Most North Texas sports fans are already familiar with Arlington’s entertainment district, but instead of Texas Rangers and Dallas Cowboys fans racing around the city’s huge stadiums this weekend, it will be IndyCar drivers.
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The inaugural Java House Grand Prix of Arlington will give the city a national spotlight to showcase its entertainment district and potentially attract future development, businesses and events.
The projected 75,000-plus visitors to the three-day IndyCar Series event are expected to spend between $20M and $30M in the city, according to Brent DeRaad, president and CEO of the Arlington Convention & Visitors Bureau.
While much of that will help the city’s dining and hospitality sectors during a period without Cowboys or Rangers games, DeRaad said city officials also hope to entice some automotive businesses to return for a second look at Arlington after the race weekend.
“The biggest impact just comes back to television, being able to show and demonstrate to a new sports audience just how walkable our entertainment district is,” DeRaad said. “It's a great opportunity for us in Arlington to generate awareness about what we have here.”
In addition to the Cowboys’ AT&T Stadium and the Rangers’ Globe Life Field, Arlington’s Entertainment District is adjacent to the original Six Flags Over Texas, Choctaw Stadium and the Loews Arlington Hotel and Convention Center. The city has attracted headquarters for the United Football League and Texas Trust Credit Union in recent years.
The Arlington Economic Development Corp. plans to host clients and meet with different business entities throughout the weekend in hopes of spurring further development.
The race was organized by IndyCar Series owner Penske Entertainment, in collaboration with the Dallas Cowboys and REV Entertainment. The event will be IndyCar's first race in Dallas-Fort Worth since 2023, but it is slated to spend at least three years in Arlington.
“An event of this magnitude is another great reflection of what we imagined over 15 years ago that AT&T Stadium could be a part of,” Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said in a statement when the race was announced in 2024.
The prospect of bringing IndyCar to Arlington was intriguing to city officials, DeRaad said, especially considering the huge financial and business impacts Formula 1’s Circuit of the Americas track has had on Austin since it opened in 2012.
Formula 1 announced in October that it would keep the U.S. Grand Prix at the Austin track through 2034. Officials said the event has generated around $7B for the economies of Austin and Texas since it began.
DeRaad said Formula 1 is in a class completely by itself, so he doubts Arlington will see those kinds of returns from its association with IndyCar. Still, he is excited for what the future holds.
“The hope is that, if it goes well and everybody has a good experience this year, that it just continues to grow,” DeRaad said.
Arlington officials consider the city a “big-event market,” so DeRaad said they would love to grow the investment around the IndyCar competition. But for the inaugural race, city officials wanted to be as cautious as possible and not overestimate the impact.
Some city infrastructure has already benefited from the race, as DeRaad said Penske made improvements to the roads for use as part of the 2.7-mile track that will feature AT&T Stadium and Globe Life Field. DeRaad said the Arlington CVB assisted Penske in applying for reimbursements in the range of $5M to $6M for the improvements through the state’s Major Event Reimbursement Program.
“We certainly have other streets here in Arlington that could use some work, so we couldn't use city resources to make the very specific changes that Penske needed in order for this race to happen,” DeRaad said.
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