Jerry Jones is itching to start handing out tickets to Cowboys home games. He just doesn’t know how many he’ll be allowed to sell.
After the NFL’s preseason schedule was scrapped, the team’s annual fan fest in Oxnard was called off, and the local practice sessions at The Star and the Blue-White scrimmage this Sunday at AT&T Stadium were closed to the public. The first chance Cowboys Nation will now have to see the team in person will be the Week 2 game versus Atlanta. The Los Angeles Rams have already nixed all fan attendance for the team’s opening game at SoFi Stadium as the country continues to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic.
State and local guidelines will ultimately dictate the size of the gameday crowds for Cowboys home games. The owner gave an update on where the upper end exists currently.
“The official boundary is at 50% capacity,” Jones told 105.3 The Fan on Friday.
While AT&T Stadium can accommodate over 100,000 with standing-room areas, the 50% cap would likely be able to include only the seating bowls, which hold 80,000 total. That would mean a maximum capacity of 40,000 fans.
But Jones knows things could change between now and kickoff of the team’s home opener, set for September 20.
“Things are evolving. I would imagine we can have as many people out there as far as the demand to be out there as we want. We’ll see how the lay of the land is as we get closer and sell those number of tickets accordingly.”
While Jones quoted the current “official boundary” of the stadium’s capacity as established by the state of Texas, he was reluctant to go on record with how many tickets would actually be made available.
“I can’t give you a straight answer because I don’t know how many fans we’ll have in that stadium. Here we are, the Dallas Cowboys, got one of the greatest stadiums in the world, and I can’t give you a straight answer to that? We’re playing it by ear.
“I’m anticipating adjustments for [a] potential outbreak, if you will… The key word is flexibility and adapting to a need to change.”
It will already be a surreal season, as many clubs across the league have already announced that there will be no fans in their stadiums for the duration of 2020. As of August 27, Washington has also said no to live fans for the season. Seattle has announced zero attendance for its first three games, which includes Dallas on September 27. The remaining five cities on the Cowboys’ travel schedule are operating on a no-fans-until-further-notice basis.
It’s entirely possible that the only live crowds the team plays in front of all season will be for their own home games. But Jones says he doesn’t believe that would give the Cowboys an unfair edge.
“I don’t know that,” Jones demurred, recalling his own college playing days when Arkansas would travel to Austin to play Texas. He says the roar of the Longhorn faithful had him ready to “run through a wall,” despite playing for the other team.
“The scene doesn’t just enthuse the home team. And it doesn’t have to be intimidating at all. It can inspire the visiting team as well. No, I don’t believe that’s a competitive advantage.”
The erstwhile salesman may try to downplay the crowd to the eight opposing squads coming into Arlington this season, but he did admit that an empty stadium just might provide a slight help when his own Cowboys players enter the notoriously raucous CenturyLink Field.
“I will say this: It’s going to be nice to have, hopefully, a quieter crowd in Seattle than we’re used to, to be specific about it.”
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