The Dallas Cowboys aren’t one of the oldest teams in the NFL — they were only founded in 1960. But they quickly became one of the league’s most successful franchises, winning Super Bowls in 1971 and 1977. The year after that second title, in 1978, Bob Ryan, now editor-in-chief of NFL Films, noticed the Cowboys’ widespread support across the country and coined the nickname “America’s Team.”
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Even through a rough patch in the 1980s, at the end of which Jerry Jones, the scion of an insurance empire, bought the team for $140 million, the support remained strong. They quickly won three Super Bowls in four years from 1992 to 1995, largely thanks to head coach Jimmy Johnson’s recruitment. However, they are the only NFC team that hasn’t reached a Conference Championship Game since that last Super Bowl run in ’95.
And yet, they continue to be the biggest team in the business. The Cowboys are the most valuable sports franchise in the world, valued at $10 billion by Forbes. They also have the longest streak of sellouts, dating back to 2002, despite the fact that they regularly fall short of expectations. Jerry’s daughter, Charlotte, the team’s EVP and chief brand officer, says that despite those stagnant results, the team is still focused on football above all.
“We’re about competition. Don’t ever forget it’s about the game. Who won on Sunday? That’s really all that your fans really care about. The rest is just additive to that,” Charlotte told Sports Business Journal.
But a team is not valued so highly simply because of the football product they put on the field every Sunday. It has a lot more to do with the ancillary parts of the team. The marketing, the media, the social media. The storylines. Charlotte says that the reason the Cowboys are so big is that they exceed the drama of reality TV.
“But we are the greatest reality show on television. You can’t fake it, You can’t script it, you can’t predict it. And every Sunday, Thursday, Friday, we’re all over the place, that you are gonna get the greatest piece of content ever because you just don’t know what will happen. Don’t turn your TV off at the last minute!”
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And that drama is likely to continue in 2025. The Cowboys promoted unheralded OC Brian Schottenheimer to their head coaching role, and they also traded for arguably the most mercurial receiver in football in George Pickens. Pickens is no doubt going to bring shock and awe. But Dallas fans—and Charlotte, and Jerry, and the rest of the Jones family—will hope that it is in a more positive sense.
And then, of course, there is the contract situation with their best player, edge Micah Parsons. He was showing up periodically at the voluntary sessions during the early part of the offseason. But with training camp in a week and still no deal, Parsons could become the star in Charlotte Jones’ reality show very soon, whether he likes it or not.
