Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas · Vetted operator network
Aerial advertising in Dallas-Fort Worth
Put your brand in the sky over the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex's biggest outdoor crowds: Red River Rivalry (Texas vs. Oklahoma), Cotton Bowl Classic, Main St. Fort Worth Arts Festival. One brief, one contact, one flight plan built around the events that matter here.
- Metro population
- 8.1M
- Flagship event windows
- 12
- Top modeled impressions
- ~600K/ flight
The event calendar
Where the crowds are in Dallas-Fort Worth
These are the windows where a banner over Dallas-Fort Worth works hardest: large outdoor crowds, predictable locations, and flight paths that keep your message over the audience for the whole flight.
Tap an event for venue & crowd
(how?)Cotton Bowl ClassicGame day · pre-game window · January~530Kimp. / flight
Fort Worth Stock Show & RodeoFestival · Jan to Feb~110Kimp. / flight
Main St. Fort Worth Arts FestivalStreet event · April~520Kimp. / flight
NASCAR race weekend at Texas Motor SpeedwayRace · April~240Kimp. / flight
Texas Rangers home gamesGame day · pre-game window · Apr to Sep~230Kimp. / flight
MayfestFestival · May~170Kimp. / flight
State Fair of TexasFestival · Sep to Oct~490Kimp. / flight
Red River Rivalry (Texas vs. Oklahoma)Game day · pre-game window · October~600Kimp. / flight
SMU home gamesGame day · pre-game window · Sep to Nov~180Kimp. / flight
TCU home gamesGame day · pre-game window · Sep to Nov~290Kimp. / flight
Cowboys home gamesGame day · pre-game window · Sep to Jan~520Kimp. / flight
Dallas MarathonRace · December~100Kimp. / flight
Attendance figures come from published event, venue, and organizer estimates. Impressions are modeled exposures for one standard three-hour flight with about two hours over the event, not measured counts; the full methodology is below. Game-day rows reflect the outdoor pre-game crowd only, since the FAA restricts flight over large stadiums during games.
Why aerial works here
Dallas-Fort Worth was built for this
The metroplex has a peculiarity that favors aerial: its two biggest venues sit next to each other in Arlington, between the downtowns. One orbit over the entertainment district covers Cowboys pre-game lots, Globe Life's ballpark crowd, and Texas Live! at once, an audience no single billboard placement in either downtown can touch. Then every fall, Fair Park turns into a 24-day festival with six-figure Saturdays, which is the closest thing Texas has to a standing aerial audience on a calendar.
Dallas-Fort Worth is the fourth-largest metro in the country, and its signature crowds cluster hard: the State Fair packs Fair Park for 24 straight days, and the Arlington entertainment district stacks two major league venues and a nightlife district into one square mile.
Dallas-Fort Worth by the numbers
- Metro population8,100,000
- Flagship event windows12
- Pro & college teams7
- Biggest single-day crowd~100,000
- FulfillmentVetted network operator
Impressions & media value
The math, out in the open
Every number on this page comes from the same model we use in client proposals. Here it is, worked through for two of Dallas-Fort Worth's biggest flight windows.
Game day · October
Red River Rivalry (Texas vs. Oklahoma)
- Estimated attendance (per game)
- 92,000
- In view during the flight (outdoor pre-game crowd)
- ~55,200
- Exposures per lap
- ~24,840
- Laps in a standard flight
- 24
- Modeled impressions per flight
- ~600K
Pre-game window only: the FAA restricts flight near the stadium from one hour before kickoff until one hour after the game.
Game day · January
Cotton Bowl Classic
- Estimated attendance (per game)
- 70,000
- In view during the flight (outdoor pre-game crowd)
- ~49,000
- Exposures per lap
- ~22,050
- Laps in a standard flight
- 24
- Modeled impressions per flight
- ~530K
Pre-game window only: the FAA restricts flight near the stadium from one hour before kickoff until one hour after the game.
How we estimate this
Each estimate starts from the event's typical attendance, discounted by a dwell factor (the share of attendees on site during a flight window) and a per-lap visibility rate (the share of that crowd with a practical line of sight to the banner). Multiplied by the laps flown in a standard flight (three hours, with about two hours over the event; transit to and from the staging field is not counted), that yields modeled impressions: total exposures, counted the way out-of-home media counts them, where one person seeing the banner on three laps counts three times. Unique reach never exceeds the crowd in view. These are modeled estimates, not measured counts, and we share the full math with every quote.
