El Súper Clásico Comes to Dallas Cotton Bowl Stadium will host one of Mexican soccer’s most historic rivalries. By David Lee
For the first time in 25 years, Dallas will host one of the biggest rivalry matches in Mexican soccer history at historic Cotton Bowl Stadium. El Súper Clásico pits Club América and Guadalajara (Chivas) in an annual rivalry that dates to the 1940s. The match kicks off Sunday, Sept. 5 at 4:30 p.m. CT. As a larger celebration of Mexican Independence Day on Sept. 16, Fan Fest events will take place in Fair Park during the week leading up to the game. They will
include live musical performances, food, team mascots, championship trophies, and memorabilia auctions featuring items from legends of the two teams. The auctions will benefit several local nonprofits. “PRIMETIME Sports, Club América and Chivas de Guadalajara are extremely excited and look forward to bringing the Súper Clásico, Mexico’s biggest soccer rivalry, to the city of Dallas and to the legendary Cotton Bowl Stadium, that has hosted major international
sporting events including the U.S World Cup in 1994 and the latest Gold Cup edition,” says PRIMETIME Sports Partner Fernando Orvañanos. This certainly isn’t the only recent major soccer event to take place in the Dallas area. The CONCACAF Gold Cup played nine matches in DFW, including matches in Cotton Bowl Stadium. Also, Dallas is one of the potential U.S. host cities for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
exemplify the fantastic market Dallas has for international soccer matches,” says Monica Paul, Executive Director for the Dallas Sports Commission. “We’re honored to have the chance to have this match here in Dallas for our diverse community of passionate soccer fans. The whole weekend of the game culminates into one of the largest celebrations of Mexican Independence in the United States, which makes it a truly unique and special event.” The match and surrounding Fan Fest are expected to attract visitors not only from other parts of Texas, but also from across the United States. The last two Súper Clásico matches were hosted in Los Angeles and Chicago attracting more than 60,000 attendees. Taking place Labor Day weekend, attendees are expected to extend their stay, and enjoy the variety of events and amenities Dallas has to offer. Since Fair Park is close to residential areas, many fans can easily walk or hop on DART transportation to the game and events. Dallas residents might even spot
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billboards off highways and various signage at DFW Airport and Love Field promoting the match. In another first for El Súper Clásico, both Telemundo and Univision will broadcast the event. In past years, just one of the networks broadcasted the match due
The whole weekend of the game culminates into one of the largest celebrations of Mexican Independence in the United States, which makes it a truly unique and special event. - Monica Paul, Eventive Director Dallas Sports Commission to contractual agreements with the two clubs. Among the 235 full-match meetings between Club América and Guadalajara, America leads 85-74, and the two clubs have finished in a draw 76 times. Currently, Club América is in first place in the Liga MX league, while Guadalajara ranks 12th.
Cotton Bowl Stadium Historical Facts • • •
• • • • •
Opened in 1930 as a 46,000-seat venue Home to the annual Cotton Bowl Classic from 1937 until 2009 Home to the annual Red River Showdown football game between the Texas Longhorns and Oklahoma Sooners (first game in 1912) Original home of the Dallas Cowboys Host to six World Cup games in 1994 Home to FC Dallas (Dallas Burn 1996-2004, FC Dallas 2005) Hosted a soccer match between Real Madrid and AS Roma in 2014 Hosted the NHL Winter Classic, the NHL’s first outdoor hockey game in the south – Dallas Stars vs. Nashville
25 Years Ago: The Last Time Dallas Hosted El Súper Clásico • • • • • •
The Dallas Cowboys defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers 27-17 in Super Bowl XXX. The Big 12 began playing its first season. The Summer Olympics were held in Atlanta. Major League Soccer debuted in the United States in April. The Texas Rangers finished first in AL West. NASA launched the Space Shuttle Endeavour.
