Oklahoma football: Texas State Fair cancelled; what’s that mean for OU-Texas?
By Chip Rouse
The Texas and Oklahoma football teams not only will be playing to a vacant or near-empty Cotton Bowl this season, but also an empty Texas State Fairgrounds.
That is, if the game is played in Dallas as it has been since 1912. Since 1932, the annual OU-Texas football rivalry has been staged at the Cotton Bowl, which is located at Fair Park, site of the Texas State Fair.
Fair organizers on Tuesday announced that the state fair would not be held this year because of continuing concerns about the spread of the coronavirus. In recent weeks, the state of Texas has become one of the country’s hotspots for exposure to the potentially deadly COVID-19 virus.
This will be the first cancellation of the State Fair of Texas since World War II.
This decision, of course, begs the question: What will happen with the annual Red River Showdown between Oklahoma and Texas? Will the game be played at an empty Cotton Bowl, somewhere else in or outside of Dallas, or could this be the year the game returns to one of the campus sites? There is also the possibility the game could be postponed until the spring of 2021, if the season start is delayed until then.
Even though the state fair itself has been called off for this year, college football can still be played at the Cotton Bowl, according to a statement issued by the fair organizers. The OU-Texas game could still be played at the Cotton Bowl this fall as long as it is approved by the NCAA, the Big 12 Conference and the two schools.
OU athletic director Joe Castiglione said in a release cited by The Oklahoman that the Sooners are still hoping to be able to play the game at the Cotton Bowl on its scheduled date of Oct. 10.
The Texas athletic director, Chris Del Conte, expressed similar comments.
The Texas State Fair reported that more than 2.5 million people attended the state fair last year. Attendance of over 226,000 was reported during the OU-Texas game last year, 92,000 of whom were in the Cotton Bowl watching the Sooners beat their longtime rivals 34-27.