a Rangers game will bring you into the heart of the Arlington Entertainment District.

City leaders said the vision for the district dates back at least to the early 2000s when the plan was to build a shopping center around the former Rangers stadium Globe Life Park, now Choctaw Stadium.

“And so that did not materialize, especially in the midst of 2008 and everything that kind of happened with the financial difficulties at the time,” said Brent DeRaad, President of the Arlington Convention and Visitors Bureau.

What the district did get: the Dallas Cowboys, who began playing across the street at AT&T Stadium in 2009.

Since then, the district has added two Loews hotels, bars and restaurants at Texas Live!, a new Arlington Convention Center, and the newest ballpark in Major League Baseball in Globe Life Field.

City leaders said it’s all been part of $3.9 billion in public/private investment in the district in recent years.

“There’s just so much more Rangers fans can be able to see and do before the game,” said DeRaad.

There’s more to come, as next year the One Rangers Way project will add the first luxury apartments to the district.

And the National Medal of Honor Museum is set to open in the district in March 2025.

The city said Arlington’s annual tourism revenue is up to $2.6 billion, twice as much as it was a decade ago.

“And we’re really excited about that, that number has grown significantly, and we really feel like we’re on the precipice of that exploding even further,” said DeRaad.

Baseball fans told NBC 5 they hoped all this growth meant Rangers game days would keep getting better.

“I think it’s going to be great,” said Branch. “Great for the community and great for the area, great for Arlington.”