It was the home of the Southern Methodist University Mustang football team.

Named for Jordon Ownby, the stadium was built at the south end of the campus.

[3] As the Mustangs rose to prominence in the 1930s, they began scheduling an increasing number of games at the much larger Cotton Bowl, and finally moved there on a permanent basis in 1948,[4] while later moving to Texas Stadium.

However, after massive rules violations resulted in the NCAA handing down the "death penalty" in 1987, SMU officials decided to move football games back to a heavily renovated Ownby Stadium.

From 1976 to 1979 the chief tenant at Ownby was the Dallas Tornado of the North American Soccer League.