Everything Is Bigger In Texas: Sports Commission Representative Says Dallas Has Potential to Grow CrossFit if Approved As Games Host City

As we continue to wait for CrossFit to reveal where the next Games location will be in 2023, we’re taking a look at what some of the differences are when you compare Madison to a potential new host city, Dallas. Earlier this month the Dallas Sports Commission welcomed Dave Castro and other HQ representatives to the site the city submitted a bid on, Fair Park.

One big thing: One of the main venues would be bigger…much bigger. Cotton Bowl Stadium inside Fair Park seats 92,100 spectators. While that leaves substantial room to grow the sport over time, in the immediate future, there are other ways to make the venue feel full.

• “Cotton Bowl is way too big but there are ways to shrink that down with sponsorship signage and suites added in, things like that to make it a little more intimate,” said J.D. Wood, the director of business development for the Dallas Sports Commission

This past summer, Wood attended the CrossFit Games to see how Madison hosted the event — in hopes of getting a better understanding of what Dallas could do if they become the new location.

• “I think the thing that was interesting was the setup that they had with the indoor and outdoor buildings. I think it would be a similar setup to Fair Park here in Dallas, which got me excited,” Wood said.

Another similarity would be the off-site water events. Dallas has three venues within a ten mile radius of Fair Park including Southern Methodist University, White Rock Lake Park and Lake Ray Hubbard — all viable resources to host swimming, kayaking, paddle boarding or any other water adventure Castro cooks up. The biggest difference — room for the sport to grow.

• “I can see in a couple of years you continue to grow the event and need more space and Fair Park in Dallas could potentially give that to you. My hope would be that they decide to come here in 2023, 2024 and 2025 and it would be even larger than they ever have before and show that this central location in Dallas could be home for CrossFitters around the world,” Wood concluded.

The big picture: It’s still unclear who CrossFit will ultimately pick to be the new host city for the 2023 Games, but it’s easy to see a metropolitan like Dallas as a good contender. The accessibility of travel to the city and entertainment options both in and out of the venue make it a viable location for spectators and athletes, to move the Games back to a larger city.