When the topic of selling an ownership stake came up, Stephen Jones didn’t shut it down the way his father, Jerry Jones, usually has. With the NFL now allowing teams to sell up to 10% to approved private equity firms, and the Dallas Cowboys valued at nearly $13 billion, the younger Jones approached the thought with a balanced perspective.

“We wouldn’t rule it out, but we’d also be very particular about who we would bring in as a partner in terms of that,” team Executive Vice President Stephen Jones said on 105.3 The Fan. “But yes, it was designed when we passed that rule that you could have private equity involved in the NFL, and you could have minority partners.

“It made sense for a lot of different reasons. And every owner who chooses to go that path can speak for themselves in terms of why they’re doing it, but I think it’s a great tool. I think it makes the league stronger, personally. Certainly, it’s not something that we would ever totally rule out, but I wouldn’t say anything is on the front burner, either.”

The Cowboys aren’t just America’s Team, they’re pretty much the Jones family’s team too. Jerry Jones bought the franchise nearly 40 years ago for $150 million, and is now worth $13 billion, per Forbes. There sure would be some very interested candidates should Dallas green light this idea.

In 2024, the NFL gave teams, minus the publicly owned Packers, the all-okay to sell up to 10 percent of their franchise to private equity investors. So naturally, reporters turned to Jerry Jones and asked the obvious question. Would he consider cashing in a slice of the Cowboys empire? His answer was classic Jerry.

“I’m not trying to be evasive in any way,” Jones said in 2024. “But, yes, the correct statement is I’m not looking to do it. I don’t want to foreclose anything as far as the future is concerned. But we have not been in that kind of . . . thought.”

Weirdly enough, Jones was actually a big believer in private equity for NFL teams before it became a thing. He’d claimed that it would make the NFL “better” and increase “financial viability.”

Fast forward to now, and it looks like that door hasn’t just stayed open; it’s swung open even further. It’s a pretty big shift from the usual company line the Joneses have stuck to for years.

Today, private equity is no longer quiet in the NFL. The New York Giants sold a minority stake to Julia Koch and her family; Ares Management has a 10% stake in the Miami Dolphins; and Arctos Partners is a minority partner in the Buffalo Bills and Los Angeles Chargers.