Texas Police: Cotton Bowl Will Be 'Safe, Fun Event'

By Cody Copeland

Source Fort Worth Star-Telegram

College football fans can rest assured that they will be safe at next week’s Cotton Bowl, Arlington police said Friday.

Speaking to reporters at the department’s main police station, Deputy Chief Leo Daniels said that authorities have the experience and preparation to ensure the public’s safety at the game in light of the deadly vehicle ramming attack in New Orleans on New Year’s Day.

A man killed 14 and injured dozens of others after driving onto a sidewalk to evade a police barricade on Bourbon Street as crowds gathered to celebrate the new year into the early morning hours.

“We have a very robust safety plan,” Daniels said, adding he wants attendees to know “that it’s going to be a safe, fun event.”

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As many as 80,000 fans are expected to attend the College Football Playoff semifinal between Texas and Ohio State on Jan. 10 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington.

While fans may naturally be worried about their safety at the game, Daniels wanted to assure them that this is not his department’s first rodeo.

“We’re used to large events, but having said that, we don’t want to rest on our laurels,” he said. “We don’t want to believe that things don’t need to be adjusted and don’t need to be improved and changed and enhanced, and that’s what we’re looking at.”

So while they have made “slight adjustments” to the security plan they already had in place, Arlington police are confident that they have ample experience handling large crowds at events just like this.

“We’re not saying wholesale changes, but we did make some enhancements,” he said, but declined to go into specifics, citing safety concerns.

Daniels did say that they will be using “all the technology available,” such as cameras and drones, to ensure public safety.

The department said in a statement on Jan. 2 that it is not aware of any specific threats to the event, but it will continue to monitor for any potential danger that may arise.

“We believe we’re prepared to welcome the fans who will be attending the game and that they will have a fun, safe experience while in Arlington,” the statement read.

Police have coordinated with partners at the stadium, the Dallas Cowboys, the Cotton Bowl Athletic Association and the city to make those adjustments in light of the “very unfortunate situation” that occurred in New Orleans in the first few hours of 2025.

“Our prayers go out to the entire city and all of the victims of that horrible incident, but we understand that we can make minor changes even if we think we’ve done things well, and that’s how we looked at this,” Daniels said.

Speaking to the Star-Telegram’s media partner WFAA on Thursday, Arlington Mayor Jim Ross echoed that sentiment and offered his own words of the city’s commitment to ensuring public safety at the game.

“This is what we do,” he said. “We’re very proud of our ability to host these events. We’ll do everything in our power to keep everybody safe, and we want people to come and have a wonderful time.”

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