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Lone Star Conference to stage football festival at Cowboys Stadium

The Lone Star Conference on Tuesday revealed plans to implement a Lone Star Football Festival at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Tex.

Teams from Abilene Christian, Midwestern State, Texas A&M-Commerce, Texas A&M-Kingsville and West Texas A&M have been selected to represent the LSC in a tripleheader of games that will feature two conference contests and one marquee nonconference matchup.

The single-day event is planned for Saturday, Sept. 17, meaning the festival will occur just months after Super Bowl XLV is played at the $1.2 billion Arlington facility this February.

Currently, there are two Division II games played annually at NFL stadiums. Northwest Missouri State and Pittsburg State meet each year at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, while Central Washington faces Western Oregon annually at Qwest Field in Seattle.

“The festival will provide Lone Star Conference football teams with a tremendous opportunity to gain exposure in North Texas,” LSC Commissioner Stan Wagnon said. “It will be special to see our student-athletes and coaches take center stage at the greatest athletics venue in America, and we’re grateful to the Dallas Cowboys for allowing us to play this event at Cowboys Stadium.”

Pairings for the conference games will be Midwestern State against Texas A&M-Commerce and West Texas A&M versus Texas A&M-Kingsville. The nonconference tilt will see LSC champion AbileneChristian tackling three-time NCAA Division II national champion North Alabama of the Gulf South Conference.

Game times are planned for 11 a.m., 3 p.m. and 7 p.m., but the order of games has yet to be determined. A single ticket will be used for admission to the entire festival, with tickets set to go on sale in the coming weeks.

“The timing was right for an event like this,” said Wagnon, whose league will have five fewer teams next year as a result of conference realignment. “The recent changes in our membership helped to form a core group of schools whose administrators have agreed to use athletics events like this to increase visibility and promote the overall brand of their universities.

“With the festival, our members will have a great tool at their disposal in helping to reconnect with former students in North Texas while also reaching out to potential new students in the area. It’s a great way to raise awareness not just for LSC football, but also for the LSC universities as a whole.”

The LSC, founded in 1931, became affiliated with the NCAA in 1982.

Click here for video of Commissioner Stan Wagnon discussing the Lone Star Football Festival.