Are Jerry Jones’ fan tours a hurdle to a Cowboys Super Bowl?

ESPN | American Football | 10/24/2024

Cowboys tours offer the opportunity for fans to take a casual stroll through what is usually an NFL team's inner sanctum. Photo: Kalyn Kahler/ESPN

By Kalyn Kahler, ESPN

FRISCO, Texas — A tour guide presents a wall display of the Dallas Cowboys‘ proudest achievements to a group of 20-plus people crowded in front of him, many wearing a mix of Cowboys jerseys. At the other end of the hallway, less than a football field away, are the Cowboys’ position meeting rooms. A player opens a door and walks out.

“Before we get started, we have a few ground rules,” the tour guide says. “If a player or coach walks by, don’t yell, don’t talk to them. Don’t take pictures of any people. If they come up to you, that’s fine.

“It’s a work day here at the Dallas Cowboys.”

It’s 10 a.m. on the Friday before the 3-2 Cowboys play the 4-1 Lions, a highly anticipated prove-it game against a tougher and healthier opponent. Quarterback Dak Prescott and wide receiver CeeDee Lamb have yet to find their groove, the run game is nonexistent and the defense is battling injuries at nearly every position. Players and coaches are in meetings ahead of their walk-through. This is the football staff’s office, a space the 31 other NFL clubs reserve for team employees during the season. The tour guide just reminded his group that this is a work day. So why are fans here?

For $40 a pop, fans can experience what the employee manning the tour information booth that day described as “a day in the life of a Cowboys player.” (It’s $70 for the Ultimate Fan Experience, which includes an Authentic Letter of Fandom from Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, a souvenir tote, a lapel pin and a dining and shopping coupon to use at The Star, $90 to add on a Q&A session with an AI Jerry hologram.)

“This is where the Cowboys players eat, train, work, practice,” the employee told an inquiring group of potential customers. “They’re here 99% of the time.”

Stadium tours are common across the NFL, but the upbeat tour guides at The Star are quick to point out that Dallas is the only team to offer the general public this access to its facility. The Packers’ tours of Lambeau Field intentionally steer clear of player areas in the stadium, which doubles as Green Bay’s facility. The Chargers invited fans to a free open house of their new facility, but it took place in July, before players reported for training camp.

And Dallas’ advertising is accurate. On the Thursday before the Lions game, Prescott walks about 3 feet away from the 10 a.m. tour group gathered in a hallway near the Cowboys’ locker room.

“I saw the back of his head and I was like, ‘Oh s—!'” says Michale Elkin, from Albemarle, North Carolina.

“It’s gold when those players go through our complex out there and see fans,” Jerry Jones told ESPN.