The Dallas Cowboys’ season has fallen apart ever since Tony Romo went down, and now it appears as if their new stadium may fall apart if the team doesn’t get some cash ASAP.

(”Bail me out, please.” )

And we’re not talking about a few grand here. Jerry Jones is looking to borrow $350 million to help refinance a bad loan and help cover rising costs to finish the stadium. And he wants it by December 1st. Yeah, Jerry, I’m sure everyone in this economy is just chomping at the bit to loan you some money. Maybe W. can send some taxpayer cash in your direction on his way out the door.

SPORTS BUSINESS JOURNAL says, among other things, that the ‘Boys are suffering from a $126 million loan they took out in something called the auction-rate securities market:

For the Cowboys, getting out from underneath the auction-rate debt is a pressing concern. They are one of four NFL teams to have borrowed from the auction-rate securities (ARS) market, a market that allowed companies to borrow cheaply and continue to reset the interest rate with auctions of the debt weekly and monthly.

In February, the ARS market seized up, and debt auctions failed, which automatically triggered significant interest rate hikes.

In addition, the costs of the new stadium in Arlington have skyrocketed. When the project was announced in 2004, the stadium was expected to cost around $650 million, with $350 million coming from public financing and another $76 million from the NFL. But that figure has nearly doubled to $1.2 billion, and Jones is the one responsible for all of the extra costs.

Trying to get $350 million out of a bank may not seem to the best idea right now, but Jones is depending on a few things that may make the loan attractive to prospective lenders (and, as I understand it, the “bailout” money that banks were given was an attempt to encourage them to lend money again, so this really is an example of your tax dollars at work. Someone correct me if I’m wrong.):

The Cowboys are relying on a few factors to get the deal done. One is the allure of the Cowboys brand. Second, the team has pledged in the proposed deal nearly all revenue lines from the new stadium, sources said. That’s a feature that was common in stadium financing six years ago but disappeared during the go-go years of easy credit, when pledged revenues were lighter.

A third factor is the growth of the Dallas market. During the bank meeting, according to a banking source, Jones pitched Dallas as being second only to Chicago in terms of market size among NFL cities with just one team. He referred to the Dallas Metroplex, which includes Dallas, Fort Worth and Arlington.

So, how do you go about convincing a bunch of brittle financial institutions to give you a boatload of cash to finish a football stadium? Wine and dine ‘em, of course. Texas style!

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and the team’s lead lender, Bank of America, hosted more than a dozen banks at the suite sales center adjacent to the under-construction stadium in Arlington, Texas, on Oct. 27, offering a deal priced 2.5 percent over the London Interbank Offered Rate, a floating-rate index, sources said.

Jones was giving the banks some sob story about how he might not have enough money to finish the roof and how he’ll have to leave a hole right in the middle of it. Oh, that’s on purpose? Again?

Do you think banks would decide whether or not to give this money based on the team’s success on the field? Like, could Chase be ready with $100 million but only offer it if Jones fires Wade Phillips? I don’t know if I want to know the answer to this.