Frisco, Texas, is an unlikely but big-time sports town.
Frisco has expanded from a farming community of 35,000 to a 200,000-person metropolis, making it one of the fastest-growing cities in the country. The extension of the Dallas North Tollway made Frisco more accessible starting in 2007.
Today, it’s easy to see why locals call Frisco “Sports City USA”: Seven pro sports teams call the city home for their headquarters, the most prominent of which is the Dallas Cowboys.
Often considered the most valuable franchise in sports history, the Cowboys opened their headquarters and practice field at The Star and Ford Center. The move spurred a flurry of commercial development, which continues to this day.
The sports frenzy began with Lamar Hunt’s handshake deal to relocate his soccer franchise, FC Dallas, to Frisco. Although this took place before the tollway extension, Hunt had a vision for the future. Soon after, the Toyota Stadium was built in downtown Frisco.
The next team to move to Frisco was the Dallas Stars. Although they play their home games at the American Airlines Center in downtown Dallas, the Stars practice at the Comerica Center in Frisco.
Then, in 2018, the PGA announced plans to move its headquarters from Florida to Frisco by 2022, in time for the National Championship in 2023. Landscape crews are currently shaping two championship courses that will showcase the 600-acre property on Frisco’s north side.
Frisco also counts among its teams such franchises as the Frisco Roughriders (baseball), the Texas Legends (basketball), the Dallas Rattlers (pro lacrosse), and the Frisco Fighters (indoor football). The city also hosts the annual college football Frisco Bowl and is the headquarters for the National Soccer Hall of Fame. (Check out my feature on the Soccer Hall of Fame).
Tourism has helped fuel Frisco’s development. Although the numbers have tapered due to COVID-19, tourism in Frisco has steadily increased. Tourism board Visit Frisco considers 2018 a record year, when 6.6 million visitors pumped $2.1 billion into the local economy. Most of those visitors come from within the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
All this growth spurred new development. Now, the city is filled with restaurants, schools, and hotels. The latest is the 16-floor Hyatt Regency at Stonebriar. Three additional hotels, with 750 rooms each, are under construction.
So, if you’re looking for a destination to visit, take the kids and grandkids to Frisco to see a contemporary sporting boomtown.
