You just can’t ever count Jerry Jones out. The latest case in point: Jones’ supposed reaction to the NFL’s suggestion that Super Bowl XLV will not be setting a Super Bowl attendance record, despite Cowboys Stadium’s 100,000-plus capacity. Breaking the record–held by Pasadena’s Rose Bowl, which hosted 103,985 for Super Bowl XIV–is one of Jones’ aims for the Feb. 6 game, according to Bill Lively, president and CEO of the North Texas Super Bowl Host Committee.
The Dallas Cowboys owner has been negotiating with the city of Arlington about ways to burst past the agreed-upon 93,221 attendees, plus 5,000 or so press types, OK’d by the league, Lively says. One way Jones is proposing to do it would be adding an “end-zone, tailgate-type event right next to” the stadium, with fans watching the game from there on high-definition TVs. Another option would have additional fans packed into the various stadium clubs, where, again, they could only see the game on TV. These schemes would somehow add an extra 8,000 to 10,000 fans to the official count, Lively says, giving Cowboys Stadium the all-time Super Bowl attendance record.
