They’re the most valuable sports franchise in the world — yet they haven’t won a Super Bowl in nearly 30 years. So, how do you keep the nickname “America’s Team” without winning a championship since 1996? Look no further than Dallas Cowboys mastermind Jerry Jones, whose knack for turning the organization into a year-round headline machine keeps the brand unavoidable.
The latest look inside the storied franchise comes courtesy of Netflix’s docuseries America’s Team: The Gambler and His Cowboys, out now. A global streaming sensation with 1.9 million views since its Aug. 19 release, it’s a must-watch not just for sports fans, but for anyone curious about how the Cowboys became a football dynasty — and a cultural phenomenon.
“I do believe if we’re not being looked at, then I’ll do my part to get us looked at,” Jerry told Yahoo at the Aug. 11 premiere. The 82-year-old businessman officially serves as owner, president and general manager of the Dallas Cowboys, but he also relishes the role of provocateur. If the spotlight ever dims, Jerry’s more than willing to grab our attention and make sure the team remains impossible to ignore.
“The beautiful thing for networks or streaming companies is that the NFL is a 365-day-a-year interest factor. A lot of programming — you have to spend as much to promote it as you do to make it,” he continued. “The Cowboys are a soap opera, 365 days a year. When it gets slow, I’ll stir it up.”
‘America’s Team’
Jerry’s flair for drama started the moment he bought the Cowboys in 1989 and fired Tom Landry, the team’s coach of 29 years. To say Landry was beloved is an understatement. More than 100,000 people turned out for a parade in downtown Dallas in his honor. Jerry named himself president and general manager, which, at the time, was unheard of.
Jerry faced intense backlash after firing Landry, earning death threats and a reputation as a villain. In the docuseries, he admits it “was certainly one of the great PR missteps, maybe of all time.” But rather than shrink from the controversy, he leaned into it, using the drama as a springboard to showcase the team and shape its identity. He capitalized on the attention, building the franchise’s brand through sponsorships and fan engagement. In 1992, for example, he introduced pep rallies at Texas Stadium, drawing 70,000 fans to send the Cowboys off to the NFC Championship game.
“I was trying to create a collegiate enthusiasm,” Jerry says in the series.
To be “America’s Team,” you have to resonate with fans far beyond Dallas. Jerry recognized that star power didn’t have to stay on the field, and the Cowboys were one of the first organizations to turn their players into household names — through marketing, including groundbreaking deals with Nike and Pepsi, endorsements and merchandising. In 1995, the Cowboys accounted for one-fifth of all NFL merchandise sales. Jones encouraged his players to make media appearances and establish star power off the field.
In the ’90s, quarterback Troy Aikman appeared on late-night shows, while running back Emmitt Smith and wide receiver Michael Irvin graced magazine covers. Even contract disputes became national talking points — Smith’s 63-day holdout in 1993 was covered endlessly, a reminder that the team’s reach extends far beyond the gridiron.
Michael Irvin and Troy Aikman in a still from America’s Team: The Gambler and His Cowboys. (Netflix)
For the players themselves, carrying the label comes with pride, pressure and a unique sense of responsibility. The current face of the Cowboys, quarterback Dak Prescott, has said the moniker means “everybody wants to see us play.”
As our friends over at Yahoo Sports wrote: “The only thing that makes non-Cowboys fans angrier than the ‘America’s Team’ nickname is the Cowboys letting the world know they’re more interesting than everyone else because they’re ‘America’s Team.’”
While you’re the hero to some, to others, you become a villain. It’s nothing that the Jones family can’t handle, especially when the spotlight is always on their franchise. As Charlotte Jones, executive vice president and chief brand officer of the Cowboys, told me, “It takes the villains to support the journey.”
“At home we’re the first-most-loved and the second-most-hated, and then on the road, we’re the first-most-hated and the second-most-loved,” she continued. “Just as much as we say thank you to the fans that love who we are, we say thank you to the villains that hate who we are, because you need both. The journey is real, and the journey is fun.”
Charlotte Jones. (Netflix)
Impossible to ignore
It can be maddening: At almost any given moment, the Cowboys dominate sports shows, even in seasons or games when they aren’t relevant.
There has been plenty of off-the-field drama this preseason to keep the Cowboys the talk of the media with All-Pro Micah Parsons’s contract dispute. But by Jerry’s standards, all press is good press.
“That controversy is good stuff in terms of keeping and having people’s attention,” he said.