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HISTORIC STATE FAIR CLASSIC continues to thrive By Jean-Jacques Taylor
Al Wash has been promoting the Southwest Airlines State Fair Classic for parts of five decades. These days, the game - an annual battle between Grambling and Prairie View - is better than it has ever been. There’s one reason. “We built this game as an event,” Wash said. “We didn’t really build it as a classic. That’s how our attendance got larger.” That approach made perfect sense. After all, Grambling was a legendary program, while Prairie View was among the worst programs in America. From 1989 through 1998, Prairie View lost 80 straight games, the longest losing streak in NCAA history, The State Fair Classic began in 1925 with a game against Langston (Okla) and Wiley (Texas) College. The game was always played on the fair’s “Negro Day”, and it was played on Mondays from the 1920s through 60s. Prairie View replaced Langston in 1929 and the Panthers have played in the State Fair Classic every year since BEHIND THE BANNER AUGUST 2021 EDITION
then except 1990 and 1991. Prairie View did not field a team in 1990 because of financial reasons, and the 1991 team did not have any scholarship players. Grambling became Prairie View’s annual opponent in 1985 and promptly beat the Panthers in 21 of the first 22 meetings. Eighteen of those victories were by more than 20 points, including 10 by more than 40. That’s why Wash had to promote more than just the game. “Everybody said how can you draw this many people, when everybody knows the outcome of the game. Grambling is going to beat Prairie View 50-0,” Wash said with a laugh. “In the early days here, we’d run a commercial on the radio and we’d say nothing about football. “We’d talk about the world’s largest fair, the food and we had (Grambling coach) Eddie Robinson - the legend himself. Coach Rob would come in and do a press conference and he did everything he could to market the game.”
Wash also made alliances with the State Fair’s power brokers in the early 2000s to ensure the game would always be played during the fair. Before forging that relationship, sometimes the game fell within the fair dates and sometimes it didn’t. Attendance was always considerably better during the fair, so Wash worked to eliminate the ambiguity.
TV,” Rasshan said. “Seeing the bands and seeing all the fans, I was completely in awe. Plus, it was my first time to the fair and my first time to the Cotton Bowl. It was an amazing experience.” From 1929 through 1966, Prairie View played Wiley College except for a four-year stretch from 1956-59. From 1967 through 1984, Prairie View played Dallas’ Bishop College every year except for 1977. Gambling, said Wash, provides the perfect opponent for Prairie View. “It would be different if Grambling wasn’t the opponent because you have two rivalry schools from connecting states,” Wash said. “What people don’t understand is that Prairie View sells tickets. “In Texas, black teachers and professors went to Prairie View A&M. It’s one of the oldest black institutions in Texas, and it was the only place they could really the only place kids could go play football. Blacks didn’t start going to white institutions until 1965 or 1966.”
These days, the State Fair Classic is one of the country’s premier HBCU football classics. Only the Bayou Classic (Grambling v. Southern) in New Orleans and the Magic City Classic (Alabama State v. Alabama A&M) consistently have a higher attendance than State Fair Classic.
Actually, Sammy Williams and J.T. Reynolds, the first black players at Texas A&M, walked onto the 1967 team. Julius Whittier was Texas’ first black player in 1970.
Each of those games draws nearly 70,000 fans, while the State Fair Classic expects about 60,000 fans. “Win lose or draw we let the kids hang out for a couple of hours after the game and experience the fair,” said Florida A&M coach Willie Simmons, who was 0-3 from 2015-17 as Prairie View’s head coach. “I was always walking around trying to find me a candy apple. “That week riding around with (Grambling) coach (Broderick) Fobbs and going to the radio stations and doing the press conference was fun. The buildup and the hype around the game was nice, but I don’t have a lot of good memories from those games because we didn’t win any of them. The first two years cost us a championship and that was hurtful.” Rasheed Rasshan, the defensive line coach at Rockwall High School, grew up in California and played in five State Fair Classics. He’ll never forget the first one in 1996 because Grambling and Prairie View were each winless. “Coming from California, my only experience with HBCU football was watching the Bayou Classic on
The State Fair Classic continues to thrive because Wash gives fans what they want. “Where else can you go to the world’s largest fair, black classic football a great halftime show, two artists one before the game and one after the game,” he said, “and be there from 10 a.m. to midnight for a reasonable price.”
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THE PROS AT HOME IN SEPTEMBER SUN
MON
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WED 1
1:05 PM
THU 2
7:00 PM
VS. COL 5
3:00 PM
VS. ATL 12
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13
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20
11
10
7:00 PM
VS. NYL 15
7:05 PM
VS. HOU 21
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VS. HOU 19
3
S AT
VS. ATL 9
8
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16
7:05 PM
VS. HOU 23
22
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VS. CHI 24
25
9:00 PM
VS. VAN 26
27
28
7:05 PM
VS. LAA
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29
7:05 PM
VS. LAA
30
1:05 PM
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29
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UPCOMING EVENTS
SEPTEMBER 4
Allstate Kickoff Classic: Kansas State vs. Stanford // AT&T Stadium
SEPTEMBER 5 El Súper Clásico // Cotton Bowl Stadium
SEPTEMBER 25 State Fair Classic // Cotton Bowl Stadium
OCTOBER 9
Red River Showdown // Cotton Bowl Stadium
OCTOBER 13 -15
International Health, Racquet and Sportsclub Association
// Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center Dallas
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