The scope of the Dallas Cowboys’ spectacle is hard to fathom for other organizations. Teams that don’t have much mass appeal and can only endear themselves to a local audience forced to love them, the Philadelphia Eagles for example, can’t comprehend just how massive the Cowboys’ following is. The Cowboys don’t just earn the nickname of America’s Team every year, evidenced by ticket sales, road turnout and most importantly in this age television ratings. They exist on a global scale unmatched by even the best soccer clubs in Europe.
But back home, at their home away from home, the Cowboys have managed to tick off more than a handful of local residents. As they prepare for their now annual trek to Oxnard, CA, their breezy training camp location, the club made sure to take care of their ever-expanding West Coast patrons who want to make the pilgrimage. It turns out that expansion has come at the expense of some unsuspecting Oxnard residents.
Dallas has constructed a VIP platform that reportedly peers over the fences of residents who paid a pretty penny for their homes. According to the Dallas Morning News via NBC-DFW, construction that started in June reached a point where the platforms peer into neighboring homes.
Several local residents have hired attorneys and filed a complaint to the city over the temporary structure built “inches from their properties without notice.”
“To wake up on a Saturday with your pajamas on and there’s a whole bunch of men looking [in from] outside, that’s very disrespectful,” resident Shalea Thompson said. “My daughter and I were in our pajamas, and we had to run upstairs because there were a whole bunch of men peering into our house, maybe not on purpose but still. No one knew there was going to be a structure built. …
The Cowboys’ team and front office will arrive in Oxnard on July 24 with opening ceremonies set for a couple days later in advance of the first day of practice. The Cowboys always put on a show for those in attendance, but not everyone is excited about the club accommodating so many more onlookers at their expense.