Everything’s bigger in Texas, especially the record crowd attending the 2010 NBA All-Star Game at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington on February 14th. The total of 108,713 fans is the most ever for a basketball game. The new record shattered the previous basketball record by 30,584 fans. The Cowboys Stadium crowd also surpassed the record for an American professional sports event: 105,121 set at Cowboys Stadium last year for the Dallas Cowboys-New York Giants 2009 NFL regular season opener.
“I thought it would be spectacular and amazing, but it’s even more so than I imagined,” said Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, co-host of the event in which the East All-Stars barely edged the West, 141-139. “Everybody had a great time. You could just see people’s eye bugging out of their heads. It’s crazy.
“We said we were going to throw the biggest part you’ve ever seen, and that’s exactly what we did.”
“What an honor for the Cowboys and an honor for the stadium,” Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones told the record crowd. After the game, Jones told media members that “This might have been beyond something that I could’ve dreamed, but I certainly thought this venue could be a very impressive and different basketball venue. With the stage of the All-Star Game and the national visibility, I’m hopeful that the fans have a positive experience unlike anything that anyone could have imagined.”
The configuration of the venue helped set the attendance record. Over 9,000 floor seats surrounded the court and approximately 15,000 fans took advantage of the ‘standing room only’ baseline passes which sold for only $30. The center-hung digital board, the world’s largest high-def board, was lowered about 30 feet from where it normally hangs for football games. The board, which is 160 feet wide and 72 feet tall was larger than the basketball court itself.
Music superstars shared the venue with the NBA’s best players. Usher performed prior to pregame introductions, Gretchen Wilson performed the national anthem, and the halftime show featured international phenom Shakira as well as Alicia Keys.
The game was also a homecoming for NBA superstars Chris Bosh and Deron Williams who played high school basketball in North Texas. Bosh (Dallas Lincoln High School) scored 23 points and added 10 rebounds for the winning East team, and Deron Williams scored 14 points and grabbed 3 rebounds for the West. Bosh’s two free throws with five seconds remaining in the game provided the winning margin for the East.
Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Kidd of the Dallas Mavericks represented the “home” team. Nowitzki scored 22 points including game-tying free throws with 7 seconds remaining in the game. Kidd, an injury replacement for Kobe Bryant, played six minutes but didn’t score.
“I’ll always remember this for the rest of my life, and so will probably the guys,” Nowitzki said after the game.
“This is something we can tell all our kids about for years to come,” said Dwayne Wade of the Miami Heat. Wade won the game’s MVP honors by scoring 28 points in the East’s 141-139 win. “It was amazing to be a witness for the largest crowd ever…it felt like you were on stage. We went out to warm up, and you should’ve seen our faces. It was amazing and wild. Like kids, very giddy.”
“The atmosphere was unbelievable, a hundred thousand-plus people,” marveled LeBron James of the Cavaliers. “It was an unbelievable time for myself and the rest of the guys.”
Hosting a huge event like the NBA All-Star Game as well as shattering attendance records certainly demonstrates that the venue and the people who operate the venue can be ready for next year’s Super Bowl XLV at Cowboys Stadium.
“It was a test for the city, it was a test for anybody as far as logistics,” noted Jones. “I really think we showed everybody how we’re going to handle this thing…(but) to call the NBA All-Star Game a warm-up does no justice to itself. This is very special in itself.”
Cowboys Stadium is also slated to host the NCAA Men’s Final Four basketball tournament in 2014. The NCAA tournament attendance record of 72,456 fans was set last year at Ford Field in Detroit.
Overall, the top five crowds to ever witness a basketball game are:
#1 108,713 at Cowboys Stadium for 2010 NBA All-Star Game (2/14/10)
#2 78,219 Kentucky vs Michigan State at Detroit’s Field (12/12/03)
#3 75,000 Harlem Globetrotters vs Boston Whirlwinds,Berlin’s Olympic Stadium (8/22/51)
#4 72,922 NCAA finals North Carolina vs Michigan State at Ford Field, Detroit (4/6/09)
#5 72,456 NCAA semifinals (Michigan State-UConn; UNC-Villanova), Detroit’s Ford Field (4/4/09)
