Tenant: Texas Rangers
Capacity: 48,114
Surface: Grass
Cost: $191 Million
Opened: April 11, 1994
Closed: September 29, 2019
Architect: HKS Inc, David M. Schwarz Architectural Services
Owner: Arlington Sports Facility Development Authority
Former Name(s): Ballpark in Arlington (1994-2004, ’07-’13), Ameriquest Field (2005-’06)
Naming Rights: Globe Life Insurance/10 years
Dimensions: 332-L, 390-LC, 400-C, 377-RC, 325-R
Public Financing: 80%: bonds, luxury suite sales
Private Financing: 20%
Home Dugout: First Base
History Of Globe Life Park Stadium
The Globe Life Park stadium was first built after the Arlington Stadium started to obviously decay and require a replacement. The Texas Rangers began rallying for a new stadium in the 1980s, although they didn’t get an agreement settled until October 24, 1990.
The agreement was between the City of Arlington and the Texas Rangers to build the team a new stadium. Construction began on April 24, 1992 and took just shy of 2 years to complete. The Texas Rangers played their first game at Game Life Park on April 11, 1994 against the Milwaukee Brewers.
For 18 years, Globe Life Park featured the retro aluminum bleachers found at Arlington Stadium, which was a nice nod to the Texas Rangers’ first home. These were replaced in 2012.
The City of Arlington and the Texas Rangers announced that a new stadium would be being built for the team in 2016. This new stadium would be positioned next to Globe Life Park and would have a retractable roof so that the summertime games weren’t so hot.
The final Texas Rangers game was played at Globe Life Park on September 29, 2019 before moving to their new stadium in 2020.
Now Globe Life Stadium is used for football games, such as the Dallas Renegades, and soccer matches for the USL League One’s North Texas SC. A portion of the lower grandstand was demolished to accommodate these new sports games.
It is also used for a number of other events such as sporting and entertainment. However, it is no longer being used for baseball purposes.
Who / What Is It Named After
Globe Life Park was originally named the Ballpark of Arlington when it was opened in 1994. 10 years later in May 2004, the naming rights were sold to Ameriquest Mortgage Company for $75 million over the next 30 years. The company then renamed the ballpark to the Ameriquest Field in Arlington.
This should have been the name until 2034, but the rules changed in 2007 when the Texas Rangers ended the naming rights deal with Ameriquest. The team renamed the stadium the Rangers Ballpark in Arlington.
Seven years later in 2014, the Rangers then announced that they were now in agreement with Globe Life Insurance for the naming rights over the next 10 years. Therefore the Globe Life Park was finally named. As you can see, this stadium has had its fair share of names after various companies and sports teams!
When Did It Open
The Globe Life Park opened on April 11, 1994, when the Texas Rangers played the Milwaukee Brewers. This stadium sadly closed on September 29, 2019.
What Team Plays There
The Texas Rangers played here for the entire duration that it was open, for over 25 years. No other MLB teams called this stadium home at this time, so the Globe Life Park was only home to the Texas Rangers.
Location
Globe Life Park is located in Arlington, Texas. It can be found at the intersection of Ballpark Way and East Road to Six Flags Street.
Globe Life Park was built only a quarter-mile from the Arlington Stadium which was the original home of the Texas Rangers.
This stadium was located in the middle of Texas which made it one of the hottest (quite literally!) spots in the summertime.
Capacity (Seated & Standing)
Globe Life Park was the only vintage ballpark stadium built with more than 49,000 seats enclosed within the stadium. There is also a four-tier office complex near center-field which adds to the stadium’s charm.
In 2012, the aluminum bleachers were removed and replaced by traditional seats found at the ballpark, which lowered the capacity by 600 to 48,400.
What Are The Stadium Dimensions
Globe Life Park’s dimensions are as follows:
- Left: 332 feet
- Left center: 390 feet
- Center: 400 feet
- Right center: 377 feet
- Right: 325 feet
This stadium hasn’t been put through any renovations and therefore the dimensions are still the same as they were in 1994 when the stadium was first built.
Seating Chart
Seats For Sale
When Globe Life Park was altered to accommodate football and soccer games, 6,000 seats were removed. The Rangers are now selling these seats to allow the fans to keep a piece of the team’s history for themselves.
Any fan who owned a full season ticket or a suite in 2019 could purchase a pair of the seats for $500 if they wanted to. These people would be the first to be able to purchase the seats, with the second round of people being the fans who were partial-season ticket holders.
The rest of the seats would be sold to everyone else after the ticket holders had their pick of the bunch, and they would be sold for $600.
Best Seats
Globe Life Park is one of the few stadiums that offer seats with good views from every single angle. You could sit in any seat block at this stadium and most likely enjoy the view from your seats. This is just one of the reasons why fans loved Globe Life Park so much.
With that being said, the distance between the upper deck and the playing ground was the most significant in MLB history. So, if you were visiting Globe Life Park, you might want to stay away from the upper deck.
There are five tiers within this stadium, extending from behind the home plate and around to the left and right field foul pole. All of these will offer excellent views no matter how far up you are. The higher you are, the further away you’ll be from the action. However, you’ll be able to enjoy more of an aerial view of the game.
In the right field, you could also sit on the double-decked covered home run porch which offered fans the most accurate perception of what the players were seeing during the game. Some fans loved this experience and considered these the best seats, while others preferred the safety of the stands behind the home plate.
Another option for the best seats in the house was the 120 luxury suites over two tiers, each of which were named after an All-Star player in major league baseball. These had the nicest seats and some desirable views.
Notable Features
Globe Life Park has paid homage to many bygone ballparks with both its interior and exterior design features. The exterior of the ballpark resembled Ebbets Field due to its red brick and arches.
Inside of the ballpark sees the Wall of Fame that proudly displays information and rosters of the Texas Rangers team. This extends around the entire wall and creates a great sense of pride for the team, which is nice for fans.
Globe Life Park had so many modern features that Arlington Stadium was lacking, such as the 42 x 120 foot HD scoreboard that was positioned above the home run porch in the right-side field.
In 2010, the audio and video systems were upgraded to the nines, including a 5,000 square foot HD video board.
Only two years later a 23,000 square foot space was built with the best air conditioning system to house a restaurant and sports bar, as well as a kid’s corner and a Batter
Renovations in 2013 saw an expanded home plate club called the Capital One Club. Seats were also added directly behind the home plate, the dugouts were expanded, and a new merchandise store was built for fans to get jerseys, caps, and much more donning the Ranger’s logo.
Mascot
The only mascot Globe Life Park saw was the Rangers Captain, who is a palomino-style horse that dressed head-to-toe in Texas Rangers uniform. His jersey number is 72 to pay homage to the year that the Rangers relocated to Dallas, which was 1972.
Rangers Captain was seen at Globe Life Park during every game and even rode out to the field with fans who paid for the experience. This was mainly for kids, although plenty of adults enjoyed it too.
Notable Events
Notable events seen at Globe Life Park included the 2010 and 2011 World Series, as well as a 1995 All-Stars Game. It also saw the first-ever interleague baseball game on June 12, 1997.
Kenny Rogers achieved a perfect game in June 1994, and Josh Hamilton won the Silver Slugger Award in 2008.
Adrian Beltre saw his 3,0000th hit in July 2017 and Ian Kinsler knocked six hits on April 15, 2009.
