Jerry Jones, owner of the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys, has rejected pleas for curtains to be installed at AT&T Stadium despite the team suffering from the sun’s glare.
The Cowboys are winless at home this season after receiving a 34-6 thrashing by NFC East rivals Philadelphia Eagles yesterday (Sunday). Jones’ team had a chance to take the lead in the second quarter, but wide receiver CeeDee Lamb missed a simple catch in the end zone because the sun was in his eyes.
“I couldn’t see the ball,” Lamb said. “Couldn’t see the ball, at all. The sun.” He also added that he was “1000%” in favour of installing curtains over the windows of the stadium, which cost $1.3bn (£930m/€1.1bn) to develop.
AT&T Stadium, which has a capacity of 80,000 that is expandable to more than 100,000 with standing room, uses blackout curtains for other events it hosts such as concerts and wrestling promotions. However, Jones is not in favour of doing the same at NFL games.
“Well let’s tear the damn stadium down and build another one?” he said after the match against Philadelphia. “Are you kidding me? Everybody has got the same thing. Every team that comes in here has the same issues.
“I’m saying, the world knows where the sun is. You get to know that almost a year in advance. Someone asked me about the sun. What about the sun? Where’s the moon?”
Dallas has lost five consecutive home games, a streak that began with a 48-32 home playoff defeat to the Green Bay Packers last season. This follows a 16-game winning streak at home over two seasons.
Jones is overseeing a multi-year renovation programme for AT&T Stadium that is expected to be completed prior to the 2026 FIFA World Cup, where it is due to serve as a host venue. He stated that a $295m redevelopment would make the stadium “better than new”.
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