Today, it doesn’t take a failing Dallas Cowboys game to boo Jerry Jones. 

The longtime team owner was booed during the FIFA World Cup semifinal match between France and Spain. FOX surprisingly switched out the video footage during those instances with that of FIFA president Gianni Infantino, but the commentators noted that the boos were directed at Jones.

This is the first time Jones has attended a World Cup game this season. And, the semifinal was also the last to be held in the AT&T. Getting booed in these circumstances doesn’t make for a good look for Jones.

The Cowboys’ owner usually gets what he wants. But this time, FIFA did not let him have his say. Per World Cup rules, since the international body gets to call all the shots, FIFA had control over the stadium. That meant drawing the curtains to block the sunlight entering from the West-facing windows, a problem the Cowboys have long complained about.

Per FOX, Jones also had to give up the family VIP suite in the stadium for other VIPs. He was instead sitting in the Silver Level. 

“That was tough,” Chad Estis, Cowboys’ EVP of business operations, told The Athletic. “When we were told that might happen, we were like, ‘Wow, OK’.” 

Estis told the publication before the match that Jones was excited about attending the match. Unfortunately, that claim did not age well.

However, Jones seems to have developed a thick skin.

Jerry Jones has been booed before at the AT&T

Jerry Jones is not new to getting booed. He got this treatment once in 2014, during the NBA Championship’s Final Four clash. Nearly 80,000 people loudly voiced their discontent with the Cowboys’ owner attending the game.

In 2025, Jones was booed during the Cotton Bowl between the Texas Longhorns and the Ohio State Buckeyes. NBC’s Nicole Auerbach shared on X that the crew was showing every celebrity who was in attendance, and fans were cheering for them. However, when it came to Jones, fans booed “very loudly.”

There are reasons why fans don’t like Jerry Jones

Jones is perceived by many as someone who doesn’t care about the team enough and wants to put his foot down at all times. For example, multiple Cowboys players have complained about the sun getting in their eyes because of the window. When Jones was asked about it in 2024, he just said:

“By the way, we know where the sun is going to be when we flip the coin, so we do know where the damn sun is going to be in our own stadium. Let’s just tear the damn stadium down and build another one. Are you kidding me?”

Jones is also infamous for causing players to launch holdouts against the team. Not many are on his side after the Cowboys had to trade away Micah Parsons, who wanted to play for Dallas forever. The result was as predicted: the Cowboys were among the worst in pass rushing, tallying only 35 sacks (tied with four other teams for the fifth-lowest total last season).

In the NFLPA team grades released in February this year, the Dallas Cowboys scored a B in General Manager and team ownership.

Players like George Pickens and Dak Prescott also hit roadblocks during their stints with Dallas. Many have fired shots at Jones for not giving the Pickens an extension this year, who was one of the best WRs of last year. Prescott’s current extension was signed the day before the 2024 season began.

Plus, it’s been some time since the Cowboys have been commandingly successful in the league. They haven’t been to the Super Bowl since the 1996 season and have lost 13 of the last 18 playoff games.

By now, this is a team that would otherwise have been written off the face of the NFL: take the Cleveland Browns or the New York Jets, for example. But the Cowboys and their Lone Star have somehow still prevailed as one of the NFL’s best-known franchises.