DALLAS — More than three decades ago, Jerry Jones bought the Dallas Cowboys and Texas Stadium for $150 million.
Jones has since turned the Cowboys into the NFL's most valuable brand, by far. Last year, Forbes valued the Cowboys at $6.5 billion. The next highest franchise value, according to Forbes, is the New England Patriots at $5 billion.
The up-for-sale Denver Broncos are reportedly going to sell for more than $4 billion. With that in mind, the Cowboys' potential price tag will always make headlines and good banter.
In an interview with NBC Sports' Peter King, a business consultant in NFL circles said Jones could get anywhere from $8 billion to $8.5 billion if he were to sell. King asked Jones about the evaluation, and the Cowboys owner upped that number. Jones told King his prized possession would sell for more than $10 billion, by his estimation.
However, Jones is not entertaining any offers.
“But let me make this very clear,” Jones said. “I’ll say it definitively. I will never do it. I will never sell the Cowboys. Ever.”
Six NFL teams have been sold in the past 14 years: Miami Dolphins ($1.1 billion, 2008), the Los Angeles Rams ($750 million, 2010), Jacksonville Jaguars ($770 million, 2012), Cleveland Browns ($1 billion, 2012), Buffalo Bills ($1.4 billion, 2014), Carolina Panthers ($2.275 billion, 2018).
So, why the astronomical increase in value in such a short period of time? Forbes valued the Cowboys at $6.5 billion and the Denver Broncos at $3.75 billion in 2021. Both the sports business consultant and Jones had a similar answer: TV money.
The NFL has recently agreed to media rights deals for a decade totaling $113 billion, Peter King reported. According to the media rights deals, within the next 10 years, the annual guaranteed media money each team gets will rise from $250 million to $380 million.
“Add in the Amazon [streaming] deal, the potential with some of the new technology. The NFL, in my mind, the visibility, the volume, the overall passion, you frankly can’t get it anywhere else," Jones said. "That’s why all these people want a piece of it.”