File 2006 / DMN

DALLAS — On Friday, Dallas Mayor Laura Miller will announce that the traditional Texas-Oklahoma football game will continue to be played at the Cotton Bowl during the State Fair through 2015.

Several officials at Dallas City Hall, who asked to remain unnamed, confirmed the information to WFAA-TV and The Dallas Morning News.

The announcement will be made Friday at 9 a.m. during a news conference on the 50-yard line inside the 75-year-old landmark.

Grambling and Prairie View will also extend their agreement to play at the Cotton Bowl during the State Fair through 2015.

The new contracts—which must be approved by the City Council—include a boost in financial incentives, some from funds currently going to the Cotton Bowl Association for the AT&T Cotton Bowl Classic. That game is moving to the new Dallas Cowboys Stadium in Arlington in 2010.

The unnamed officials praised Mayor Miller and her negotiating committee in securing the game. The Mayor's office said she will have no comment until Friday's news conference.

“I wouldn't go to the fifty yard line for bad news," said the Mayor.

Under the new agreement, Texas and OU would get an additional $600,000 to split beginning in 2008, which is on top of the $250,000 under the current agreement. Then in 2012, the total will rise to $1 million through 2015.

Grambling and Prairie View will also see their compensation rise to $200,000 by 2015, though some Council members said they will try to boost that amount. That game currently gets $50,000.

The agreement is subject to city council approval. Councilmember Don Hill praised the new agreement.

“It's a great, great, great day for us to not only solidify this game until 2015, but also set the stage for additional games that we can bring in,” he said.

But not every Councilmember thinks this is good news.

“How long do we continue pumping money into that?” asked Councilmember Mitchell Rasansky. He said he fears the payout is too much, and the Cotton Bowl will become a money pit.

“I want to see the economic rewards the city of Dallas is going to get out of this, true economic rewards,” he said.

But Rasansky may be in the minority.

Right now the Cotton Bowl is in phase one of a two-phase renovation. The total cost is $50 million. It will boost capacity to 92,000 seats. Some critics did not want to spend the $30 million of that amount approved by voters in last year’s bond election without a strong commitment by Texas-OU. Supporters said this should be enough, and feel it will also win over more teams, providing additional match-ups for the State Fair.

“I think it's just going to be kind of a cascading type of games coming on line, and we're just real excited about it,” Hill said.

E-mail cheinbaugh@wfaa.com