The Dallas Cowboys hosted the Denver Broncos on Sunday at AT&T Stadium, and what gracious hosts they turned out to be. Not only did they serve up a lopsided “W” to the visiting Broncos but they also welcomed a sea of orange clad Broncos fans who were loud and proud representing their team. It was an embarrassing loss both on and off the field for Cowboys fans and one has to wonder; How does the most popular team in the NFL lose their home field advantage?
It is not unheard of for opposing fans to take over an NFL Stadium. Cowboys fans know this better than anyone. Cowboys Nation has always travelled well and as a result, when the Dallas Cowboys are in town tickets usually come at a premium cost. It is a strange phenomenon though that AT&T Stadium, the home of “America’s Team” , would itself be filled with so many opposing fans.
There are several theories to why this seems to happen often. One of them is that the stadium is so big and expensive that the real diehard Cowboys fans can’t afford to attend the games. The prime seating is reserved for corporations and the business classes and not the passionate, rowdy fans you expect to see at a football game. Even season ticket holders have to sell the majority of their tickets in the secondary market to offset the massive investment. Whether those tickets are sold to Cowboys fans or not is inconsequential. Jerry Jones doesn’t seem to mind either:
The secondary ticket market doesn’t appear to be getting any cheaper either. According to a report from Bookies.com, the NFL ticket secondary market is expected to rise substantially in the next decade. Here are the projected prices for each of the NFL’s franchises:
Another theory to explain why so many opposing fans seem to fill AT&T Stadium is because the Stadium itself is such an attraction that it appeals to travelling fans across the country. With nicknames like “The Palace in Dallas” or “Jerry’s World”, fans of opposing teams probably mark their calendars as soon as the NFL releases it’s schedule in the spring just for an opportunity to witness their team play in the home of the Dallas Cowboys. It should come as a surprise to no one, that a fanbase like the Denver Broncos would have a large turnout in Arlingtion, Texas. The Broncos have a strong following, they have not played a game at AT&T Stadium in 8 years, and there are plenty of convenient travel options to get from Colorado to Texas
Regardless of which theory best explains the existence of so many opposing fans at AT&T Stadium, the fact that they were there on Sunday is only half of the problem. The bigger issue is that they were increasingly being perceived as being more vocal then the home team fans:
Now I will say this, the flow of the game did have a tremendous impact on the crowd noise. It would have been pretty difficult for Cowboys fans to outcheer Broncos fans when the score was 30-0 in favor of the Broncos at one point. The easiest way for the Cowboys to maintain home field advantage is to avoid getting pummeled left, right, and center for four quarters on the football field.
*Photo by Joe Glorioso All-Pro Reels https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/legalcode