In 1971, the struggling Washington Senators announced their intentions to move to the Metroplex as the Texas Rangers.
The stadium was expanded to seat over 35,700 people, and was renamed "Arlington Stadium".
It was the fifth former minor league park converted for use by a major-league team (not counting instances where minor-league parks served as temporary homes), after Baltimore's Memorial Stadium, Kansas City's Municipal Stadium, Minnesota's Metropolitan Stadium and Seattle's Sick's Stadium.

The park had a skeletal, jerry-built feel, and it was obvious that it had once been minor-league.
An upper deck wasn't added until 1978; until then, fans entered at the very top of the stadium and walked down to their seats.
It had the largest bleacher section in baseball, stretching from foul pole to foul pole.
Unlike most stadiums built during this time, there were very few bad seats, due to its natural-bowl location and the field being 40 feet (12 m) below street level.
Early in the stadium's existence, the stadium could be converted for football by swiveling the third-base grandstands into the outfield.
In the process, people sitting in the left-field bleachers had their view cut off.
When a football game was played at the stadium, an auxiliary press box, located near the first base side, was used.
With the 1978 renovations, however, the stadium was locked in its baseball configuration for the remainder of its existence.

Although it had been built for baseball, Arlington Stadium had a number of drawbacks.
Even after the addition of the upper deck, there was no roof, and thus virtually no protection from the oppressive Texas heat.
For nearly all of its existence, it was the hottest stadium in the majors.
It was not unusual for game-time temperatures to be well above 100 °F (38 °C).
Combined with the Rangers' mediocre performance, this held down attendance considerably during the 1970s.
Due in part to the heat, the Rangers scheduled nearly all of their games from May through September at night.
Other than nearby amusement park Six Flags Over Texas, there was no neighborhood around the park.
In his book Storied Stadiums, Curt Smith described it as "small, (but) not intimate".

The scoreboard in the Rangers' early days was a long, horizontal rectangle with a panel shaped like the state of Texas.
It was replaced after the 1984 season with a new scoreboard and series of billboards that ran from foul pole to foul pole. "
Cotton-Eyed Joe" was played during the seventh-inning stretch for fans to dance to instead of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame".
Arlington Stadium was also the first major league ballpark to sell nachos (in 1974).

The stadium had two advantages.
First, before installation of the wrap-around scoreboard and billboards, the predominant gusty winds from the south knocked down many fly balls that would otherwise have been home runs.
Second, the large number of metal bleacher seats came in handy on Bat Night, the promotional game in most years when children age 13 and under received a real bat that could be pounded on the bleachers.
Some seasons, it was the only sell-out for the usually poor Rangers squads, and the spectacle of 10,000-15,000 kids banging their bats all at once created a deafening sound.
In 1971, the struggling Washington Senators announced their intentions to move to the Metroplex as the Texas Rangers. The stadium was expanded to seat over 35,700 people, and was renamed "Arlington Stadium". It was the fifth former minor league park converted for use by a major-league team (not counting instances where minor-league parks served as temporary homes), after Baltimore's Memorial Stadium, Kansas City's Municipal Stadium, Minnesota's Metropolitan Stadium and Seattle's Sick's Stadium.
The park had a skeletal, jerry-built feel, and it was obvious that it had once been minor-league. An upper deck wasn't added until 1978; until then, fans entered at the very top of the stadium and walked down to their seats. It had the largest bleacher section in baseball, stretching from foul pole to foul pole. Unlike most stadiums built during this time, there were very few bad seats, due to its natural-bowl location and the field being 40 feet (12 m) below street level. Early in the stadium's existence, the stadium could be converted for football by swiveling the third-base grandstands into the outfield. In the process, people sitting in the left-field bleachers had their view cut off. When a football game was played at the stadium, an auxiliary press box, located near the first base side, was used. With the 1978 renovations, however, the stadium was locked in its baseball configuration for the remainder of its existence.
Although it had been built for baseball, Arlington Stadium had a number of drawbacks. Even after the addition of the upper deck, there was no roof, and thus virtually no protection from the oppressive Texas heat. For nearly all of its existence, it was the hottest stadium in the majors. It was not unusual for game-time temperatures to be well above 100 °F (38 °C). Combined with the Rangers' mediocre performance, this held down attendance considerably during the 1970s. Due in part to the heat, the Rangers scheduled nearly all of their games from May through September at night. Other than nearby amusement park Six Flags Over Texas, there was no neighborhood around the park. In his book Storied Stadiums, Curt Smith described it as "small, (but) not intimate".
The scoreboard in the Rangers' early days was a long, horizontal rectangle with a panel shaped like the state of Texas. It was replaced after the 1984 season with a new scoreboard and series of billboards that ran from foul pole to foul pole. "Cotton-Eyed Joe" was played during the seventh-inning stretch for fans to dance to instead of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame". Arlington Stadium was also the first major league ballpark to sell nachos (in 1974).
The stadium had two advantages. First, before installation of the wrap-around scoreboard and billboards, the predominant gusty winds from the south knocked down many fly balls that would otherwise have been home runs. Second, the large number of metal bleacher seats came in handy on Bat Night, the promotional game in most years when children age 13 and under received a real bat that could be pounded on the bleachers. Some seasons, it was the only sell-out for the usually poor Rangers squads, and the spectacle of 10,000-15,000 kids banging their bats all at once created a deafening sound.
Arlington Stadium