ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Jerry Jones, the famous and ever-present owner of the Dallas Cowboys, has not been seen at games. world cup That included nine games, the most in an NFL team’s home stadium in the tournament.
The billionaire businessman continues to work hard, and this year’s final World Cup game at AT&T Stadium will be his first. Semi-finals, France vs. Spain on tuesday.
“I think first and foremost he’s just a big event guy,” said Chad Estis, the Cowboys’ executive vice president of business operations. “He loves the NFL. He loves the Dallas Cowboys. But he has more passion for events than anyone I know. He very much wanted to make sure the stadium was in good working order.”
Fans were jumping and waving in joy as they waited to see their images on the giant videoboard suspended above the center of the field under a retractable roof. Temporarily renamed Dallas Stadium The FIFA work was a hit.
The Jones family owns a World Cup suite and is using it. But Jones and some of his family often leave the country on a yacht around this time each year, from the end of the Cowboys’ offseason practice in June to the start of training camp in California in late July.
As a result, Jones was not present in person. A pair of record-setting performances From Argentine superstar Lionel Messi. or Japanese fans clean up the entire section By chasing after ourselves—twice. Or Portugal’s star player who is the top men’s international scorer in his career. Cristiano Ronaldo’s last World Cup match.
It was these seminal moments that Jones had in mind as he designed and built the stadium, which opened in 2009 and hosted the Super Bowl and NCAA championship games in football and men’s basketball in less than five years.
Jones has also been thinking about the fan experience, using lessons learned from touring stadiums in Europe to create large standing areas on three levels at each end.
The extensive art collection is highlighted by Anish Kapoor’s stainless steel sculpture called ‘Sky Mirror’ outside East Plaza. Kapur is the creator of a similar sculpture in Chicago nicknamed “The Bean.”
In preparation for the World Cup, the Cowboys poured an additional $350 million into the stadium, which was originally priced at $1.2 billion. Although the video board looks the same, there have been essential upgrades, primarily along with new carpeting and furniture in the premium areas and a complete overhaul of the fan shop.
“I can’t tell you how many people come to our stadium and say, ‘I can’t believe this was 17 years ago,'” Estis said. “People think it feels new. Everything has been great, but it feels like it’s going to culminate with this phenomenal game tomorrow.”
head of fifa
Jones had to hand over the stadium to FIFA. In other words, the governing body Hang curtains on giant sliding glass doors The only game where the setting sun could shine into the players’ eyes was played in the West End.
Losing the football in the sun for NFL players, including the Cowboys, is an occasional problem every fall. Every time the topic comes up, Jones flatly refuses to consider curtains. He likes aesthetics and expects coaches and players to formulate game plans around sunset.
It will be too early in the day for the sun to be an issue on Sunday when Spain and France battle for a spot in the World Cup finals at the home of the New York Jets and Giants in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
Jones had hoped to reach the final, but settled for a consolation prize for most games, including sharing the semifinal with the home of the Atlanta Falcons, where Argentina and England will play on Wednesday.
“This is a great moment in an incredible sports legacy,” said Dan Hunt, co-chair of the local organizing committee and son of the late Lamar Hunt, one of Jones’ rivals as owner of the Kansas City Chiefs.
“He was a world champion,” Dan Hunt said. “He’s a Pro Football Hall of Famer. He’s hosted the Super Bowl and pretty much everything you can do at AT&T Stadium. And this is just a moment in time.”
That sweet spot
Oh, and one more thing Jones had to give up was his own private suite on the 50-yard line. Estis said he thought FIFA would be perfect for a VIP area.
“We’re like, ‘Wait a minute. Are you serious?'” Estis said with a laugh. “I mean, I understand that. That’s why Jerry’s suite is there. It’s prime location.”
Jones will be relinquishing his top spot in what is perhaps the world’s single biggest sporting event to be held at his own venue. He’s just in another suite.
“You can imagine he’s a little emotional about this,” Estis said. “You could see in the design meetings his attention to detail and how the stadium looked and felt to people, how it looked from different angles approaching the stadium. He was very involved in creating exactly what the stadium was.”
Jones will finally get a feel for the football atmosphere.
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See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here
