The Dallas Cowboys want to duplicate the success of their $2B mixed-use headquarters development in Frisco with a new sports and entertainment district around the team’s home stadium. 

Cowboys Chief Operating Officer Stephen Jones said the team intends to develop the land around the 3M SF AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Sportico reported. The NFL franchise, which Forbes named the world's most valuable sports team, moved into AT&T Stadium in 2009 but then developed The Star, a 91-acre mixed-use district in Frisco about 40 miles northwest of Arlington. 

“We haven’t been quick to develop AT&T Stadium, but it’s coming our way,” Jones said. “We’re right around the corner from doing something similar at AT&T Stadium that we did at The Star.”

The Star opened in 2016 and features the team's practice facility, world headquarters and a 50-yard replica turf field open to the public. It also offers more than 1.5M SF of office space, the 300-room Omni Frisco Hotel, a 170-unit luxury multifamily tower, a 300K SF medical office building and around 225K SF of restaurants and retail space.

Jones indicated the team decided to build in Frisco first because the area where The Star was developed was “one of the hottest real estate markets in North Texas.” 

AT&T Stadium is owned by the city of Arlington. Officials agreed in April to spend $273M on facility improvements as part of a lease renewal with the Cowboys. The extension will keep the team in the Arlington stadium until at least 2055.

As part of the Arlington Entertainment District, AT&T Stadium is near the Texas Rangers' Globe Life Field, Choctaw Stadium, a pair of high-end Loews hotels and a variety of museums, restaurants and apartments. The Rangers also partnered with the Cordish Cos. in 2016 to build the $250M Texas Live fan venue next to Globe Life Field. 

Sports-anchored mixed-use districts have become increasingly popular across the country as team owners aim to turn the areas around their stadiums into year-round destinations. However, Jones said they are not as easy to build as they look. 

“A lot of people say, just because you put a team on a piece of property, then that means the real estate around it is going to be worth a lot,” Jones said. “That’s not necessarily the case.”

Teams such as the Green Bay Packers and the Atlanta Braves have had success with the Titletown District next to Lambeau Field and The Battery in Cobb County, respectively. And in the Cowboys’ neck of the woods, there are three massive sports and entertainment districts in the works. 

The Dallas Stars plan to build a $3B sports and entertainment district a few miles south of Frisco at the site of The Shops at Willow Bend mall in Plano. The Dallas Mavericks started the process of transforming the former Valley View Center mall site in North Dallas into a mixed-use district to be anchored by a new arena earlier this month. And just this week, Hunt Sports Development announced plans for a mixed-use district around the Frisco stadium for Dallas' Major League Soccer franchise.