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Jerry Jones, the famous and ever-present owner of the Dallas Cowboys, has not been seen at a World Series that featured a tournament-high nine games in his NFL team’s home stadium.
The billionaire businessman has been watching, and he plans to make the final World Cup game in “Jerry World” this year his first: the semi-final between France and Spain on Tuesday.
“I think first and foremost he’s just a big event guy,” said Chad Estis, the Cowboys’ executive vice president of business operations. “He loves the NFL. He loves the Dallas Cowboys. But he has a passion for events as much as anyone I know. He really wanted to make sure the stadium worked well.”
Judging by the fans eager to see themselves on the giant video board that hangs over the center of the pitch and under the retractable roof – and then jump and wave with joy when they do – the venue, which was temporarily renamed the Dallas Stadium by FIFA, has been a hit.
Spain have already had plenty to celebrate at the Dallas Stadium this World Cup, but can they keep it going against France with Jerry Jones in attendance? (Image credit: Getty)
The Jones family have a suite for the WC and have used it. But Jones and some family members often leave the country on his yacht this time of year — between the end of offseason workouts for the Cowboys in June and the start of training camp in California in late July.
As a result, Jones was not there in person for a pair of record-breaking performances from Argentine superstar Lionel Messi. Or Japanese fans who leave whole sections spotless by picking up after themselves – twice. Or Portugal’s star and the career of men’s international scoring leader Cristiano Ronaldo’s last World Cup game.
Those types of defining moments were what Jones had in mind with the design and construction of a stadium that opened in 2009 and in just over five years had hosted a Super Bowl and NCAA championship games in football and men’s basketball.
Jones also thought about the fan experience, using his own lessons from touring stadiums in Europe to include large, three-tiered stands at each end.
An extensive art collection is punctuated by Anish Kapoor’s stainless steel sculpture called “sky mirror” outside in the eastern plaza. Kapoor is the creator of a similar sculpture in Chicago nicknamed “the bean”.
To prepare for the World Cup, the Cowboys pumped an additional $350 million into a stadium with an original price tag of $1.2 billion. The video board looks the same, but there were upgrades to it, along with new carpets and furniture mostly in premium areas and an overhaul of the fan shop.
“I can’t tell you how many people come to our stadium and say, ‘I can’t believe this is 17 years old,'” Estis said. “People think it feels new. It’s all been great, but it feels like it’s culminating in this phenomenal game tomorrow.”
FIFA is responsible
Jones had to hand the stadium over to FIFA, meaning the governing body had curtains put up over the huge sliding glass doors in the west end for the only game where the setting sun could have shone into the eyes of the players.
NFL players, including the Cowboys, have dropped footballs in the sun and it has been an occasional problem every fall. Whenever the subject comes up, Jones flatly refuses to consider curtains. He prefers the aesthetic and expects coaches and players to make game plans around the setting sun.
It will be too early in the day for the sun to be a problem when Spain and France play for a spot in Sunday’s World Cup final at the home of the New York Jets and Giants in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
Jones wanted that final but settled for the consolation prize for the most games, including sharing the semi-final with the home ground of the Atlanta Falcons, where Argentina and England play on Wednesday.
World Cup related stories
“It’s just another great moment in an incredible sports legacy,” said Dan Hunt, co-chairman of the local organizing committee and son of the late Lamar Hunt, who was one of Jones’ rivals as owner of the Kansas City Chiefs.
“He’s been a world champion,” Dan Hunt said. “He’s a Pro Football Hall of Famer. He’s hosted Super Bowls, hosted just about anything you can … And this is just another moment.”
That suite place
Oh, one other thing Jones had to give up — his personal suite at the 50-yard line. Estis said FIFA thought it was perfect for a VIP area.
“We say, ‘Wait a minute. Are you serious?'” Estis said with a laugh. “I mean, I get it. That’s why Jerry’s suite is there. It’s the best place.”
Jones is giving up his No. 1 spot for arguably the biggest single global sporting event to come to his venue. He just wants to be in another suite.
“I think I could imagine he was a little emotional about it,” Estis said. “Seeing him in design meetings and his attention to detail and his concern for how the stadium looked and felt to people, how it looked from different angles when he walked up to it. He was just so involved in the creation of what it is.”
Jones is set to feel the football mood – finally.
Report from the Associated Press.
