Jerry Jones predictably not a fan of Dallas mayor's idea to bring Chargers to town
Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has zero reason to worry about competing with another team in North Texas, but that's not going to stop him from speaking his mind.
Dallas mayor Eric Johnson made headlines earlier this week when he once again suggested the NFL give the Dallas-Fort Worth area another franchise. Johnson had previously floated the idea of an NFL expansion team coming to town, but he had a different idea this time.
In reaction to news of a brewing Chargers ownership fight, Johnson posted an open invitation for the Chargers to move to Dallas. He suggested the Cotton Bowl and Hensley Field as potential locations for a practice facility or stadium.
Southern Dallas is the fresh start the @Chargers need! Several sites, including @cottonbowlstad and Hensley Field, would be ideal locations for a state of the art practice facility and world headquarters or stadium. We’re ready for the @NFL in @CityOfDallas! @nflcommish https://t.co/9ed398cOqp
— Mayor Eric Johnson (@Johnson4Dallas) June 10, 2022
We're going to go ahead and pause here to acknowledge the obvious.
The Dallas-Fort Worth area is not getting another NFL team. For a litany of reasons, first and foremost being that the area probably doesn't want another NFL team. Because it has the Cowboys. Just about the only people who would want another team in Dallas are the ones whose fortunes are directly tied to the city's perception of prosperity and growth, like a local mayor who is up for re-election in 2023.
The NFL wouldn't want another team in Dallas because it also has the Cowboys, the most valuable team in the league by more than a billion dollars per Forbes. The league is not going to want to forego potentially lucrative markets to cannibalize arguably its most powerful owner.
Meanwhile, the Chargers are facing the reality of being the No. 2 team in a saturated sports market, a problem you don't exactly solve by moving to the NFL market containing the Dallas Cowboys. So you would imagine Dallas is pretty low on their list of preferred destinations should they decide to leave Los Angeles after spending $650 million to move there in the first place.
This should all be obvious to anyone who follows football, and yet, it has become a topic of discussion for Jones, who said exactly what you would expect him to say in an interview with the Dallas Morning News:
“Well, I like the mayor,” Jones told The Dallas Morning News. “I like him personally, but he doesn’t have the depth. He doesn’t have the knowledge that others have regarding how unique Dallas is and how we enjoy the interest in the Cowboys. He wouldn’t want to water that down as it relates to Dallas if he knew as much, and has spent as much time in sports as I have.”
When asked to confirm the NFL has no plans to add another team to Dallas, Jones was affirmative:
“That’s correct,” Jones said. “That is correct. And you just said it. You can be rest assured that you would not have the NFL supporting another team because of the kind of value that the game and the NFL receives of having [the] Dallas Cowboys as one of its marquee teams and again, logic tells you [the NFL] wouldn’t want to water that down.”
Those comments were soon relayed to Johnson by the Morning News, leading to some more cheering for something that will clearly never happen in the NFL as currently constructed:
On Wednesday after being relayed the thoughts of Jones, Mayor Johnson told The News’ Everton Bailey: “I like Jerry Jones a lot, and he has done a great job turning my beloved Cowboys into the most valuable sports franchise on the planet. No team will ever dethrone the Cowboys — but that’s not the point. This region loves football and could certainly support a second team. And as mayor, my job is to grow my city’s economy.
“Having an NFL franchise that is headquartered and at least practices in the City of Dallas would be a major boost to our efforts. I am a diehard Cowboys fan, but I will always fight for my city.”
So the mayor of Dallas wants another NFL team and the owner of the current Dallas NFL team does not. You can guess whose opinion holds more weight at the NFL league office.
