Have a child who loves sports? Or do you like attending live games but don't love the price tag? You're in luck! Dallas-Fort Worth is home to a number of minor league sports teams that offer up tons of fun for a low price.
The other day, my family and I had the privilege of attending the XFL home opener. Backed by Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, the XFL, a professional American football is league, is back again and, luckily for football fans, based in Arlington this time! The Arlington Renegades, one of three Texas-based teams, call Choctaw Stadium home (Choctaw is the new name of the old Ballpark in Arlington) and will play for 10 weeks this season, starting February 18 and concluding on April 23. The league, in total, has eight teams and offers football fans something to get excited about while the NFL prepares for August.
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| Checking out the Arlington Renegades home opener at Choctaw Stadium. The girls got to get up close and personal with The Rock! |
Why is it exciting to have this league right here in Arlington? Well, for starters, because football! If you're a fan of the Cowboys, you'll love the home team because the Renegades offer you the same action-packed games once a week during the NFL's off season. But even better? The Renegade games are actually affordable! My husband and I went to watch the Cowboys take on the Detroit Lions in October at AT&T Stadium in October 2022 and our nosebleed seats, seriously only about five rows from the absolute top of the stadium, set us back $190 EACH. That didn't include parking, which was another $50 (split with 6 people) and then my sandwich and margarita at the game were another $30. Who can afford the NFL?! Just imagine if we had brought the kids... XFL tickets, by comparison, start at only $24 per game. While at the game last Saturday, we ate Chicago dogs and nachos (we skipped the beer), and my husband's fully loaded dog was only $10. That's a steal by sports arena standards.
The biggest appeal of minor league sports teams, in my opinion as a mom of three, is that it makes watching games affordable. Not only that, but the games are more fun! Fans haven't bet tons of money on the outcome and aren't getting worked up by who is winning or losing. Announcers play to the crowd a bit more. There's no pausing for commercial breaks and players oftentimes hang around after the game to sign balls and jerseys. Last year, we went to see the Round Rock Express minor league baseball team in Round Rock for less than $5 per person to sit on the grass. The girls got to roam freely, enjoy the game (when they were interested) and everything felt approachable and fun. Without all the hoopla and fanfare, you can truly enjoy the game.
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| Enjoying a Round Rock Express minor league baseball game in 2022. |
DFW has a number of local teams that play around the area whose tickets are a fraction of the cost of tickets to big league games. If your kiddo wants to watch sports but you don't want to shell out the big bucks in fear that they'll lose interest far before the game is over, check out one of these local teams. (Even better? You can snag tickets to some of these teams with your POGO PASS- code everything for half off- or GetOutPass- code everything for a special discount.)
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| Enjoying a Dallas Sidekicks game in 2022. |
Minor League Sports Teams
Texas Legends- NBA D-League minor league basketball
Allen Americans- ECHL hockey team
Lone Star Brahmas- junior league hockey
Frisco Roughriders- minor league baseball
Dallas Sidekicks- professional indoor soccer
Fort Worth Vaqueros- minor league soccer
Dallas/Fort Worth is not only home to a number of exciting
major and minor league sports teams, it is also a great spot to catch golf,
racing and more.
Racing
Texas Motor Speedway
hosts NASCAR and more.
Texas Motorplex features drag
racing and other events.
Lone Star Park offers up exciting horse racing in Grand Prairie.
Golf
You can catch two major golf tournaments in the Dallas area-
the AT&T
Byron Nelson and the Charles Schwab Challenge.
Esports
Arlington is home to Esports Stadium- the largest of
its kind in North America for all kinds of gaming action.
Go team! Do the things! Score the points!
