ARLINGTON, Texas — Nearly two hours before kickoff of the Dallas Cowboys' first game in their new nearly $1.2 billion stadium, Jon Thompson and his wife stood along the rail with an unobstructed view of the field.
"At first take, it's breathtaking," said Thompson, of Fort Worth. "The stadium is unbelievable."
The lifelong Cowboys fan and his wife, Brittany, were on one of the plaza decks where they purchased $29 party passes, one of the many unique features of Cowboys owner Jerry Jones' extravagant showpiece. And they had no plans to giveup their spots Friday night. A seat in the section in front of them cost $179 and that's before the seat license fee.
"I'll be getting the beer, she'll keep the seats," Thompson said.
Jimmy Larson and his buddies, who paid $60 to park about a mile away, stood nearby. They pondered whether to stay there instead of going way up to their seats in one of the stadium's highest sections while sending pictures on their cell phones for others to see.
"I had to post some pics on Facebook. Where we live, it's 300 people, a little town in Michigan," said Larson, a transplanted Detroit Lions fan from Ewen. "This is pretty impressive."
There have been international soccer matches and concerts in the stadium, but the preseason home opener that Dallas won 30-10 over the Tennessee Titans was the first event in Cowboys Stadium for the namesake tenant. The Cowboys had played in Texas Stadium since 1971.
Tony Romo looked right at home, going 18 of 24 for 192 yards.
"It was incredible," Romo said, comparing the atmosphere to a regular-season game. "It's really exciting to be a part of something this special."
"The electricity that we felt just prior to the opening kickoff was really special," said Jones, who spent more than $825 million on the building, the rest of the $1.15 billion tab picked up by city taxpayers. "A great night. A great crowd. And an event we will remember for a long, long time."
The famed star logo in the middle of the field was missing, and the team's Ring of Honorwas not yet installed in the building that opened in June. Both are expected to be in place for the regular-season home opener Sept. 20 against the New York Giants.
Hanging over the center of the field are a pair of 75-foot high video boards, high-definition screens that stretch from 20-yard line to 20-yard line.
In the third quarter, Titans punter A.J. Trapasso hit the screen with a punt, causing it todrop straight down. By rule, the ball was dead and fourth down was replayed. Trapasso's next kick skimmed just to the side of the board without touching it.
"I was in the old stadium, this is more like 100 times the old Texas Stadium," said Todd Sain of McKinney, Texas.
NFL exhibition THURSDAY'S GAMES Cincinnati 7, New England 6 Indianapolis 23, Philadelphia 15 FRIDAY'S GAMES Dallas 30, Tennessee 10 Atlanta 20, St. Louis 13 Minnesota 17, Kansas City 13 TODAY'S GAMES Carolina at Miami, 6:30 p.m.
Detroit at Cleveland, 6:30 p.m.
Pittsburgh at Washington, 6:30 p.m.
Tampa Bay at Jacksonville, 6:30 p.m.
Buffalo at Green Bay, 7 p.m.
New Orleans at Houston, 7 p.m.
NY Giants at Chicago, 7 p.m.
Oakland at San Francisco, 7:15 p.m.
San Diego at Arizona, 9 p.m.
Denver at Seattle, 9:30 p.m.
Sports, Pages 21, 26 on 08/22/2009