FRISCO (1080 KRLD)- The Academy of Country Music returns to Texas Thursday for its awards show. Dolly Parton and Garth Brooks are hosting the show.
ACM had been holding the show in Las Vegas. The organization moved to AT&T Stadium in Arlington in 2015 for the 50th anniversary to draw a crowd of 70,252, a Guinness World Record for the largest attendance at an awards show.
This week, Parton, Brooks and other country music stars have been attending events around Frisco. Visit Frisco says the ACM Awards will have a $5 million economic impact. The organization says 5,700 hotel rooms have been booked in the city.
"Really, the eyes of the world are on Frisco now," says Mayor Jeff Cheney. "We'll host the ACMs here. We'll host our first major championship at the end of May."
The KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship begins May 24 at PGA Frisco. Earlier this month, Governor Greg Abbott attended the ribbon cutting of an Omni Hotel at the complex.
"Frisco does have a brand, its own, unique brand a lot of people like to attach to," Cheney says. "That's why a lot of these assets are coming here. We're a can-do city."
The ACM Awards are taking place at the Ford Center at the Star, where the Dallas Cowboys have their headquarters. FC Dallas plays at Toyota Stadium in Frisco. The Frisco Roughriders are the AA affiliate of the Texas Rangers.
Cheney says events like the ACM Awards and Senior PGA Championship may draw crowds from out of town, but the city also works to make sure those venues can appeal to people who live in the city.
"My family's personal favorite, we used to love going to Roughriders games when my kids were little. They loved Daisy and Deuce and being able to see them and interact," Cheney says. "And then they would see Daisy and Deuce show up at their school and our Freedom Fest celebration. It's just sort of a way of life here in Frisco."
The Ford Center will host the ACM Awards Thursday but also hosts a Frisco ISD football game each Friday night during the season. Frisco ISD students train weekly at the PGA complex.
The city has also approved a Universal theme park on 2,500 acres of land.
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