<P> In April 1989, Rangers owner Eddie Chiles, sold the team to an investment group headed by George W. Bush . The aging Arlington Stadium was outdated and did not have amenities that helped make other baseball franchises more profitable . As a result, the team could not compete with other big - city teams for good players . In an effort to fund the project through public money instead of private financing, the Rangers threatened to leave Arlington . The city of Arlington spent $150,000 on an advertising campaign to persuade voters to approve the funding through a referendum by printing brochures, placing telemarketing calls, and planning a "Hands Around Arlington Day ." On January 19, 1991, over 65% of voters approved the deal, allowing the city government to cover 71% of the costs ($135 million out of $191 million) of building the new ballpark . The deal called for the city to raise the sales tax by half a cent to go toward construction . Both houses of the Texas Legislature unanimously approved the public purpose of the ballpark, and Texas Governor Ann Richards signed it all into law . </P> <P> As part of the deal, the city created a separate corporation, the Arlington Sports Facilities Development Authority (ASFDA), to manage construction . Using authority granted to it by the city, the ASFDA seized several tracts of land around the stadium site using eminent domain for parking and future development . </P> <P> Construction on the stadium, which was dubbed The Ballpark in Arlington, began on April 2, 1992 a short distance away from Arlington Stadium, the stadium it would replace, and the new Ballpark in Arlington opened on April 1, 1994 in an exhibition contest between the Rangers and the New York Mets . The first official game was on April 11 against the Milwaukee Brewers . </P> <P> The largest crowd to watch a Rangers baseball game was on October 30, 2010, when 52,419 fans watched Game 3 of the 2010 World Series against the San Francisco Giants . </P>

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