On-Site at the New Cowboys Stadium

In fall 2009, the new $1 billion Cowboys Stadium is expected to be completed in Arlington, Texas.  A construction project of this magnitude is undoubtedly complex.  Check out the Construction Photo Journal or the Latest Interviews below for a unique perspective on the progress of the new Dallas Cowboys Stadium project.

A "Super" Honor for Pam Roach: Chairperson of ACVB’s Board of Directors Earns Appointment to ‘North Texas Super Bowl XLV Host Committee’

Pam Roach, Chairperson of the Board of Directors for the Arlington Convention and Visitors Bureau, has been appointed to the North Texas Super Bowl XLV Host Committee. The well-deserved honor for Chairperson Roach allows her to work hand-in-hand with other members of the Host Committee including Roger Staubach, Troy Aikman, Ross Perot Jr., Mayor Cluck, and other regional civic and business leaders.

During a press conference at the construction of the new Dallas Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Roach was announced as a new committee member. Following the committee’s announcement of its Founding Sponsorship Program as well as the unveiling of a new logo, Roach took time to talk about her new responsibilities as a member of the Host Committee and her continued work with the Arlington Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Q: What did it mean it mean to you personally to be honored with an appointment to the host committee?

Pam Roach: It's surreal because back in 2004 I was asked to help with the rally to get people to vote for the new stadium. Now we're actually here and we're less than two years away from the Super Bowl. It's hard to believe it's that close. Next year, the team will be moving into the new stadium when it opens in 2009. The idea of working with this group of people, not to mention the caliber of talent on this committee, I'm excited. I’m ready. I told the mayor that I’m ready to get down to work because I care about what happens in Arlington. I’m a willing volunteer.

Q: How did your appointment come about?

Roach: I was appointed by Mayor Cluck and notified in early April that the three mayors of Arlington, Dallas and Ft Worth were putting together a list of names. Mayor Cluck submitted my name and called to let me know. I received the committee’s ‘Letter of Invitation’ from Bill Lively (committee president) and so I signed the letter and said I would accept. When the mayor called I was ‘Yes!!’.

Q: So now you’ve got the gig. What kind of work does a committee member have to perform?

Roach: Now the committee work comes. Assignments will be based on a member’s skills, talents and resources. We have to raise a lot of money. Each of the three cities has a large amount we each much reach. I’ll be involved in that process also as Chair of the Board of Directors of the Bureau. We’ve hired a new person to lead the Arlington Convention and Visitors Bureau. We announced Jay Burress as the new CEO on May 6th.

Q: What is the role of the ACVB in all the work that’s being done to prepare for Super Bowl XLV in 2011?

Roach: One of the things we talked about when I took over as Chairperson was to sit down and talk about a strategic plan to position the Bureau as the chief marketing arm for the city. We wanted the city to feel like they could call us no matter what. For something like this – all the events leading up to the Super Bowl – we don’t want the mayor to feel like he has to call someone else. We want them to call the Bureau and say ‘This is who we have coming into town, this is what we need for these kinds of meetings and parties leading up to the Super Bowl’. We want them to call the Bureau and say ‘Make it happen’. That was the positioning. And this just continues those efforts.

Q: Would you say that bringing the Super Bowl to Arlington has been a truly regional effort?

Roach: It’s important that we see this as a regional effort. It’s not just about Arlington even though the stadium is located here. There will be business meetings in Ft Worth. A lot of the cultural centers are in Dallas. We in Arlington have a lot of the leisure destinations. So it’s a full package as a region. If we market as a region, we’re stronger than if we just marketed as the stadium in Arlington. It’s powerful that all the mayors have come together to say ‘It’s not just about us or about you; this is how we’re coming together as a region’. Competitiveness aside, we have to come together as North Texas. That’s what we’re doing.

Q: As an Arlington resident or visitor to Arlington, what can I expect to occur between now and the Super Bowl?

Roach: You can expect some traffic. You can expect to be temporarily inconvenienced. But you can also expect to see a huge growth in sales tax dollars. Most people don’t realize the value in that growth. I’ve had to convince my mom that it’s a good thing. She supported the stadium, but now she’s second-guessing that and saying ‘I can’t believe the traffic, what are we doing?’ I tell her, ‘Mom, it’s called progress!’ We’ve got to have it. We need the money. It fuels the city. It’s not just about today, it’s about tomorrow and next year and the next generation for our children. I tell her, ‘When your grandchildren graduate from college, they need to have something here that sustains our community because Arlington is over 100 years old now’. We don’t want the city to head down. We need a strong economy and this fuels the economy.

So for the Arlington residents – or even the visitors to Arlington – who see the traffic and the cars, yes, there will be some temporary inconveniences. But, for progress, I think it’s worth it.

Q: What role does the Glory Park development between the new Cowboys Stadium and Rangers Ballpark play for the city?

Roach: Glory Park is going to be amazing. Glory Park is going to change how entertain ourselves in Arlington. It won’t just be about Six Flags. This is going to be about going to a cultural center where you have everything you need in one place. We’ll have a hotel and places to shop and places to eat. You can go to the theatre. You can go to a game. Everything will be in one area. It almost becomes a village in and of itself. So that’s a powerful thing. We’ve never had that in Arlington. Yes, we’ve had an entertainment district, but you can’t move around here without a car. Glory Park is going to allow people to move within the boundaries of that area which is going to make Arlington a central location for visitors who don’t want to have to travel back-and-forth from Arlington to Dallas or Arlington to Ft Worth. They’ll want to stay in one place. And that one place will be Arlington.

Q: Even though Arlington’s Super Bowl is 3 years away, can you tell us about the planning that’s already taking place for the events leading up to the game itself in February, 2011?

Roach: That’s the year to be planning for. I’m on the Chamber Board, too. We’ve been saying already for the past two years that if you want to take advantage of the growth that occurs in 2012, you need to be planning ahead because there will be growth. And not just growth for small businesses related to sports memorabilia. There are businesses that sell to the hotels, for example. That’s the beauty of tourism. It’s not just about the ticket to the sporting event or the booking of a hotel room. There are six or seven different businesses represented in one hotel room because you have the business that does the laundry. You have the business that rents the furniture. You have the person who services all of the equipment. You have heating & air. You have flowers. There’s the food. All of those things go into one hotel room. And those are Arlington businesses taking advantage of these opportunities.

And if you’re talking about the two weeks in advance of the Super Bowl with millions of people converging upon the Metroplex and wanting to watch the game or be part of the Super Bowl experience, you’re going to have businesses realize explosive growth. Those businesses, however, are going to have to be prepared. There will be parties leading up to the game which will require catering. For all the special events like parades and festivals, you’re going to need t-shirts. Everything that will be taking place is multi-faceted, and that means more opportunities for multiple businesses.

Q: And what will the exposure Arlington receives as the site of the Super Bowl do for the perception of the city nationally and world-wide?

Roach: It raises the profile of Arlington. We are on the map not just as a leisure destination, but as the Sports Center of the World. We’re starting now to bring all the sports-related businesses and recreation programs together. We have a sports initiative taking place. Even the little league sports will be elevated just because of proximity to the stadium and ballpark. The University of Texas at Arlington is enhancing their sports facilities. All of these things are working together to bring more people to the region and to Arlington in particular.

We’ve become a sports mecca. Anyone who is a sports fan will come to our area and we’ve got it all right here. We’ve got football, baseball, basketball and hockey. All they need is here.

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