AT&T Stadium will host the American Cup gymnastics event on Saturday, and football stadiums and gymnastics "may seem to be an odd fit, but the synergy made sense to USA Gymnastics," according to David Barron of the HOUSTON CHRONICLE. It also made sense to the Cowboys, "since AT&T is the American Cup's title sponsor." USA Gymnastics President & CEO Steve Penny said that the AT&T sponsorship tie-in and Gold Medal-winner Nastia Liukin's association "made sense for taking the event to Texas, as did the novelty of hosting an arena-sized event inside one of the nation's more unique football stadiums." He said, "The time was right for us to do this. When you're coming out of a Winter Olympic year and headed into a Summer Olympics time frame, this says we're relevant." Barron reports event organizers "installed massive curtains to cordon off the competition floor on the stadium's south side, giving more of a traditional arena feel." But some athletes "were still taken aback ... by the sheer size of AT&T Stadium and its ubiquitous video board." Gymnast Simone Biles said, "There's so much light in the stadium. We're not used to so much light in the gym." Fellow gymnast Sam Mikulak "wonders if spectators will focus on the video board or the athletes themselves" (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 3/6). In Ft. Worth, Gil Lebreton notes seating for the American Cup "will be on one side" of AT&T Stadium, with the stadium's video board "lowered to 50 feet." Penny said of hosting the event at the football stadium, "For a moment, I thought I was a little crazy. But as soon as we came and saw it and talked to the Cowboys, everybody kind of looked at each other and said, ‘Yeah, we think this makes sense.’ We actually feel pretty comfortable here. It’s a nice fit" (FT. WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM, 3/6).
