Why the Cotton Bowl isn’t played at the Cotton Bowl

The 2018 Cotton Bowl Playoff semifinal between No. 2 Clemson and No. 3 Notre Dame kicks off Dec. 29 at 8 p.m. ET. Although the game is dubbed “The Cotton Bowl Classic,” every year the game is played in AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, including the years when the bowl hosts a Playoff semifinal.

Nope, but the Cotton Bowl is still around — it lies about 20 miles east of AT&T Stadium.

The Cotton Bowl game hasn’t actually been played in Cotton Bowl Stadium since 2010, when the game was moved to Jerry World, marking the first time since 1937 that the game was played somewhere else.

“As anyone can imagine, this decision was difficult,” Cotton Bowl Athletic Association chairman Bruce Gadd said in 2007 when the decision was announced. “But after completing our due diligence, we determined that a move to the new stadium would remove all weather concerns, keep us competitive in a changing college postseason landscape and provide a world-class facility for our partners, the players and fans.”

While it may seem strange to have a game dubbed the Cotton Bowl play in a venue other than the one with the same name, having the game in a state-of-the-art, $1.2 billion AT&T Stadium makes it worth any lingering confusion.

First, weather is a factor. Outside of the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California and the Orange Bowl in Miami (where weather is typically is favorable for football games), Playoff semifinals are played indoors. AT&T Stadium having a retractable roof is a big plus.

(For proof that weather can play a role in all this: the first bowl to ever be canceled due to weather happened in 2018 at ... Cotton Bowl Stadium.)

The other is the sheer capacity of AT&T compared to the Cotton Bowl. Jerry World can hold more than 100,000 people in a space-age setting, compared to the 88-year-old Cotton Bowl’s 92,100.

In addition to other revenue streams that come along with modern facilities, that’s more ticket sales right there. According to the Star-Telegram, the Cotton Bowl made a whopping $12.9 million in 2015, when it hosted the Playoff semifinal between Michigan State and Alabama. Per the newspaper, that figure includes ticket and merchandise sales, a well as fundraising events.

ESPN has contracted Playoff semifinals and New Years Six bowl games to be played in specific cities, and that includes the stadiums they are played in, too. I’m sure ESPN’s fine with this view tagging along.

It used to host the Dallas Cowboys from 1960 to 1971, and has been the home of the SMU Mustangs at various points.

Nowadays, it hosts the annual Red River Rivalry between Oklahoma and Texas, along with smaller Texas college and high school games.

Although the city of Dallas has put millions into renovating the Cotton Bowl, it’s still nowhere near what AT&T Stadium has to offer.

AT&T Stadium will host Playoff semifinals in 2021 and 2024. Every other year thru 2026, it will host a New Year’s Six matchup.

The College Football Playoff is a business, and having the Cotton Bowl at a shiny, new building instead of an old one is part of that.