JERRY JONES has certainly reaped the benefits of purchasing the NFL’s struggling Dallas Cowboys for a highly affordable $150million in 1989.
Thirty-four years later, Jones’ football investment has been valued at a staggering $9.2billion.
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Winning when it matters in the playoffs continues to elude the Cowboys, who are filled with star players and continue to be one of the league’s most dramatic franchises.
But it’s impossible to argue against Jones’ football investment, with the Cowboys valued at $2billion more than any other US sports team.
When it comes to straight cash, the Cowboys – who last won the Super Bowl in 1995 – have seen their value increase by 20 percent in a year.
Jones has long been an advocate for the NFL.
The 80-year-old owner has also turned the Cowboys into a family-run business.
And he was unafraid to occasionally challenge a league that towers above the competition in the US.
Star names at running back and quarterback have come and gone under Jones’ ownership.
But while the Cowboys have failed to capitalize on back-to-back 12-5 seasons in the playoffs, the biggest testament to Jones’ legacy has been where, rather than how, they play.
Affectionately known as Jerry World to NFL fans across the globe, the super-sized AT&T Stadium has become one of Jones’ defining achievements.
AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas hosts major national sporting events when the Cowboys aren’t on the field and is still one of the country’s premier sports venues, despite now being 14 years old.
The 80,000-seat stadium opened in 2009 at a cost of $1.3billion.
The Cowboys are known as ‘America’s Team’ for a number of reasons.
They play a home game every Thanksgiving with last season’s game against the New York Giants drawing 42million viewers on Fox.
It was the most watched NFL regular-season game in history.
Their cheerleading squad is also the most famed in America and even has it’s own reality TV show called ‘Making The Team’.
The program aired for 16 seasons until 2021 and could yet make a comeback in the future.
Getting the most financially out of the Cowboys’ name hasn’t been a problem for the business-savvy Jones.
Turning Dak Prescott into one of the NFL’s best and most consistent QBs has been more of a struggle, and Dallas enters another season facing huge expectations with no room for error.
