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Losing has Cowboys brass concerned about losing generation of fans
Jean-Jacques Taylor
ESPN Staff Writer
FRISCO, Texas -- A generation of Dallas Cowboys fans don't know anything about Super Bowl victories and championship parades. All they know is mediocrity.
Since the start of the 1997 season, the Cowboys are 152-152 with two playoff wins -- none in consecutive seasons.
From 1992-96, the Cowboys won three Super Bowls, appeared in the NFC Championship Game four times and won 11 playoff games. They were the Team of the '70s and appeared in the first three NFC title games of the '80s.
The Cowboys were synonymous with winning. No more.
Mediocrity, however, has not affected the Cowboys' profit margin. The Cowboys increased their value by 25 percent in the past year and are worth an estimated $4 billion, making them the world's most valuable franchise, according to Forbes Magazine.
The Cowboys are the first non-soccer team to claim the title of most valuable franchise since 2010.
Still, Stephen Jones, the team's executive vice president, hopes the Cowboys aren't losing a generation of fans.
"I'm worried every day that we don't get a championship," Jones said earlier this offseason. "You worry about that all the time. That's why we're very aggressive in trying to get there.
"It's just not acceptable in our minds that we haven't been able to win a championship in so long."
The Cowboys haven't even been to the NFC Championship Game since the 1995 season. Only Washington and Detroit have longer streaks of futility.
Since then, Green Bay and Philadelphia have each played in five championship games. Every other NFC club has played in at least two conference championship games.
"I worry about that with older fans, that they finally say, 'We're done.' That's why we try to do everything we can to show respect to our fans, to do things that I think are good things that our fans think are good things for our team," Jones said. "But at the end of the day, as I said, it's all about the game and it's all about winning a championship, and we got to get that done."
The Cowboys have kept their fan base from corroding because they consistently find ways to connect with fans and potential fans.
At training camp in Oxnard, California, last week, the club paired a child with each player and allowed the youngster to carry the players' helmet onto the practice field, creating a memory those kids and their parents will never forget.
When players -- whether they're stars such as Dez Bryant and Tony Romo or guys who probably won't even make the team such as receiver Ed Eagan or cornerback Dax Swanson -- sign autographs after practice, they're helping the Cowboys create fans for life.
The Cowboys will move into The Ford Center at The Star, their new practice facility and complex, that will give fans an opportunity for chance interactions with players just by hanging out at The Star and eating dinner or shopping.
The cheerleaders will practice at the gym in an area where patrons can watch them go through their routines between sets on the bench press. Then there's the club's partnership with Frisco Independent School District, which will play games at the facility's 12,000-seat stadium.
"You could literally have the quarterback of the Frisco High School team visiting with Romo as he is walking off the practice field," owner Jerry Jones said. "Or it could be Jason Witten or Dez Bryant."
The Cowboys' website and video department are among the NFL's best because they create a vast amount of content and not all of it is positive. They have a daily internet radio show during the season, which takes callers.
Everything the Cowboys do is designed to create a once-in-a-lifetime experience that will create a fan for life.
"We're always looking for the young generation of fans -- not just because we haven't won as many games," Charlotte Jones-Anderson said, "but because today's younger generation has so much more stimulation and distraction than who's winning or losing."
Jean-Jacques Taylor
ESPN Staff Writer
FRISCO, Texas -- A generation of Dallas Cowboys fans don't know anything about Super Bowl victories and championship parades. All they know is mediocrity.
Since the start of the 1997 season, the Cowboys are 152-152 with two playoff wins -- none in consecutive seasons.
From 1992-96, the Cowboys won three Super Bowls, appeared in the NFC Championship Game four times and won 11 playoff games. They were the Team of the '70s and appeared in the first three NFC title games of the '80s.
The Cowboys were synonymous with winning. No more.
Mediocrity, however, has not affected the Cowboys' profit margin. The Cowboys increased their value by 25 percent in the past year and are worth an estimated $4 billion, making them the world's most valuable franchise, according to Forbes Magazine.
The Cowboys are the first non-soccer team to claim the title of most valuable franchise since 2010.
Still, Stephen Jones, the team's executive vice president, hopes the Cowboys aren't losing a generation of fans.
"I'm worried every day that we don't get a championship," Jones said earlier this offseason. "You worry about that all the time. That's why we're very aggressive in trying to get there.
"It's just not acceptable in our minds that we haven't been able to win a championship in so long."
The Cowboys haven't even been to the NFC Championship Game since the 1995 season. Only Washington and Detroit have longer streaks of futility.
Since then, Green Bay and Philadelphia have each played in five championship games. Every other NFC club has played in at least two conference championship games.
"I worry about that with older fans, that they finally say, 'We're done.' That's why we try to do everything we can to show respect to our fans, to do things that I think are good things that our fans think are good things for our team," Jones said. "But at the end of the day, as I said, it's all about the game and it's all about winning a championship, and we got to get that done."
The Cowboys have kept their fan base from corroding because they consistently find ways to connect with fans and potential fans.
At training camp in Oxnard, California, last week, the club paired a child with each player and allowed the youngster to carry the players' helmet onto the practice field, creating a memory those kids and their parents will never forget.
When players -- whether they're stars such as Dez Bryant and Tony Romo or guys who probably won't even make the team such as receiver Ed Eagan or cornerback Dax Swanson -- sign autographs after practice, they're helping the Cowboys create fans for life.
The Cowboys will move into The Ford Center at The Star, their new practice facility and complex, that will give fans an opportunity for chance interactions with players just by hanging out at The Star and eating dinner or shopping.
The cheerleaders will practice at the gym in an area where patrons can watch them go through their routines between sets on the bench press. Then there's the club's partnership with Frisco Independent School District, which will play games at the facility's 12,000-seat stadium.
"You could literally have the quarterback of the Frisco High School team visiting with Romo as he is walking off the practice field," owner Jerry Jones said. "Or it could be Jason Witten or Dez Bryant."
The Cowboys' website and video department are among the NFL's best because they create a vast amount of content and not all of it is positive. They have a daily internet radio show during the season, which takes callers.
Everything the Cowboys do is designed to create a once-in-a-lifetime experience that will create a fan for life.
"We're always looking for the young generation of fans -- not just because we haven't won as many games," Charlotte Jones-Anderson said, "but because today's younger generation has so much more stimulation and distraction than who's winning or losing."