What that means for CPM
On event days like these, aerial typically models out below high-traffic billboard rates (roughly $5 to $15 CPM) and well below premium programmatic video ($15 to $30 CPM), while putting the message over a live, outdoor, phones-out crowd instead of a feed. And because the banner returns every lap, nearly everyone in view sees it more than once: the odds of someone on site for a full flight never seeing the banner are effectively zero.
Venues & flight context
The Dallas-Fort Worth flight map
DFW is busy Class B airspace, and that is exactly why banner flights work from smaller fields near the crowds rather than the hubs. Flights stay under the Bravo shelves at banner altitude, around 1,000 feet, working Arlington, Fair Park, or the Trinity corridor depending on the event. Cowboys games and other marquee events carry flight restrictions beginning one hour before kickoff, so game-day flights fly the pre-game window, when the lots and the entertainment district hold the crowd.
Stadium
AT&T Stadium
80,000 capacity
Ballpark
Globe Life Field
40,300 capacity
Stadium
Cotton Bowl
92,100 capacity
Fairgrounds
Fair Park
100,000 capacity
Stadium
Amon G. Carter Stadium (TCU)
47,000 capacity
Speedway
Texas Motor Speedway
135,000 capacity
Arena
Dickies Arena
14,000 capacity
Arena
American Airlines Center
19,200 capacity
Stadium
Gerald J. Ford Stadium (SMU)
32,000 capacity
Stadium
Toyota Stadium (FC Dallas)
19,096 capacity
Home teams
- Dallas Cowboys (NFL, AT&T Stadium)
- Texas Rangers (MLB, Globe Life Field)
- Dallas Mavericks (NBA, American Airlines Center)
- Dallas Stars (NHL, American Airlines Center)
- FC Dallas (MLS, Toyota Stadium)
- TCU Horned Frogs (NCAA (Big 12), Amon G. Carter Stadium)
- SMU Mustangs (NCAA (ACC), Gerald J. Ford Stadium)
Proof from the sky
We fly this playbook every season
Jazz Fest, New Orleans
Stacked orbits directly over the Fair Grounds while attendance peaks. Every lap puts the banner back in front of the same tens of thousands of people, and by the end of the flight virtually everyone on site has seen it.
Parade flyover, Chopin Law Firm
A law firm's banner working a Mardi Gras parade route: high linear crowd density, a captive outdoor audience, and a message no billboard on the route could match for attention.
“We hired Pelican Sky to fly our banner over New Orleans and we could not be happier. If you are considering billboards, consider this!”
Justin Chopin, Owner, Chopin Law Firm
“They did a great job of helping us with impactful targeted advertising for our first year music festival, Boots on the Bayou.”
Craig Pierce, Founder, Boots on the Bayou Music Festival
FAQ
Dallas-Fort Worth flight questions, answered
How much does aerial advertising cost in Dallas-Fort Worth?
Pricing is per flight and depends on the event, the flight time, and the banner type. Letter banners cost less than custom printed aerial billboards. Send the event and dates and you get operator availability and a firm quote back fast, with the impression math attached.
Can you fly over AT&T Stadium during a Cowboys game?
Not during the game: the FAA restricts flight near the stadium from one hour before kickoff until one hour after, and the roof is usually closed in any case. Flights work the pre-game window: the lots, the tailgates, and the Texas Live! district.
Do I need separate flights for Dallas and Fort Worth?
Depends on the target. The Arlington entertainment district sits between the two and concentrates the biggest event crowds in the metroplex, so one flight often does the job. For downtown-specific audiences, or events like Mayfest in Fort Worth and the State Fair in Dallas, we quote the flight around that specific footprint.
Is the State Fair of Texas a good banner target?
It is one of the best recurring windows in the state: a fully outdoor fairground crowd, six-figure attendance on strong days, for 24 consecutive days. The Texas-OU weekend brings the Cotton Bowl's 92,000 on top of the fair crowd. Booking a multi-flight package across the run is the efficient play.
Who operates the flights in DFW?
Vetted, FAA-certificated banner tow operators from our national network, coordinated by Pelican Sky Banners under one contract, one insurance standard, and one point of contact. You brief us once; we handle the operator, the banner, and the flight plan.
How does DFW's crowded airspace affect the flight?
It shapes the plan, not the feasibility. Banner operations fly from smaller area airports, stay at low altitude under the Class B shelves, and coordinate with approach control where required. That is standard practice for our operators; you do not need to think about it.
Put it in the Dallas-Fort Worth sky
Tell us the event or the dates, and you'll get operator availability and pricing back fast, with the impression math attached.
Prefer to talk it through? Call (504) 226-7478 or email contact@pelsky.com.