Should the Dallas Cowboys Go Socialist?

Cowboys fans no doubt had high hopes that something would come of that White House petition to remove Jerry Jones as owner of the Cowboys. Alas, the White House removed the petition from its web site, claiming it was because it had nothing to do with the operation of the federal government but really trying to help assure a victory by the Redskins on Thanksgiving by keeping Jerry in charge.

Over at the Texas Monthly today, Joe Nick Patoski, who literally wrote the book on the Cowboys, offers a backup plan: “[G[o socialist, Jerry!”

What Patoski means is that Jones should take a lesson from the Green Bay Packers, which is the only community-owned team in the NFL, with some 300,000 shareholders.

Why would the NFL’s most ruthless capitalist embrace that model? Because then Jerry Jones could finally get what he really wants most–another Super Bowl win.

Think of it: 300,000 Cowboys fans, in Texas and around the world, willing to pony up $10,000 apiece (a pittance compared to the personal seat licenses fans pay to dib a prime viewing seat at Cowboys Stadium, much less a luxury box) to call themselves part-owners. That’s $3 billion more for Jerry. He also gets to keep the stadium receipts (like all that pizza money).

Patoski doesn’t go into great detail about logistics, but in Green Bay, shareholders elect a 45-member board of directors, which then elects a seven-member executive committee that actually governs the team.

In the Cowboys’ case, it’s safe to say that any elected board would fire Jerry Jones as general manager, as Jones himself has said he deserves. That would be a wonderful thing for the Cowboys. It’s also one of many, many reasons Jones would never consider selling the Cowboys to shareholders.