Dallas Cowboys' Scheduling Quirk Shows How Powerful Brand Is To NFL

Whether you're a Dallas Cowboys fan or not, it has become very clear over the years just how much attention the franchise gets.

All you have to do is tune into one of ESPN's talk shows on any given weekday during the season and the Cowboys are often dominating the conversation, no matter how good or bad the Cowboys are doing at that time.

And there is really no middle ground with the Cowboys. You either love them or hate them. If nobody cared about the Cowboys, they would not be as talked about as they are in the national media.

The NFL has fully embraced just how popular and polarizing Dallas is.

Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones smiles as he answers questions during a press conference at Ford Center at the Star. | Matthew Emmons-Imagn Images

As Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer points out, the fact that the Cowboys are routinely getting a primetime slot to open up the regular season despite not having a ton of success in recent years is a prime example of that and just how the Cowboys' brand has become so powerful.

"The Cowboys’ brand is simply different than everyone else’s," he said. "That was underscored again this week with NBC landing Dallas’s opener against the Giants, which doubles as John Harbaugh’s New York debut. As a reminder, Dallas was 7-9-1 last year, and has had a relatively normal offseason. And yet, the NFL carved out prime Week 1 real estate (again) for Jerry Jones."

Over the past 25 seasons, the Cowboys have opened the season with an early Sunday afternoon game just once. Over the last 20 years, Dallas has garnered a Week 1 primetime slot 13 times.

"That’s staggering," Breer said of all those primetime games. "It also tells you all you need to know about Dallas’ brand, versus everyone else’s. Most teams’ relevance is tied to winning. The Cowboys’ isn’t."

Primetime leader

Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Ceedee Lamb (88) runs onto the field prior to the game against the Washington Commanders. — Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Ceedee Lamb. | Amber Searls-Imagn Images

It isn't just about the primetime games in the regular season opener. The Cowboys are routinely among the league leaders in primetime games throughout the entire campaign, regardless of how they did the year prior or are expected to do in the year coming.

Last year alone, the Cowboys had six primetime games, the second-most in the NFL behind the Kansas City Chiefs. And the proof is in the pudding for why the Cowboys are often placed into prime real estate on the NFL schedule. As of 2024, Dallas was involved in six of the most-viewed regular-season contests in NFL history.

Dallas also broke the record for the most-viewed game in league history in 2025, when they squared off against the Chiefs for one of the Thanksgiving Day games. Granted, that wasn't a primetime contest, but it just underscores how many eyes the Cowboys bring to televisions every week.

All of this is really a testament to the great job Jerry Jones has done building this franchise up. The Cowboys are always in the conversation, no matter how good or bad things are going.

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