Cotton Bowl Foundation Awards $48,500 Grant to Arlington Nonprofit, Metro Sports Fieldhouse

By Mike Secrest, Office of Communication

Posted on January 09, 2025, January 09, 2025

Each year, nearly 80,000 fans fill AT&T Stadium in Arlington to cheer on their favorite college football team in the Cotton Bowl, a historic game that is rich in tradition.

Whether watching from the stands or on television, you can see the pageantry and excitement of the players and fans. But there is another side of this game that helps our community’s nonprofit organizations continue to make a real difference in Arlington residents' lives. 

The Cotton Bowl Foundation, created in 2010, has awarded close to $4 million in grants to nonprofits in our community.

“When the college football playoff came along, the money that we were able to garner from the game allowed us to create a foundation to give money back to the community," said Michael Konradi, Cotton Bowl chief marketing officer.

This year's beneficiary is Metro Sports Fieldhouse, an Arlington nonprofit that uses sports as a vehicle to provide career pathways, exposure and education opportunities. Metro Sports Fieldhouse received a $48,500 grant from the Cotton Bowl Foundation that will be used to launch a new program for kids in the Arlington community.

"For us to be chosen, for them to believe in our programming and organization as a whole, it meant the world to us," said Larry Curry, the founder of Metro Sports Fieldhouse.

Throughout 2024, the Cotton Bowl Foundation has awarded more than $615,000 in grants to organizations making a difference in communities across the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington region. For more information on these grants, please visit www.CottonBowlFoundation.org.