If you build it dump $82 million into it, they will come.
Mayor Mike Rawlings sends word today that it's a lock: The annual, traffic-snarling blood feud between the University of Texas and Oklahoma University known as the Red River Shootout will be played in the Cotton Bowl at least through 2020.
Says Mayor Mike:
I am very delighted to announce that Pete Schenkel has informed me that the Universities of Texas and Oklahoma have signed an agreement to extend the "Red River Classic" through 2020 in the Cotton Bowl in Fair Park.This rivalry is one of the top 10 in college football and attendance to the game itself is one of the hottest sports tickets in the country. I can easily say Dallas is very proud to stay host to this 100 year-plus tradition.
The decision comes after the City Council voted last month to pour more than $25 million into the stadium, which had just undergone a $57-million touchup a few months before.
It's unclear what would have happened had the City Council balked at coughing up the cash. Maybe the rivals would have flocked to the Jerry Dome, maybe to their home stadiums. We'll never know -- until, perhaps, the day they come asking for money the city can't find.
