Opening Acts: Cowboys Hope to be First Opponents In New Rams and Raiders Stadiums
When it comes to stadiums, what Jerry Jones wants, Jerry Jones gets. And right now? He wants the new Rams stadium in Los Angeles. And he wants the new Raiders stadium in Las Vegas.
No, he doesn't want to own the venues; he just wants to open them.
"If possible,'' the Dallas Cowboys owner says, "I'd like to be their first game, both teams, first game.''
Oh, it's possible, on a pair of fronts.
First of all, logistically, a Cowboys at Rams game and a Cowboys at Raiders game already fit nicely into 2020. It so happens that the Cowboys are scheduled for a regular-season game against the Rams. Therefore, Jerry could simply petition the league to allow Dallas to serve as Los Angeles' first home game of the season.
And Stan Kroenke, the Rams owner who is especially close with Jones - their combined muscle is among the reasons the Rams are even in L.A. and among the reasons for their new venue - would surely approve.
And the Raiders? The Cowboys usually play their first two preseason games somewhere within the geographic vicinity of Oxnard, California, home of their training camp. So generally, those games are staged at San Francisco or at Los Angeles or (once upon a time) in San Diego or Oakland.
It would be an easy call for Jerry and the Raiders - again, combining muscle from the Cowboys - to get Dallas at Las Vegas as the first game of the NFL preseason ... on national TV and all that comes with that.
And that leads to the second reason: The Rams will want all eyes on their home-opener in 2020 in their their new stadium in Los Angeles. The Raiders will want the same in Las Vegas for their first home preseason game. (For that matter, the Rams will want that for their first home preseason game as well; maybe the Cowboys can "open'' stadiums three times.)
What NFL team gives you more eyeballs than the Dallas Cowboys?
"I'm very excited,'' says Jones, who is of course the overseer of the finest stadium in the land, AT&T Stadium. "I was excited to play that first preseason game against the Rams there in the Coliseum. If possible, I'd like to be their first game, both teams, first game. Which is not impossible, I guess."
If Jerry Jones wants it? And if it has something to do with NFL stadiums? Nothing is impossble.
