The Fair on Game Day

[MonkeyDoughnut 10227]

Nothing like getting e-ticket scanned at gate and being told wasn't "verified" yet, whatever the hell that means and having to go to ticket resolution booth to fix. One person for OU, one for TX.... Make sure you are in right line as other can't help. Luckily we entered early enough right next to resolution booth so wasn't huge hiccup. Could have been huge problem.

[mdmost 42999]

8 minutes ago, Armybrat said:

A good start, but it doesn’t fix the traffic issues getting to & away from the fairgrounds. 
That is on the City of Dallas and DART.

Well get there early or that's on you. The Fair Park area is what it is. We approached our favored parking lot at 9:50 and got right in. When we left we got out pretty easily because we parked right by the exit and walked farther out. There are ways around the mess, you just have to find them. As far as DART, it was designed poorly because they didn't go elevated with the rail line to avoid cross traffic because it was too expensive. If bisects two major streets that lead to 30. There is no way to have only trains go through other than shutting down all streets around the northern end of the Fair. Sure, it's a design flaw but they weren't thinking of Texas OU when they were putting a line meant to service Southern Dallas commuters. 

[hobbs 243]

Same thing here. Tickets bought as part of my season ticket package. Download straight to my wallet. No prior problems. But tickets would not scan and had to trek to the box office - which of course was at the far end of the stadium in the OU side. 

Same shit with me as well, but my wife's worked fine. She got in ahead of me, so when the guy told me I had to go to the box office, I told him I had to grab her and then just kept on walking...with bloody from tailgate still in hand.

Would've been so f'in pissed if I had to make that trek to the box office. Ridiculous and they have to figure this shit out asap.

[DFWTexEx 276]

We've taken DART to the game before and it worked just fine.  They add extra trains, stage them well and also have bus connectors and generally plan well.  Something went terribly wrong yesterday.   We didn't take the trains in and parked on MLK but had to walk across the tracks that had non-stop red lights blinking and gates down and no trains moving.  Eventually they led us walk under the arms and through.  Absolutely dangerous and nuts.

The stadium itself was a clusterfuck.  Running out of water?  The bottlenecks.   That's the worst I have seen it.  But the improvements for next year will make a big difference with the flow of people.  That won't help the fact that it is understaffed with no visible "guest services" or security to deal with shit.

 

 

[Skipper 6127]

Gate B was an absolute shit show pregame.  We got there by probably 1:45, waited 15 minutes and barely moved.  I think the gate was smaller than normal due to construction but I swear those fucking morons only had 2 people scanning tix and there were thousands trying to get in.  I realized the situation and fought back through the crowd around the food court then went in gate C without much delay at all.  From the concourse up above, I was trying to direct Texas fans to ditch gate B and pivot to C. It seemed like few realized what I was doing and left but most just rode it out.  There is no way most made kickoff despite trying to get in 40 minutes before game.  That is just flat out unacceptable.    Absolute incompetence by the Cotton Bowl staff.  They should have had 4X more ticket takers there + crowd control directing people to gates with smaller lines.

[runthebone 7966]

49 minutes ago, mdmost said:

Let's be honest. The stadium is a problem because it was never meant to house 100,000+ people. It was only ever meant to hold 65K. The buildout should've been a lot wider but they were working with the existing footprint. The endzone concourses are way too tiny and you throw in restrooms, concessions, water/beer stands, then it's a recipe for a clogged mess. The ability to get from the outside to the upper level is bad and vice versa. Like I said before, I think the renovations will address this. More entrances and exits. Escalators and more stairs to get people inside and out. Open areas to put in more concessions. It should help.

From this:

 

To this:

Can we get a rendering with the ou sucks half empty?

[Bevo&Pevo 5120]

Well, if it makes y'all feel any better we had ticket "verification" issues with the Astros wild card series (both days).   From what I'm reading I see 3 issues. 1-people movement from parking to in and out of the stadium and back to parking areas. 2-Ticket acceptance (either at the gate or office for verification) and 3-additional/better concessions with alternative water sources.  I'm not saying this is true, but the game needs the venue for one day a year.  It would be unlikely DART or City of D will make major traffic renovations for the convenience one day would bring.  I can see CDC getting the ticket and concessions issue worked out though.   Just asking, is the box office easy to find?  Were the lines there long?  Were the lines identified or separated in a manner easy to make sure you were in the correct line?  Sounds like beating blou makes it worth the hassle. Mostly. 

