Moderator Edit/Archived DMN content removed
Jones was already a billionaire BEFORE he bought the Cowboys. He owned an oil company. If you check the headlines back then they said things like billionaire oilman Jerry Jones buys Cowboys. .Jones only paid 300 million for the Cowboys but that was not even close to what he was worth back then. Again who would have been the ones "forcing" Jones to sell? The league, AGAIN, not a chance, those tiny numbered chest thumping whiny fans, not a chance, so who was going to force Jones to sell? Just because you don't like Jones does by no means mean everybody dislikes Jones. Lastly, why is it that with the exception of a couple players who were problems in the locker room over the last 28 years why haven't there been just scores of players complaining about Jones as a bad owner?
.
Geebus man, how do you guys dream up this crap, are you on Jeri's payroll or something? What has jeri done for you to earn such devotion when he shows so much disdain for you as a fan?
Anyway, Jones was not a billionaire when he bought the team (it appears his net worth was probably around 200-300 million, largely due to money made off high risk oil and gas investments that paid off handsomely). In fact, he brought in a partner:
HeThe did not pay $300 million for the team. He paid anywhere from 130 to 150 million depending upon which source you read from the myriad available online. Here's a quote from
one of them:
On Feb. 25, 1989, Jones led the purchase of the Cowboys. He bought woo percent of the stadium for $65 million. He took over the Cowboys' Valley Ranch headquarters by assuming its $15 million of debt, including money owed in deferred contracts to players. And he bought 63 percent of the team at a valuation of $60 million.
$65 million + $15 million + $60 million = $140 million (the exact figure is muddled due to the lack of source documents and knowing all details of the deal but imo, its safe to conclude the price was somewhere between $140-150 million)
And the reason he would have been forced to sell would have been if attendance and financial support was so bad that he continued losing money to the point where he could no longer fund the financial deficit. Having said that, I think jeri understood the importance of winning to his bottom line and would have done whatever he could to bring in people to help the team win. He is very pragmatic when it comes to his wallet.
He is no longer under that pressure due to the guaranteed profits locked in by league wide revenue sharing of the huge TV contract $$, etc plus the horrific decision of fans to obligate themselves to overpriced PSL's (personal seat licenses) thereby transferring most, if not all, of the risk and financial obligation from jeri to individual PSL holders resulting in jeri likely paying off the stadium early, guaranteeing tickets sales and removing any financial leverage cowboy fans could exert upon jeri in his lifetime. The Star-Telegram said:
Personal seat licenses are expected to provide the largest chunk of money that Jones can use to pay back the NFL loan and other financing he has arranged for the project. The team has said it will use seat-license money to pay for construction costs.
A Star-Telegram analysis found that Jones could make as much as $735 million off seat licenses.
Source:
Where do you find $1.1 billion to build a stadium? Star-Telegram 09-28-2008
He likely paid off all debt on the stadium from the sale of PSL's alone and there's a good chance he made a profit in the process but unlikely he made the maximum as its unlikely he was able to sell every PSL.
How does jeri repay the fans?
By treating the team as his personal fantasy football game where he and his spawn continue to play football experts, thumbing their noses at the notion of bringing the best and the brightest to run football operations. It wont ever change in Jeri's lifetime and likely long after.
The only hope remaining is that jeri has some secret in his past that will cause him to go the way of Jerry Richardson. Were that to ever happen, it would be as sweet as back to back Super Bowl wins for this fan
Stupid Dallas Morning News lawyer idiots