“I think that over the years Frisco has proven that we can rise to the occasion for these big events,” said Josh Dill, director of sports and events at Visit Frisco. “It’s going to have a significant impact on the entire region hosting this event.”
The 2023 show, which will be held May 11, will be livestreamed globally exclusively on Amazon Prime Video.
“We are thrilled to once again bring the Emmy Award-nominated Academy of Country Music Awards to our global audience,” said Jennifer Salke, head of Amazon Studios, in a press release.
The 58th ACM Awards will be the first nationally televised award show to take place at the Ford Center, according to Dill. The Ford Center is a 12,000-seat multipurpose stadium that opened in 2016, according to previous Community Impact Newspaper reporting. The Star in Frisco surrounds the Ford Center and includes the Dallas Cowboys world headquarters, restaurants, retail and an Omni Hotel. The Ford Center is the result of a public-private partnership among the Dallas Cowboys, the city of Frisco and Frisco ISD. Dill acknowledged the role that the relationship between the Cowboys and Academy of Country Music played in bringing the event to Frisco.
“In October of last year we had a World Cup site visit, and we talked to [the Cowboys representatives] about [the ACM Awards] being on our radar, but we didn’t get heavily involved in the logistics until April,” Dill said.
The last time the ACM Awards were hosted in Texas was in 2015 when Luke Bryan and Blake Shelton hosted the 50th anniversary show at AT&T Stadium, according to CBS, the network the show was broadcast in 2015.
“We can’t wait to take the show to a new level for fans with an exciting new venue and integrated partnership with the Dallas Cowboys,” Academy of Country Music CEO Damon Whiteside said in a press release.
Hosts, performers, events and ticket sale dates have yet to be announced for the 58th Academy of Country Music Awards.
“The expense and production at AT&T Stadium was probably saved for special milestones like the 50th anniversary so I think the Ford Center will be a good fit for kind of a normal year ACM event,” Dill said.