[DaysOff 7947]

Global warming is real. Just have the game at night; it's not going to kill anyone. Christ.

[Constant 6723]

12 minutes ago, Skipper said:

Gate B was an absolute shit show pregame.  We got there by probably 1:45, waited 15 minutes and barely moved.  I think the gate was smaller than normal due to construction but I swear those fucking morons only had 2 people scanning tix and there were thousands trying to get in.  I realized the situation and fought back through the crowd around the food court then went in gate C without much delay at all.  From the concourse up above, I was trying to direct Texas fans to ditch gate B and pivot to C. It seemed like few realized what I was doing and left but most just rode it out.  There is no way most made kickoff despite trying to get in 40 minutes before game.  That is just flat out unacceptable.    Absolute incompetence by the Cotton Bowl staff.  They should have had 4X more ticket takers there + crowd control directing people to gates with smaller lines.

There needs to be a complete rethinking of how stadium operations accomplishes their goal. I think they need to figure out an outer perimeter and conduct ticket/security functions where there could be more space for sensible queues. 

Once you’re inside the perimeter, you can’t leave. There are food/beverage options inside. Stadium come and go as you please, but you must stay inside the event perimeter. 

Move those yellow shirt idiots out there watching that since they don’t do much inside as it is. 
 

Edited October 13 by Constant

[Surly Bevo 24908]

1 minute ago, Constant said:

There needs to be a complete rethinking of how stadium operations accomplishes their goal. I think they need to figure out an outer perimeter and conduct ticket/security functions where there could be more space for sensible queues. 

Once you’re inside the perimeter, you can’t leave. There are food/beverage options inside. Stadium come and go as you please, but you must stay inside the event perimeter. 

Move those yellow shirt idiots out there watching that since they don’t do much inside as it is. 
 

The fair encroaches right on the stadium, there will never be a solution like this put into place.

[Skipper 6127]

There are pretty simple solutions in my opinion:

1.  Fix entrances/exits.  Hopefully the renovations help from an infrastructure perspective.  But with the current set up a lot of problems can be fixed with more staff.   Pay Cowboys stadium employees whatever is needed to come work for the day.  There was simply no excuse to not have more people scanning tix to alleviate the pregame bottlenecks.

2.  Fix bathrooms/concessions.  Again, hopefully the renovation helps but they simple have to figure out a way to get more staff.  You shouldn't have to risk miss a quarter of football to run to restroom and grab a beer or whatever.  Texas has certainly improved this significantly over the past several years at home games.

3.  Cap non-game attendees or increase pricing to reduce from that perspective.  This is the one that will be hard to accomplish because I have no doubt the vendors make an absolute killing on this day.  But it's a real problem that seems to have gotten worse post-Covid.  As others have said, I can't fathom having a family 'fair day' during Texas OU but every year clearly a ton of people there that don't care about the game. 

[Skipper 6127]

4 minutes ago, Constant said:

There needs to be a complete rethinking of how stadium operations accomplishes their goal. I think they need to figure out an outer perimeter and conduct ticket/security functions where there could be more space for sensible queues. 

Once you’re inside the perimeter, you can’t leave. There are food/beverage options inside. Stadium come and go as you please, but you must stay inside the event perimeter. 

Move those yellow shirt idiots out there watching that since they don’t do much inside as it is. 
 

This was what they did for the Winter Classic.  Of course, the difference was there wasn't a fair going on.   I love it in theory but don't know how it could work.

[mdmost 42999]

1 minute ago, Constant said:

There needs to be a complete rethinking of how stadium operations accomplishes their goal. I think they need to figure out an outer perimeter and conduct ticket/security functions where there could be more space for sensible queues. 

Once you’re inside the perimeter, you can’t leave. There are food/beverage options inside. Stadium come and go as you please, but you must stay inside the event perimeter. 

