Texas Rangers, City of Arlington announce new stadium deal

The Texas Rangers and the City of Arlington have announced plans for a new retractable roof stadium for the Rangers which would be open by the start of the 2021 season, per a press conference today.

The deal has to be approved by the City Council next week, and then submitted to a vote in November to approve public funding.  If approved by voters, the Rangers would be in Arlington through 2054, with the plan being for the Rangers to be in the new park no later than 2021.

It is a $1 billion deal, with the Rangers and the City of Arlington each kicking in $500 million.  The City of Arlington will own the stadium, and the Rangers will be responsible for the design and building of the park, as well as any cost overruns.

It kind of boggles the mind when I think about it...a new park, in less than five years.  But clearly, the city was motivated to get a deal done, and was willing to dangle the carrot of getting a new stadium in place before the current lease expired in order to incentivize the Rangers to lock it in.

Here's an artist rendering of the proposed park: