Amidst the gushing celebration of Jerry Jones‘ new Cowboy Stadium was a rather curious contention: that the stadium packed enough people into the SRO areas to break the all-time NFL record for attendance. While that figure may or may not have been met, we do know that simply looking at ticket sales isn’t going to tell the whole story about how many people were actually in the stadium.
(This man is holding party passes, but he is not having a party right now. Not unless it’s an angry party, and nobody likes an angry party.)
That’s because, according to Cowboys fan Hector Murillo (seen above) and thousands of others, the Cowboys locked them out of the stadium, despite the fans holding “party passes.” Oh, just because you bought a ticket to the game doesn’t mean you get to watch inside the place; you hadn’t heard?
Hundreds of Cowboys “Party Pass” holders say they didn’t get to see a live game Sunday night, despite paying for parking and $29 for a standing-room-only ticket.
In fact, the gates at one section wouldn’t even open, and fans were pounding on the doors to get the attention of people inside.
This does bring up a rather complex question of what it means to “watch a live game,” since most of the people in the SRO decks couldn’t actually see the game itself, just the big screens above the field that carried the same feed as the screens on the outside. The differences, other than the status of being on the premises, aren’t great. But moving on…
The Cowboys say they sold 30,000 “Party Passes” at last night’s record-breaking attendance game. 15,000 fans were supposed to watch inside on six different decks, while the rest were supposed to be outside, watching on giant monitors.
Fans say that was never made clear to them.
Yes, we’d imagine that there’s a substantial difference in demand for a $29 ticket that seemingly guaranteed a spot inside the building for the Cowboys’ stadium opener… and a $29 ticket that may or may not actually get you in the door. We’re pretty sure the Cowboys didn’t put forth much effort getting that message out when it came time to promote the event. “Come watch the game! …maybe!”
At the very least, the Cowboys would be wise to provide a little more explanation than “we didn’t plan on selling twice as many SRO tickets as we could allow inside the building but we did it anyway,” or maybe even offer reduced prices to those with “Party Pass” stubs for the next game - as if that’d clear the congestion.
Either way, for the estimated $870,000 the Cowboys made on the passes alone (to say nothing of the beer and concession sales in those areas) it seems like the reputation of “actively screwing over the less affluent fans” is something the franchise should work to avoid. If not, how many of those fans left outside are going to stay loyal? Let’s hope the Cowboys keep that question rhetorical.
3:25 pm on September 21st, 2009
Typical Jerry “Scumbag” Jones.
3:55 pm on September 21st, 2009
As a lifelong Cowboys fan, that’s terrible. Almost as terrible as the QB this team puts on the field. The Dallas Cowboys will NEVER win anything close to a Super Bowl as long as Tony Romo is sabotaging the team year in and year out. It doesn’t help that Wade ‘Awww Shucks’ Phillips is the coach either. You are awake, now smell the coffee. This team, with those two ‘leaders’ in leadership roles will never win anything and continue to disappoint throughout their duration in Arlington, Texas. Tony needs to worry about football and getting the job done instead of making sure his jersey looks nice and neat at all times while he is on the field and that the Kangaroo on his hat is even between his eyebrows after the game. THEN, this team and this boy might MAN UP and win some $^%#$% meaningfull football games.
5:53 pm on September 21st, 2009
the rich get richer and the dumb keep buying what the rich sell them.
7:09 pm on September 21st, 2009
The cowboys oversold their tickets. They couldn’t just let everyone in. It doesn’t work like that, how about getting to the stadium earlier if you buy a standing room only ticket. The NFL screws their fans more than any other league, but we just keep coming back to it. So, why should anyone in the NFL give a damn what the fans think if they keep coming to the games no matter what.
7:41 pm on September 21st, 2009
The owner is a Jackas, and the Fan is a Jackass, Did the ticket come with a section, row number, and seat number???
Duh jackass fan you, lost 2X, the Game, hahahaha and a seat, you jackass, now see if Jackass #1 lets you in his suite, with Jackass,, ( GB ) Enough said, Go Giants!!!!!!!!!!!!
8:34 pm on September 21st, 2009
Hey, Giants fan, just wait til next year, you’ll be a jackass fan just like this guy. The giants are gonna use some of jerry’s ideas. Jerry may be a jackass, but he’s a rich jackass and he knows how to make money.
6:38 am on September 22nd, 2009
AJ your a Jackass also, at least the Giants wont lose the home opener, with a crappy overated Quarter back, and no Defense, hahahahaha
1:54 pm on September 22nd, 2009
Giants fan:
Learn how to use English.
Jackass.
7:08 pm on September 22nd, 2009
All you jackasses are just jackasses for calling each other jackasses…. To Dallas fans: This is what happens when you have Skeletor running your team, people get screwed, money gets made.
To Giants fans: stop being jackasses because its convenient to your location, and ‘everyone else is doing it’. If anything you should pitty the Dallas fans, after all… Dallas sucks donkey balls
2:16 pm on September 23rd, 2009
Brooks you owe me a night with Wendy, for getting these fans pumped up!!!! Time to get packed, Giants Road Crew heading to Tampa, to crush the Bucs sunday!!!
Go Blue