Airhogs Stadium – Grand Prairie, Texas
AirHogs Stadium is a stadium in Grand Prairie, Texas. After renovation, it will be used for cricket as the home of the United States national cricket team. Prior to 2020, it was used mainly for soccer by Texas United and for baseball as the home of the American Association’s Texas AirHogs, who were the primary tenants from 2008 to 2019. It has a capacity of 5,445 people and opened in May 2008.
The stadium plays host to various other concerts and events throughout the year. For a period of time, it was known as QuikTrip Park due to the sponsorship by the convenience store chain. In 2015, the city of Grand Prairie paid off the debt to build the stadium.
On November 17, 2020, it was announced that American Cricket Enterprises had signed a long-term lease for the stadium, which will undergo redevelopment to convert it into a facility that can host domestic and international cricket matches. The stadium is expected to be home to the Dallas franchise of Major League Cricket when it launches. USA Cricket, the US governing body, also announced that the facility would be used as a high-performance training center.
In May 2021, USA Cricket announced that Major League Cricket was pushed back from 2022 to a 2023 launch due to a “lack of high-quality cricket stadiums” in the area. It was also announced that the stadium renovations were set to begin the same month and that the stadium wouldn’t be ready for use until around mid-2022 to summer 2023.
The park was built for the Texas AirHogs of the American Association in 2007. They began to play (as the Grand Prairie AirHogs) in May 2008 and finished their inaugural season with a final record of 56–40, also winning the Southern Division title before falling to the Sioux Falls Canaries in the finals. A few years later, they would win the 2011 American Association championship by winning a decisive game five at QuikTrip Park. The AirHogs folded in October 2020.
The Dallas Desire was one of two teams that were introduced to the women’s Lingerie Football League (now Legends Football League) in 2004. They played two home games of their 2009 season in Grand Prairie. The team then moved to the Cotton Bowl for the 2010 season.
The stadium was home to a minor league baseball team for about 10 years. But the team never really caught on with fans.
The plan now is to turn the baseball diamond into a Major League Cricket field. Grand Prairie will kick in $1.3 million for the project and Major League Cricket will spend at least that much to renovate and expand the stadium’s current 5,400 seating capacity.
Airhogs Stadium will be renamed and a Dallas franchise Major League Cricket should begin playing there in 2022.