On Aug. 25, 2023, the Melissa Cardinals, Melissa ISD’s high school football team will play their first match of the season on their own brand new $35 million stadium. Sounds like a lot of money for high school football, but in the football-loving Lone Star State, Kenny Deel Stadium doesn’t even make it into the top 10 most expensive stadiums. Not even into the top 3 in Collin County.
Here’s how Collin County high school football stadiums ranked in comparison to the rest of the state, according to WFAA:
3. McKinney Stadium (McKinney ISD)
Cost: $70 million
Opened: 2018
Capacity: 12,000
4. Eagle Stadium (Allen ISD)
Cost: $60 million
Opened: 2012
Capacity: 18,000
6. Children’s Health Stadium (Prosper ISD)
Cost: $48 million (includes the cost of a new natatorium)
Opened: 2019
Capacity: 12,000
After opening the stadium for a community gathering ahead of the football season, Melissa’s Kenny Deel Stadium became viral for the size of the facility in comparison to the town’s population. But this is not the first time a Collin County town prepares for success.
In 2009, when the city of Allen was just over 80,000 residents, the city council approved a $119 million school board bond project to provide Allen ISD with a new auditorium, transportation center and a football stadium. Out of those $119 million, $60 million was allocated for the 72-acre Eagles Stadium, with space for 18,000 seats plus standing-room-only. At the time, Allen ISD’s was the most expensive high school football stadium in America.
Quickly after, the rest of the state got up-to-speed and in 2016 Collin County again made the news with the next most expensive stadium in America: McKinney Stadium.
Right now, Houston’s $80 million Cy-Fair FCU Stadium at Berry Center holds the #1 seat for the most expensive high school football stadium in Texas followed by Legacy Stadium in Katy, Texas, with a cost of $70.3 million (so close, McKinney!).
But who knows, with the population and economic growth of North Texas’ boom towns, Collin County might outdo itself again in no time.
