Cowboy builders

 When the owner of the Dallas Cowboys decided that the 38-year-old Texas Stadium was no longer prestigious enough for “America’s Team”, Jerry Jones looked for a city in the Dallas-Fort Worth area to foot the bill for a new property.

The main contender was Arlington and when the city council put the issue of spending the excess of its budget, and then adding a sales tax, to finance the new home of the Cowboys, the vote was always going to be close. Even in the more relaxed economic times of 2004, spending tax payers’ money on rich peoples’ toys was a going to be a divisive issue. Knowing this, Jerry Jones deployed his troops at the voting centres: Cowboys cheerleaders gave away signed calendars, free doughnuts in the morning, and free pizzas at lunch. The result: a $1.15 billion-stadium to host eight games a year – and an asset that makes the Cowboys the most valuable franchise in American sports.