I tuned in to the preseason matchup between the Bengals and Commanders on Aug. 18, and commentators were discussing the Parsons situation.
Despite finishing 7–10 in 2024, 13 games involving Dallas still ranked among the 100 most-watched primetime telecasts of the year. This upcoming season, the Cowboys are slated for the second-most primetime games in the NFL, just behind the Kansas City Chiefs. It’s a testament to their relevance around the country, whether you want ot admit it or not.
It’s not just the players on the field that hold the spotlight.
Jerry Jones and the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders. (Netflix)
Netflix’s hit America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders was recently renewed for a third season, and filming is underway. Before Netflix, Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Making the Team ran for 16 seasons on CMT. The Jones family has expertly leveraged these programs, turning their cheerleaders and team culture into a year-round media presence and further cementing the Cowboys’ place in public consciousness.
“I feel like we’re like the greatest reality show out there,” Charlotte told me. “Our gang, you can’t script it, you can’t predict it, you can’t fake it. And that’s on and off the field in everything that we do.”
America’s Sweethearts is nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Unstructured Reality Program. The cheerleaders have provided the Cowboys with over $50 million in what is known as equivalent brand value, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
“Our culture really gravitates to reality TV. I mean, sports is reality TV every minute of the day,” Charlotte continued. “And all the things that happen that make big personalities — they’re big personalities for a reason. Which means, they’re kind of spicy off the field. You might as well show them off. You live with it, so you might as well show it. And I think all of that together has really kind of made us who we are.”
You don’t become a $12.8 billion sports franchise just by playing the game on the field.
The Cowboys are among the top five best-selling teams on Fanatics, the global sports merchandise retailer, according to NBC, with merchandise sold in more than 110 countries. They sold the most tickets of any team, according to retailer StubHub. Even if you aren’t a Dallas Cowboys fan, the Jones family has made AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, a destination in its own right.
When I talked with Smith at the Netflix premiere, he summed up the allure perfectly: “We all want to know what the Cowboys are up to. It’s the most visible organization. They do a great job of marketing. They do a great job of branding. They have been the leaders in so many ways in sports since the ’90s, and they’ve shown people how it should be done.”
Why the Cowboys make great TV
For the Cowboys, it’s never just about x’s and o’s. “We have great athletes, but there’s something more — sizzle, emotion, controversy,” Jerry told me.
When I asked Andrea Kremer, NFL Networks’ chief correspondent, why the Cowboys are covered breathlessly, her response was simple.
“They have the personalities, and everything is bigger in Texas. They have this moniker, and it’s interesting because you hear people say all the time, ‘Why are they still called America’s team when they haven’t won since the ’90s?’ But it sticks. You hear people say the Chiefs are going to be America’s team, but there’s really only one, and it’s the Dallas Cowboys,” she said.
Charles Haley, Jimmy Johnson and Emmitt Smith in a still from America’s Team: The Gambler and His Cowboys. (Netflix)
That national obsession isn’t always love. As Smith put it, that’s part of the appeal. “You might hate us, but you’re going to watch. … I can win your fans over. You may hate the Cowboys, but you’re going to love us, though,” he said.
For Hall of Famer Irvin, he believes the draw to the team is personal for some. The Cowboys have the narrative of a struggle and, just maybe, a triumph that keeps viewers glued. Everyone wants to know if the team can get back to its glory days.
“America’s team. What is America about? We’re about the fight back,” he told Yahoo.
Irvin spent years on the field before becoming a commentator on NFL Network. Now, he’s just like the rest of Cowboys fans on Sundays, and it’s difficult for him.
Jerry Jones and Michael Irvin attend the premiere of Netflix’s America’s Team: The Gambler And His Cowboys. (Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)
“I find it so hard to be a fan. Let me tell you why. When I was playing, I could do something about it. Now, as a fan, all you can do is watch this shit. I’m like, ‘What the hell?’” he laughed. “Every Sunday when it doesn’t go like I want, I’m done. I’m done! I quit. I divorce them. I can’t take this anymore. I’m tired of going up and down. Then by Wednesday night, before the Thursday night game, you’re back at the altar saying, ‘I do!’ … You just forget about the pain you were just in. But we all get drawn into it.”
It’s that emotional rollercoaster — the highs, the lows, the drama on and off the field — that makes the Cowboys must-see TV. They’re both heroes and villains, loved and hated and the ultimate reality show we can’t help but watch.