Bonds play a role in Arlington, Texas, lease extension for Dallas Cowboys

City of Arlington, Texas

Bonds will play a role in funding the ongoing maintenance, operation, and improvement of AT&T Stadium, the home of the NFL's Dallas Cowboys in Arlington, Texas.

The Arlington City Council approved a master agreement this week that includes an extension of the team's lease for the city-owned stadium through 2055, with the team spending a minimum of $750 million on the facility over that time period. 

"The team will advance the improvements for the complex that will be reimbursed by the city over time," Arlington City Manager Trey Yelverton told the city council on Tuesday.

The city will pay up to $273 million on a net present value basis over 20 years for "eligible" reimbursements through a maintenance and operations account. 

The key to accessing that funding is a mandatory redemption of outstanding senior and subordinate lien special tax revenue bonds from a 2018 issue that financed a ballpark for Major League Baseball's Texas Rangers and selling new bonds, according to Ethan Klos, Arlington's city treasurer. 

The redemption and reissuance of about $369.3 million of outstanding bonds in 2028 will allow the city to open up the issue's closed lien that requires revenue from voter-approved taxes for the facility to only be used to pay off the debt, he said.

"The (new) lien will be the same source of funds," Klos said. "It's just that they won't be dedicated only to paying the debt service. So they'll allow us to use that excess (revenue) towards new projects."

Under the new lien, the tax revenue will first go to pay debt service, next to fund the reserve, "and then anything above that can be used towards going to this maintenance and operation fund," he said, adding the new bonds will carry the same final maturity in 2048 as the existing bonds. 

The Texas Attorney General's office appears "comfortable" with the city using the ballpark bonds for the football stadium plan given taxes to pay off bonds sold for each facility were approved by voters, Klos said. They consist of 0.5% sales, 2% hotel, 5% rental car, 10% ticket, and $3 parking taxes that generate about $55 million annually, according to the city.

Bonds Arlington sold in 2005 to raise its $325 million share of the football stadium's cost were paid off in August 2025.

The 2018 insured bond issue for the Rangers' ballpark totaled $465.4 million.