Why Dallas isn’t big enough for the Cowboys and the Chiefs

It is incredibly unlikely that another NFL team moves to Dallas.

Earlier this week, local voters in Missouri turned down a public measure to approve public funding to renovate the home Kansas City Chiefs, Arrowhead Stadium. The stadium, which shares a parking lot with Kaufman Stadium of the Kansas City Royals, is 52 years old and in need of repair, and there have been ongoing conversations from the Chiefs organization of the state of Arrowhead for some time. In light of the voters rejecting the call for public funding, Dallas Mayor Eric L. Johnson had an idea.

Mayor Johnson has considered adding another NFL team to the city and believes Dallas has the provisions to support a second team. The prospect of a team relocating is messy but possible. Since 1995, five NFL teams have relocated cities: the Rams and Chargers to Los Angeles, the Raiders to Las Vegas, the Houston Oilers, now the Houston Texans, the Cleveland Browns, now the Baltimore Ravens, along with the NFL welcoming three expansion franchises with the Jacksonville Jaguars, Carolina Panthers, and the Texans to Houston as mentioned earlier. If that seems like a lot, it is. However, the NFL is a business first and foremost, and owners of said business will do what they must to increase profit margins, even at the expense of loyal fans in their current market.

While Mayor Johnson and some would be thrilled to welcome the Chiefs to Dallas, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones would not be happy to see that happen. San Antonio, a city hundreds of miles away from Dallas, has been cited as an ideal place to host an NFL team. According to reports, Jones has shot down the concept of an NFL team there to avoid “watering down” the value of the game and the Dallas Cowboys. Here’s why Jones does not want another team in Dallas.

Becoming the little brother in your own city

The reach of the Cowboys is far and wide, and at a value of $9.2B, they are the wealthiest NFL franchise by a wide margin. The marketability of the Cowboys allows them to have the NFL world in the palm of their hand despite not winning a championship in almost 30 years, with a large part of that failure falling squarely on Jones. While the majority of the national NFL discourse circles around the Cowboys, the majority of it is not positive. Ushering a team like the Chiefs into your market with their level of success is asking to get swept into oblivion by comparison.

Since 2019, the Chiefs have made the Super Bowl four times, winning three of them. Meanwhile, the Cowboys are one of only two NFC teams to have not made the NFC championship game since 1995. That level of mediocrity is sure to be seen as a massive failure by the Cowboys in juxtaposition. By having the Chiefs in Dallas, Jones risks the apathy and cynicism of the fanbase going into overdrive. Jones is about to undertake multi-million dollar renovations of AT&T Stadium. He can’t possibly expect a great return on investment if local fans are lured away to see the Chiefs play outside of Arlington.

Losing the younger generation

Speaking of luring fans away, the younger generation of fans is the one Jones should be concerned about losing if the Chiefs moved to Dallas. The Cowboys’ lack of success in the postseason in recent history means many fans have yet to experience the Cowboys being truly successful, and some fandom is likely predicated on being in close proximity to the Cowboys and the insistence of older family members urging them to stand by the home team. What if a new home team is a perennial winner led by one of the biggest superstars of the sport?

Dak Prescott is a good quarterback, but Patrick Mahomes is the standard all quarterbacks are held to. He’s got a proven track record as a winner and is among the rarest talents at his position, perhaps all time. The magnetism of his play style appeals to a younger crowd. Further, many Cowboys fans who are not from the Dallas area became fans of a winning culture and unique superstars like Michael Irvin and Deion Sanders. Without those aspects, Jones risks losing fans locally and nationally to the potential new ticket in town.