Move those yellow shirt idiots out there watching that since they don’t do much inside as it is. 
 

There's no way to do that given the constraints of the space. You have permanent buildings outside half of the stadium. The front entrance is about the best place but you'd have to remove concessions to do that and those spaces are rented for the entire time of the State Fair because it's a high traffic area. You can't shut down the Midway because then you're cut off a main avenue of the Fair. Texas and OU need to insist that the ticketing situation get figured out. It's just a venue not meant for that many people in an era where digital tickets are now the only way to get in. They need to consult with Dos Equis Pavilion on how to get people easily into the venue but there's just not enough room in and around the Cotton Bowl. 

[Constant 6723]

2 minutes ago, Surly Bevo said:

The fair encroaches right on the stadium, there will never be a solution like this put into place.

Perhaps, but there has to be a better way. In its current state, it’s an absolute medical and security nightmare. I think it’s time to start looking at some creative solutions. 

[Surly Bevo 24908]

There seemed to be a lot of "digital" issues yesterday.  A lot of the walk-up "no attendant" coupon kiosks were out of order and down, the tickets seemed to not be scanning according to some of the stories here and as I mentioned earlier on while cell service has always been hit and miss around the fair and in the stadium on game day it was non-existent yesterday. 

[Horn Under a Bad Sign 20390]

2 minutes ago, Constant said:

I think it’s time to start looking at some creative solutions. 

We could ban Sooners. After all, it is the TEXAS state fair. 

[Constant 6723]

Just now, Horn Under a Bad Sign said:

We could ban Sooners. After all, it is the TEXAS state fair. 

You may have a hard time playing the football game that way. You could always invite Texas Tech, TCU, or SMU. 

[mdmost 42999]

1 minute ago, Constant said:

You may have a hard time playing the football game that way. You could always invite Texas Tech, TCU, or SMU. 

They might've provided better competition yesterday......

[WBT 20561]

26 minutes ago, runthebone said:

Can we get a rendering with the ou sucks half empty?

[Knoxtnhorn 5971]

7 minutes ago, Constant said:

Perhaps, but there has to be a better way. In its current state, it’s an absolute medical and security nightmare. I think it’s time to start looking at some creative solutions. 

Very good point.  Texas played SMU in a game there during the mid-90's.  I attended that game, then helped run concessions for my brother's band fund that evening during an HBCU game.  There were gun shots, which sent people sprawling all over the place.  If that had happened after the game yesterday, there would have been a Liverpool-esque death tally.

[Constant 6723]

3 minutes ago, mdmost said:

They might've provided better competition yesterday......

Probably. But it wouldn’t be giving y’all quite the same Sunday morning hard ons. 

[mdmost 42999]

I also think the time change didn't help with the crush of people. It was supposed to spread out the lines getting in better but it felt like it had the opposite effect. I'm sure because of the heat, many people waited to go in so they weren't just sitting there baking in the sun. At least with the early kick, people can head straight in when they arrive at the Fair as opposed to waiting around and causing a further log jam. I would get rid of all the tables in front of the main entrance. You shouldn't have to dodge people sitting out there. Move it all back by the lagoon. Thankfully Gameday wasn't there to make it even worse. 

I think they need to figure out a queue system instead of just the free for all at the entrances. To get into the Fair security, we had to go through a queue with barriers to make you form into a line. Maybe try that at the gates. There's probably just not enough room.

[Al Bundy's Napoleon Hand 13570]

1 hour ago, mdmost said:

When we left we got out pretty easily because we parked right by the exit

 

[UTexasFight 9428]

There were email blasts about the construction temporary fucking up entrances and warning to get there early. Anybody that’s been to this game before and knows how bad it is normally should have known to allow 2/3x more time. 

My group mostly arrived at the fair around 9. Did our fair stuff with no lines before it got really busy. Got in to the stadium in 5 minutes about 90 minutes before kickoff and hung out in the shade on the concourses until 20 minutes before. 
parked in my normal spot and had no issues getting in or out.

yeah, 5.5 hrs is a little more time than I need before the game. Still prefer the 11am kick and getting there at 7:30. But that would have been brutal yesterday having the full stadium bake in the sun for 4 full hours instead of half. 
 

