FRSCO, TX – When they say everything’s bigger in Texas, they aren’t kidding. Especially when it comes to Jerry Jones.
The infamous Dallas Cowboys owner is shelling out a reported $1.5 billon for the team’s new state-of-the-art practice facility, unlike any other in the NFL.
If $1.5 billon dollars sounds extreme, it is…the facility will cost more to build than AT&T Stadium, the stadium the team actually plays in. Down in Atlanta, the Falcons are building a revolutionary structure of their own, the new, futuristic Mercedes Benz Stadium. You guessed it, it costs more than that too. $300,000,000 dollars more.
Vikings new stadium: $975m (est.)
Cowboys’ AT&T Stadium: $1.2b (est.)
Falcons new stadium: $1.2b (est.)
Cowboys new practice facility: $$1.5b (est.)
“The Star” as it’s named, will be replacing the team’s current facility since 1985 in Valley Ranch, TX.
“This just totally has blown me away in terms of what we can do,” Jones says. “This area will be a template and an example far beyond Frisco — all over the country.”
In true Jerry fashion, the owner made some ridiculous statements on the project, saying when fully completed, The Star will mean as much to him as any of the Cowboys’ three championships since he purchased the team in 1989.
“It will be right there with the Super Bowls,” Jones told USA TODAY Sports, “because I want it to have that national significance.”
The main structure on the campus includes in 12,000 seat indoor stadium (bigger than most NBA arenas) for practice accessible to the fans and media. Covering a whopping 91 acres, the palatial facility isn’t just for football. The Star will include shopping, dining, athletic and hotel options for fans, players, and family. Other amenities include a cutting-edge sports medicine facility that will be used by the Baylor University.
Jerry also hopes that one day he will bring the NFL Draft and possibly the NFL Combine to the new facility.
Hall of Fame WR and Cowboys legend Michael Irvin also gave his thoughts on The Star, saying, “It says what the Cowboys are, America’s team.”
Along with AT&T Stadium and now The Star, Stephen Jones, Jerry Jones’ son and a team executive vice president, says, “We think we have two crown jewels.”
Here are renderings of the facility, pre-build:
The Star will open on the 27th of August.
