Cowboys Working With City To Manage Standing-Room Capacity

Cowboys Willing To Work With City On Crowded Plazas

Arlington Assistant Fire Chief Don Crowson said that the Cowboys "won't allow a repeat of Sunday's crowd unrest after some fans with standing-room-only tickets were temporarily denied entry to the team's new stadium," but team officials Thursday reiterated that they "would not place limits on the number of tickets available for each game," according to Jeff Mosier of the DALLAS MORNING NEWS. The Cowboys sold 30,000 Party Passes for last Sunday's home opener against the Giants, but Crowson said that the "six end zone plazas -- which were packed Sunday with people bearing Party Passes -- are limited to 15,000 people." That restriction "already was in place before Sunday's game." Cowboys Dir of Corporate Communications Brett Daniels: "Nothing has changed from where we were earlier in the week. We agreed to work with the city to manage the capacity, depending upon each game and how we manage the Party Pass tickets." Mosier notes there are "few details about how the city or Cowboys would prevent what some fans thought was a situation verging on a riot" during Giants-Cowboys, as some Party Pass holders before kickoff "became hostile, started throwing bottles and threatened to push over the gates" separating the inside deck and the outside plaza. The situation was "defused when public safety and Cowboys officials decided to remove gates and barriers between the inside deck and outside plaza, which allowed fans to move freely in and out." Crowson said that removing the gates "made it more difficult to control the flow of people in and out of some parts of the decks, but it did calm the angry crowd." Crowson added that "large crowds would be 'more appropriately managed' in the future, and there would be closer communication between the city and Cowboys about how to do that" (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 9/25). 

TAKING A STAND: Arlington Mayor Robert Cluck said, "One thing we all agree on is we will not have a repeat of Sunday. None of us want any unsafe conditions in the stadium." Crowson said that the city is "not specifically asking the team to limit sales of the Party Passes but has recommended the Cowboys clarify what areas those tickets guarantee access to." Crowson added that the team "has the option of creating more standing-room-only areas inside the stadium, which would allow more fans to experience the game" (FT. WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM, 9/25).