Everyone bitching about this has give the improvements a chance. That’s the fucking point: it’s been bad, they recognized it. They’re doing something about it.

If it’s still like this next year, then by all means…

[HRSchenker 2268]

Apparently many of the trains had to be stopped due to people passed out from dehydration or too much beer. Buddy of mine left the fair after the game and didn't make it back to Mockingbird Station until 9:30

[BurntOrange&White 39930]

3 hours ago, Lat22 said:

Yesterday was #40 for me and for the first time, I’d consider Jerryworld as an option. It was a clusterfuck in every possible way. Wild Turkey outlined it beautifully. 

 

3 hours ago, bluto said:

Yesterday was my limit. Im not goin to another 230 kickoff RRS

 

2 hours ago, wild_turkey said:

No, the Cotton Bowl itself was the worst part. They were practically out of water by halftime for a 2:30 game in 95F weather. You simply can’t run out of water. It’s a safety issue if nothing else.

DKR has massive water dispensers in the concourses so you can refill a water bottle if you need to. It was near impossible to buy a water in the Cotton Bowl and there were no options to refill your empty bottle. Even their water fountains had plastic wrap taped across them.

The concession lines were extremely long and there are no TVs in the concourses so you will completely miss a chunk of the game while waiting to hopefully buy whatever you need if the line you chose doesn’t completely run out before you get to the front. I’ve never seen anything like it.

 

3 hours ago, mdmost said:

Agreed. I think people who are angry about the experience yesterday need to email or tweet CDC. The contract has to stipulate concession requirements. I know the renovations will create more outdoor terraces on the upper levels so I'd imagine they will move a lot of the booths out there so that will free up the concourses. There's supposed to be escalators going in between the press box to endzones on both the Texas and OU ends. More stairs to lead down from the upper level and I think you can circumnavigate the upper level. Basically the front where everyone is packed in will be redone. I said upthread a big problem is all the stupid shit around the stadium that needs to move out. The dumb hospitality tent outside the Texas endzone that makes everyone get bottlenecked trying to get around it. All the dumb shit on the north end main entrance that bottles up people. We found a nice set of staircases near the press box that take you right down from the upper level to just under the main stairs. That made it a lot easier to get out because I don't think anyone is aware they exist. I'm not sure the extent of what they plan on renovating the non-press box side. I think the focus is the front entrance area and alleviating the bottlenecks there. 

 

2 hours ago, utee94 said:

100%.  Go to CDC with your issues, he really does react to fan concerns when he can.  The State Fair and the City of Dallas want to keep this game, they've put a lot of money into renovations over the past 20 years and they're putting a lot more into it now.  Most of the issues can be addressed with some common sense and some properly applied pressure.

 

2 hours ago, Rockethorn1978 said:

11am is the only option. if 2:30 is bad and it is for crowd and traffic I cannot imagine a 7pm game at the fair and having to leave. And I wanted a 7pm game too. No thanks. Hands down the worst game experience I've had in the 30 years I've attended. First game I was 16 and watched the 94 stonie clark blast heard round the world.

You’re all pussies shut the fuck up. 

Edited October 13 by BurntOrange&White

[skilesare 71]

The person in charge of coupon booths will likely be hung by the concession vendors.  I would imagine that they did 20% of the business they could have between 11:30 and 2:30 due to the lines at the coupon booths. 
 

applepay convenience has to supersede any advantage that coupons may have brought in 1982.

[Surly Bevo 24908]

Just now, skilesare said:

The person in charge of coupon booths will likely be hung by the concession vendors.  I would imagine that they did 20% of the business they could have between 11:30 and 2:30 due to the lines at the coupon booths. 
 

applepay convenience has to supersede any advantage that coupons may have brought in 1982.

Not sure the coupons have ever been about convenience as much as it has been about the Fair managing the financial risks posed by the carnies, circus folk, and neer-do wells that peddle their wares across the complex.  

