The Ballpark in Arlington

Lore & Background

The stadium was designed by the Driehaus Prize winner and New Classical architect David M. Schwarz of Washington, D.C. The Rangers chose to build a retro-style ballpark, incorporating many features of baseball's Jewel Box parks. A roofed home run porch in right field is reminiscent of Tiger Stadium, while the white steel frieze that surrounds the upper deck was copied from the pre-1973 Yankee Stadium. The out-of-town scoreboard (removed after the 2008 season and replaced with a state-of-the-art video board) was built into the left-field wall—a nod to Fenway Park. The numerous nooks and crannies in the outfield fence are a reminder of Ebbets Field. The arched windows are a reminder of Comiskey Park. However, it has a few distinct features of its own. Several traditional Texas-style stone carvings are visible throughout. A four-story office building encloses center field with a white steel multilevel facade similar to the facade on the roof. The stadium's 810-foot-long facades are made of brick and Texas Sunset Red granite. Bas-relief friezes depict significant scenes from the history of both Texas and baseball.

In Their Own Story

The humidity hung heavy over Arlington on a July night, but inside The Ballpark, the air was crisp and cool thanks to the massive roof sliding shut just as the first pitch was due. Thousands of fans in navy blue and red buzzed with anticipation, their voices echoing off the high ceiling. As the pitcher wound up, the only sound was the rhythmic thud of a bat against a ball, followed by the roar that shook the very foundations of the stadium—a moment frozen in time where history felt inevitable.

Reader's Guide

The stadium has a large number of obstructed-view seats. In some cases, the view is cut off by an overhang or underhang, and others are directly in front of support poles. Also, the design of the upper deck left it one of the highest in baseball. The view from the grandstand reserved sections in left is particularly obstructed. The stadium has three basic seating tiers: lower, club and upper deck. Two levels of luxury suites occupy spaces behind sliding glass doors above and below the club tier. The calculus of seating arrangements represented a new economic model for the sport: a critical mass of high-dollar seats close to the infield boost ticket revenue.

Did You Know?

• The largest crowd to watch a Rangers baseball game was on October 30, 2010, when 52,419 fans watched Game 3 of the 2010 World Series against the San Francisco Giants.
• The stadium's home plate, foul poles (replaced prior to the 2016 season), and bleachers were originally at Arlington Stadium.
• On August 25, 2021, Choctaw Casinos & Resorts bought the naming rights to the stadium.