All the stars aligned for Jerry Jones to acquire the Dallas Cowboys, and from the owner and general manager’s perspective, that is something that will hardly ever happen again. It was a unique gamble filled with risk, one that has paid off enormously over time.
Control was going to be auctioned off.
The league really wanted an answer and didn’t want to take the team over. So, they didn’t exactly look under every napkin for me, or check everything out.
Normally, what keeps you from doing something you’re not financially eligible to do is, they just won’t let you through the door. I literally got to get in the saddle without being financially qualified. I don’t believe anybody would have ever been able to do it before or since then. How did it happen? It happened because Texas was so down and out. Buildings were empty, businesses, oil, gas, banks were going broke right and left. If that was not the case, somebody would have stepped up and bought the team.
Jones said this regarding the 1989 acquisition of the team and his debts at the time, during the podcast The Gambler.
The path to Jerry Jones’ purchase of the Cowboys
Things did not come easily for the purchase. Jerry struggled because he was far from the $200 million initially requested by owner Harvey “Bum” Bright. Not helping matters was the family accountant, who described the potential deal as financial suicide.
But the team’s 3-13 record ultimately ruined Bright’s plans and eased the way for Jones in his bid to take over the franchise.
They eventually reached an agreement: $65 million for the team and $75 million for the stadium. This negotiation marked the first time anyone paid more than $100 million for an NFL franchise.
At that point, the Cowboys were losing $1 million a month, nearly $30,000 a day. Faced with such bleak numbers, an adviser told Jerry that by 1992, they might have lost $25 million. Jones, however, was clearheaded. He needed to focus on everything except money.
Jerry Jones bet on his new team using his retirement fund and an undisclosed portion of the $175 million sale of his oil and gas company, Arkoma, to Mike McCoy. He paid $90 million and put in everything he owned until he had nothing left.
I was blindly intoxicated with the idea of being involved with sports and the NFL.
He also took on $15 million in debt from player contracts. It was, by every measure, a massive gamble.
Today, 36 years later, life has validated that risk. In 2025, the Cowboys stand as the most valuable sports franchise on the planet, worth $13 billion.
At 83, Jerry has made clear that a bold vision yields remarkable dividends.
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