[mdmost 42999]

9 minutes ago, BurntOrange&White said:

 

 

 

 

 

You’re all pussies shut the fuck up. 

Well I went to the game whereas I'm sure you sat in your house firing off angry posts all game long per your usual bitchass persona. 

[Rockethorn1978 6072]

I got to the fair at 8:45 and walked in with zero issue, went through gate g when it opened and had zero issues. All the issues with traffic getting in and getting inside the stadium were with people going in after 1:30. The amount of people standing on the upper level hall for shade until 2:30 was mind blowing. It was brutal hot and I have the sunburn to prove it. 
 

on a positive note I saw a ton of nip slips from all the hoes wearing loose fitting dresses and boots. It was glorious.

ou sooner gashes were nasty af. Never seen so many fupas in my life. 

[Rockethorn1978 6072]

10 minutes ago, BurntOrange&White said:

 

 

 

 

 

You’re all pussies shut the fuck up. 

[TrashMaster G 17541]

3 hours ago, Surly Bevo said:

And on another note, the Cotton Bowl may be a dump but for being able to view the game of football it is almost without peer from a sight line perspective.  

This. 💯

[allrightallrightallright 67]

I entered in through Gate B and it was an absolute shit show.  Between only two ticket scanners, idiots standing at the entrance waiting for friends and a pallet of water stuck in the middle of the crowd it was a nightmare.  I can never envision this game elsewhere; hoping the renovations make next year better

[MAUFRAIS 6618]

I took my kids (six and nine) and they didn’t complain this much.


Did you guys try the duck game where everybody gets a prize?

[BERT 4358]

1 hour ago, Rockethorn1978 said:

I got to the fair at 8:45 and walked in with zero issue, went through gate g when it opened and had zero issues. All the issues with traffic getting in and getting inside the stadium were with people going in after 1:30. The amount of people standing on the upper level hall for shade until 2:30 was mind blowing. It was brutal hot and I have the sunburn to prove it. 
 

on a positive note I saw a ton of nip slips from all the hoes wearing loose fitting dresses and boots. It was glorious.

ou sooner gashes were nasty af. Never seen so many fupas in my life. 

It doesn’t have to be hot for you to get sunburned. 

[Rockethorn1978 6072]

8 minutes ago, MAUFRAIS said:

I took my kids (six and nine) and they didn’t complain this much.


Did you guys try the duck game where everybody gets a prize?

Oh so you were the guy on my row with two kids that went in and fucking out 46 times during the game? They went to the bathroom so many times they couldn’t complain.

[Patches 12]

17 hours ago, Surly Bevo said:

People movement around the whole Fair seems to be getting shittier and shittier on Game Day.  There's all the fans there for the game and then you throw in that Texas and DFW keep growing and you get all the non-game folks there for a Saturday at the Fair and it's busting at the seams in a lot of places.  

What a stupid take. It’s the State Fair of Texas. You want only ticket holders to be allowed in? 

[Surly Bevo 24908]

1 minute ago, Patches said:

What a stupid take. It’s the State Fair of Texas. You want only ticket holders to be allowed in? 

Where did I say that?  You connected dots that were not there.  I was simply stating reasons for the cluster fuck.  Be better

Edited October 13 by Surly Bevo

[Patches 12]

Just now, Surly Bevo said:

Where did I say that?  

In your entire post of whining “It’s too crowded.”

[Surly Bevo 24908]

1 minute ago, Patches said:

In your entire post of whining “It’s too crowded.”

Ok Hook Em

Edited October 13 by Surly Bevo

[WBT 20561]

14 minutes ago, Patches said:

What a stupid take. It’s the State Fair of Texas. You want only ticket holders to be allowed in? 

That sounds amazing actually

[Patches 12]

Just now, WBT said:

That sounds amazing actually

That is what’s called a home/home series. Dumbass.

[Skipper 6127]

1 hour ago, UTexasFight said:

Everyone bitching about this has give the improvements a chance. That’s the fucking point: it’s been bad, they recognized it. They’re doing something about it.

