The Dallas Cowboys’ $2 billion real estate development at The Star, the team’s practice facility in Frisco, Texas, is the envy of sports teams around the country. Now the world’s most valuable sports franchise is looking to run a similar playbook at AT&T Stadium in Arlington.
Speaking on the latest episode of Sportico Sports Business Presented by Endava, which debuts Thursday night on YES Network, Cowboys co-owner and COO Stephen Jones spoke at length about the team’s development ambitions. According to Jones, the team is ready to turn its attention to the land around its 17-year-old venue, which is owned by the City of Arlington. The team recently agreed to a new lease that will extend its time at AT&T Stadium through 2055.
“We haven’t been quick to develop AT&T Stadium, but it’s coming our way,” Jones said. “We’re right around the corner from doing something similar at AT&T Stadium that we did at The Star.”
It’s unclear exactly where around the stadium the team is looking, and who owns that land.
Up until now, the bulk of the Cowboys’ real estate ambitions have played out in Frisco, about 40 miles Northeast of Arlington. That 91-acre development features shopping, dining, office space, residential units, a hotel, a hospital, an esports venue and more. The web of business opportunities runs even deeper than the development. Omni, the “official hotel partner of the Dallas Cowboys,” operates the hotel at The Star; Cowboys Fit, a gym venture that the team launched in partnership with 24 Hour Fitness founder Mark Mastrov, opened its first location at the Star. Other Cowboys partners have office space in the development.

The son of principal Cowboys owner Jerry Jones Sr., Stephen Jones called that stretch in Frisco “one of the hottest real estate markets in north Texas,” hinting that the area’s potential played a role in the team prioritizing the Star project initially. While the area around AT&T Stadium might not have been as enticing when the venue opened in 2009, Jones said it’s coming around. He referenced multiple Loews hotel projects, financed in part by the New York Giants co-owner Tisch family, next to the home of the Texas Rangers in Arlington. There’s also Texas Live!, a $250 million development that the MLB team undertook in partnership with the Cordish Companies.
Real estate has become a principal way that modern sports team owners look to maximize the value of their assets. That involves the stadium itself, of course, but increasingly includes development around the venue. Those projects create a busier neighborhood and the ability to produce revenue 365 days a year, and not just during home games.
As examples, the Atlanta Braves have The Battery in Cobb County, and the Green Bay Packers have their Titletown District development next to Lambeau Field. The University of Tennessee and Arctos Partners are pioneering a model for something similar in college sports. That said, Jones offered a word of warning about the complexity required for these projects.
“A lot of people say, just because you put a team on a piece of property, then that means the real estate around it is going to be a worth a lot,” Jones said. “That’s not necessarily the case.”
Sportico Sports Business Presented by Endava debuts on YES Network on Thursday night, and airs throughout the month on YES and other regional networks around the country.