Well, they got the Super Bowl, but supposedly it was by a very slim margin. Even though the vote is secret ballot, Colts owner Jim Irsay spilled the beans.
Mr. Jones declined to discuss the voting, beyond saying that it went to the maximum fourth ballot. (On the first three ballots, the votes of three-fourths of the owners are needed. After that, it becomes a simple-majority contest between the two top contenders.)
Jim Irsay, owner of the Colts, said he was told the final vote was 17-15 in favor of North Texas.
Sounds like it was a very contentious vote. Was it the big-market, high-profile owners vs. the smaller-market, lower-profile crowd? I’d love to see the actual vote break down by owner.
Mickey says its all about the money.
But, on top of that, because of the outdoor plazas being built beyond the retractable doors at each end of the stadium, Jones points out another 20,000 ticketed fans watching on huge outdoor viewing screens can become a part of the Super Bowl game-day experience. Add it up, that's 120,000 people, which, depending how the attendance is counted, could obliterate the Super Bowl record crowd of 103,985, set at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif., for Pittsburgh's Super Bowl XIV win over the then Los Angeles Rams in 1980.
That's a whole lot of revenue when it comes down to ticket sales, and it's been estimated a Super Bowl played to capacity at the Cowboys' new stadium would generate $23 million more for the NFL than either of the other two sites. After all, money counts, and these NFL owners didn't come into their fortunes by making bad business decisions when it comes to generating revenue.