If it’s still like this next year, then by all means…

My concern is that improvements can't fix general incompetency of whoever is in charge of managing gameday.  Someone that had a year to plan around construction to make the best of it thought it would be a good idea to station a grand total of 2 ticket scanners at Gate B which is always a choke point.   Pure idiocy.

[Reese Bennett 3608]

I was expecting this thread to include lots of pics of hot chicks eating corn dogs. 

[Surly Bevo 24908]

Just now, Skipper said:

My concern is that improvements can't fix general incompetency of whoever is in charge of managing gameday.  Someone that had a year to plan around construction to make the best of it thought it would be a good idea to station a grand total of 2 ticket scanners at Gate B which is always a choke point.   Pure idiocy.

I imagine a part of the logistics and manpower problems is the very limited nature of the work.  If you get a gig working at JerryWorld, or an MLB stadium, or even DKR there is some expectancy of steady work.  You get a gig manning shit at the Cotton Bowl there are like 3 games there.  One very big and the other two very inconsequential.  That makes for shaky, unreliable employees.  Have a big night on Friday before TX/OU and no-show the gig....it ain't like it is some long-term cost beyond the money you lost for that day.  Nevermind what's the pool you source people for that kind of work look like?  "We would like to hire you to work one Saturday out in the heat dealing with thousands of people trying to enter a football game, many of whom have been drinking. We are gonna pay you 10 dollars an hour" 

[JohnnyRage 1617]

2 hours ago, HRSchenker said:

Apparently many of the trains had to be stopped due to people passed out from dehydration or too much beer. Buddy of mine left the fair after the game and didn't make it back to Mockingbird Station until 9:30

That's a 1 hour walk.

[Horndog 2228]

Texas kicked OU's ass 34-3.  Stop with all the whining.

[Skipper 6127]

Just now, Surly Bevo said:

I imagine a part of the logistics and manpower problems is the very limited nature of the work.  If you get a gig working at JerryWorld, or an MLB stadium, or even DKR there is some expectancy of steady work.  You get a gig manning shit at the Cotton Bowl there are like 3 games there.  One very big and the other two very inconsequential.  That makes for shaky, unreliable employees.  Have a big night on Friday before TX/OU and no-show the gig....it ain't like it is some long-term cost beyond the money you lost for that day.  Nevermind what's the pool you source people for that kind of work look like?  "We would like to hire you to work one Saturday out in the heat dealing with thousands of people trying to enter a football game, many of whom have been drinking. We are gonna pay you 10 dollars an hour" 

All very true.  But this is where CDC and Joe Castiglione have to just say no more excuses just fix it.    You need to pay $100/hour to get enough people to show?  Fucking do it.    This wasn't my first rodeo.   It was my 26th straight Texas OU.   I'm well aware there is always a jam to get in if you want until 20 mins before kick so always start that process around 45 till kick and never saw anything like yesterday at Gate B.  2 ticket scanners and a cop with probably 7-10K people coming from 3 directions.   I'm glad I trusted my instinct to fight back through everyone that came behind us and look for other options.  Of course I didn't know if the other gate would be just as bad so it was a bit of a risk.   Once that situation developed, it was a fireable offense to whomever was in charge to not pivot more scanners to that location and/or have SOMEONE direct traffic to Gate C that was 4X the size with 5 or 6X the ticket scanners and probably 1/3 the traffic.

I noticed game didn't kick until closer to 2:45.  I wonder if that was to let more people get in given the clusterfuck outside or just a TV thing?

[BurntOrange&White 39930]

Just now, Skipper said:

I noticed game didn't kick until closer to 2:45.  I wonder if that was to let more people get in given the clusterfuck outside or just a TV thing?

It’s obvious a tv thing. 

[Tex Pete 20330]

4 hours ago, hobbs said:

Same shit with me as well, but my wife's worked fine. She got in ahead of me, so when the guy told me I had to go to the box office, I told him I had to grab her and then just kept on walking...with bloody from tailgate still in hand.

Would've been so f'in pissed if I had to make that trek to the box office. Ridiculous and they have to figure this shit out asap.

I had to and I’m still furious. I used their system and it’s fucked up. Costing me a ton of time and all of the pregame- that I very intentionally enter early to see.