The rebranding of AT&T Stadium to “Dallas Stadium” for the 2026 World Cup sparks controversy among Arlington residents.
ARLINGTON, Texas — Editor’s note: The video published above is a WFAA story from 2024 about the controversy of rebranding AT&T Stadium as Dallas Stadium for the World Cup.
Locals know it as AT&T Stadium or Jerry World.
But when the world’s eyes see the Cowboys play pen in Arlington in the summer of 2026 – they’ll see “Dallas Stadium” – probably much to the chagrin of Arlington residents.
FIFA is very strict on its partnering sponsorships during the World Cup, so to utilize the venues for the World Cup, most of which have naming rights sold to non-FIFA sponsors, each stadium was given a generic name for the soccer tournament.
That’s where the controversy enters, though.
AT&T Stadium does not lie within Dallas. Obviously it’s in Arlington, nearly 20 miles away. This is actually a common concept with the other hosting cities. “Los Angeles Stadium” is SoFi Stadium, which is in Inglewood. “New York New Jersey Stadium” is MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. “Boston Stadium” is Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, 30 miles from downtown Boston.
So, while this is being applied to all the venues in the World Cup, the generic rebrand has still caused controversy. Here is our story about it from 2024: