2026 promises to be the most busy, exciting, successful, noteworthy, attention-grabbing and frustrating year in Arlington sports history. Notice that we have included five positive adjectives to describe the next 365 days of sports in our city, and only one with a negative connotation. We will address the frustrations in a moment, but first, let us focus on the positives.
A little background, each year the city of Arlington earns more than $150 million in economic impact from sports. According to OLBG, it ranks as the #3 city in sports revenue. The Sports Business Journal ranked Arlington as the 6th best city in America for conducting sports business in 2024. I predict that this year in sports will blow each of those numbers out of the water.
There are multiple professional sports teams that call Arlington home, and while other cities are trying to lure some of them away, the two most popular residents are here to stay. Will 2026 be the year for the Rangers and the Cowboys to win championships? How about the Dallas Wings with Paige Buekers, who will soon be joined by another number one overall draft pick. It could happen. As for the Rangers and Cowboys, I will say for the record that both teams will win … games in Arlington this year. And both have a chance to win a championship. What a cherry that would be on an already dessert-like year of sports.
In addition to 10 or 11 NFL games, 81 Major League Baseball games, and 25 WNBA games, there will be soccer, rugby, and football games. There will be countless high school football and basketball games all in and around the entertainment district of Arlington.
But this year, the city is adding two huge events. First and foremost, the World Cup. From the middle of June to the middle of July, things will be crazy around here. Our city will host more World Cup games than any city in North America. The US, Canada, and Mexico are teaming up to host the quadannual event, and from all of the huge and wonderful cities in those three countries, Arlington has been chosen as the host with the most.
Now for the frustrating part. FIFA, which is the governing body of worldwide soccer, has a rule against stadiums having corporate sponsors as part of the name. Not gonna lie, I hate corporate sponsorships on stadiums too. But this gets worse, the stadium will be renamed for the host city, which technically is Dallas. So rather than calling AT&T Stadium, Arlington Stadium, as they should, it will be called Dallas Stadium. Don’t even get our friend and colleague Richard Greene started on this one.
In March 2026, the streets around the entertainment district will be transformed. Three championship organizations will bring the NTT INDYCAR SERIES to the streets of Arlington. The partnership between Penske Entertainment, the Dallas Cowboys, and the Texas Rangers will bring the excitement, the speed, the noise, and the drama of auto racing to a 2.73-mile course on our streets. The event will take place from March 13-15. There will be two days of practice and qualifying, and the epic race day is Sunday, March 15, 2026.
Like the World Cup, this is an exciting and unique way for Arlington to broaden its sports horizons. But it does not come without frustrations. The biggest of which will be traffic. The slow going around that area won’t be confined to race weekend. Remember that some streets will be repaved in preparation, and safety barricades will be installed to protect spectators. All of this will happen in the weeks before and after the event. Traffic will be no picnic in June and early July, either when the World Cup is here.
All that said, we take the good with the bad for the opportunity to host events like this. Bright lights will be shining on Arlington this year. Some parts of the world will be seeing The American Dream City for the first time, and I have no doubt they will like what they see.
Sports columnist John Rhadigan is the host of
The Rangers Podcast on DLLS Sports.
