Financial field of dreams

Jerry Jones now owns second most valuable sports empire in the world, says Forbes

Jerry Jones has a new world title.

Photo courtesy of Dallas Cowboys

The Philadelphia Eagles lassoed the Dallas Cowboys on December 22, putting a playoff appearance — and a championship title — farther out of reach for Dallas and further jeopardizing the job of head coach Jason Garrett.

Of course, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones expressed disappointment about the 17-9 loss to Philly. But he could hardly be disappointed about a title he did win recently. On December 18, four days before Dallas’ dismal performance in Philadelphia, Forbes magazine crowned Jonesthe head of the world’s second most valuable sports conglomerate.

Forbes pegs the value of Jones’ sports kingdom at $6.9 billion. To put that into context, the size of the economy of the European nation of Monaco is a little over $6 billion. As of December 23, Forbes estimated Jones’ net worth at $8.5 billion.

The Cowboys franchise — the world’s most valuable sports team — accounts for $5.5 billion of Jones’ empire, according to Forbes. When Forbes christened the Cowboys the world’s most valuable sports franchise in July 2019, it estimated the team was worth $5 billion.

“Jones has capitalized on the insatiable appetite for all things Cowboys,” Forbes declared last summer.

Jones bought the ’Boys in 1989 for a paltry $140 million.

“Even though he was wealthy by any measure at the time, Jones put his entire fortune into the Cowboys with little margin for error. … The Cowboys have returned the favor, putting billions into Jones’s pocket,” the Investopedia investment website noted in June 2019. “On a landscape where many sports team owners make their fortunes elsewhere and then treat their team as something of a toy, Jones is the rare owner who generates enormous cash flow from the team itself.”

Elsewhere in the sports arena, Jones owns more than one-third of the Legends hospitality and merchandising company, Forbes points out. In addition, Jones reaps sports-related revenue from The Star in Frisco, a 91-acre, mixed-use development whose occupants include the Cowboys’ headquarters and practice facility, restaurants, stores, and a hotel. Furthermore, Jones is majority owner of Complexity Gaming, an esports organization.

The sports industry isn’t Jones’ only source of wealth. He’s a longtime player in the oil and gas business. In 2018, he acquired a majority stake in Frisco-based oil and gas company Comstock Resources Inc. So far, Jones has invested $1.1 billion in Comstock.

By the way, another Texas billionaire leads what Forbes tags as the world’s most valuable sports enterprise, worth an estimated $8.4 billion. Stan Kroenke, who lives on an expansive ranch in West Texas, owns the NFL’s Los Angeles Rams, NBA’s Colorado Nuggets, NHL’s Colorado Avalanche, Major League Soccer’s Colorado Rapids, Premiere League’s Arsenal soccer club, and other sports holdings.

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Crime News

Dallas leaders launch initiative to ensure downtown is a safe place

Photo by Bryan Dickerson on Unsplash

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The City of Dallas and a group of public and private sector leaders led by Downtown Dallas, Inc. (DDI), and the Dallas Citizens Council have launched Safe in the City, a campaign to improve public safety and address homelessness solutions in downtown Dallas.

According to a release, the work was commissioned by DallasNews Corporation Chief Executive Officer and publisher of Dallas Morning News Grant Moise and is based largely on a Boston Consulting Group (BCG) analysis conducted in 2024.

That work organized a group of business and civic leaders and public officials to address challenges with public safety, homelessness, and vibrancy and economic development.

“My goal was to pull a group of people together who had the collective resources and passion to ensure that we put downtown on a better trajectory to ultimately make it as safe and vibrant as we all want it to be,” says Moise in a statement. “With the right leadership in the room, we immediately got to work devising and implementing an action plan.”

The BCG report recommended six measures to ensure safety and security long term, which the Safe in the City campaign combines into three categories: Visible presence, visible interest, and vibrant downtown.

The measures include:

Increased policing and presence: Surveillance cameras and other technological infrastructure will be expanded for proactive crime detection and deterrence.
Increased coordination among police and security entities: All police and security personnel will have access to a shared communication channel to improve incident response and coordination.
Continue push for rehousing:
Expand Downtown Community Court
“De-magnetize” hotspots
Address needs associated with re-entry of formerly incarcerated individuals.

The initiative is in response to public safety and homelessness challenges post-pandemic, and concerns from residents and businesses. Coalition leaders stressed that work has been underway for nearly a year, leading to decreases in crime, and an “effective end” to street homelessness downtown.

“Over the past 15 months, business, civic, and nonprofit leaders were joined by police and security officials to study our challenges and come up with a series of sustainable solutions,” says DDI President & CEO Jennifer Scripps in a statement. “Thanks to our partnership with Dallas City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert and the Dallas Police Department, we are reporting a 29 percent decrease in overall crime in Downtown this year to date, as well as substantial decreases in quality-of-life reports that the DDI security, homeless outreach, and clean teams address.”

According to BCG projections, full implementation of the six-pronged strategy could yield over $4 billion in incremental property value and generate hundreds of millions in incremental tax revenues.

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