Jerry Jones is a master of leverage and timing in high-stakes business deals. North Texas is one of the country’s most robust regions when it comes to local governments being willing to spend on private sports teams. Other NFL teams have recently landed favorable terms by waiting until lease expirations are on the horizon and exploring options in other jurisdictions.
So why did the Cowboys just renew their lease to AT&T Stadium more than 14 years early, in an understated, calm process with the city of Arlington? In short, the certainty today is worth more to Jones and the Cowboys right now than leverage in 5-10 years.
“Signing the extension now creates predictability which allows growth and investment to happen,” said Cowboys General Counsel Jason Cohen. “If you know the Cowboys will be in Arlington for the next 30 years, it’s a different mindset for how you approach the long-term planning. It’s good for everyone to have that certainty. You can amortize costs and feel better about doubling down on different projects.”
The Cowboys had been locked into AT&T Stadium through May 2040, but now they will be there through May 2055. As part of the deal, the Cowboys commit to spending at least $750 million in maintenance, operations and improvements through the end of the term. Arlington committed $273 million in taxpayer funds to upgrade the stadium site. The Cowboys will keep their annual rent payment at $2 million and share $500,000 of naming rights revenue annually with the city, both through 2055.
It didn’t require a public vote because the funding comes from mechanisms voters already approved for the venue in 2004 and 2016. Also, Arlington paid off the original debt for the stadium a decade early.
Perhaps also implicit in Jones’ judgment: a sense that the business-friendly political environment in Texas is particularly good right now, but it might not always be that way. Maybe by the mid-2030s, voter hostility toward sports subsidies, already widespread in much of the country, will grow in the Dallas area.
