Cowboys’ Jerry Jones sees private equity firms able to purchase NFL ownership as ‘good’; won’t sell shares

FRISCO, Texas — Any NFL owners who are feeling cash-strapped as the league’s rising salary cap thanks to an 11-year, $110 billion media rights deal that has led to a steadily rising salary cap now have a just-in-case-of-emergency button. 

Owners are now allowed to sell a maximum of 10 percent of their NFL teams to a private equity firm that can immediately front the cash. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, who possesses a net worth of $15.1 billion, according to Forbes, and whose Dallas franchise ranks as the most valuable team in the NFL ($10.1 billion per Forbes), in favor of the approval by the league for its other 31 teams to do so, but that’s an option he himself will not be exploring. 

“Well, let me say this, it is something I’m well aware of,” Jones said on Aug. 28. “I haven’t made that area capitalization or the prospects of other ownership relative to the Cowboys. I personally have not made that a high priority for me to attend meetings at all because I don’t intend, and haven’t intended for that to apply with the Cowboys. … I’m not trying to be evasive in any way. But, yes, the correct statement is I’m not looking to do it. I don’t want to foreclose anything as far as the future is concerned, but we have not been in that kind of mind thought.”

Jones then went out of his way to tout the benefits of the newly approved arrangement. Some of the perks could be immediate influx of cash, likely hundreds of millions of dollars, for franchises to put toward practice facility or stadium renovations or even other special projects.

“You’re foolish if you don’t get up every day and really look at how the tea leaves look on any at any given time,” Jones said. …”There’s no doubt that this is going to make us have a better league. There’s no doubt that it would give more financial flexibility, which in and of itself, since my experience in the NFL and when I look back at the financial viability of where we were in 1989 compared to where we are today and this type of thing that we voted to do yesterday will enhance this game for you, fans, professionals in the game, for the players, for the fans. It will create more financial viability and let us take advantage of the great following and the great interest that we have in the game. I don’t have specifics, but it will and you could clearly see that it was a unanimous affirmation there that this was good for fans, good for the league. Let me say this, anything that’s good for fans is good for the league.”