IRVING, Texas -- The NFL realignment plan that takes Arizona
out of the NFC East hurts the Dallas Cowboys more than any other
team in the division.
After all, it practically costs the Cowboys a home game.
Dallas' annual trip to Sun Devil Stadium has always been played
before a Cowboys-crazed crowd, usually the highest draw the
Cardinals had all season.
The shift was decided Tuesday by NFL owners. Their goal was to
create eight four-team division starting in 2002 when Houston
becomes the 32nd franchise.
Moving the Cardinals made sense geographically because they're
now in Arizona, not St. Louis as they were in 1970 when the league
was last realigned. At least they get to stay in the conference;
Seattle was moved from the AFC to the NFC.
The current alignment continues through this season, so Dallas
will have one last trip to Arizona as a division rival. Expect that
Dec. 23 game to be quite a going-away party.
No NFL team is as warmly received on the road as the Cowboys are
at Sun Devil Stadium, the Cardinals' home since 1988. The stands
practically turn silver and blue when Dallas arrives.
Check out the numbers:
Seven of the Cowboys' 13 visits have yielded the Cardinals'
biggest crowds of the season. Six lured more than 70,000 fans.
Five other times Dallas was Arizona's second-best draw. The
Cowboys were No. 3 only once, in 1990, when they were coming off a
1-15 season.
The Cardinals have sold an average of 65,658 tickets for home
games against Dallas. They've averaged 44,719 for all other games
at Sun Devil Stadium. That's a difference of nearly 21,000.
While the spike in ticket sales mostly benefitted Arizona, the
Cowboys cashed in through merchandise sales -- and wins. Dallas is
8-5 out there and 11-4 against the Cardinals at Texas Stadium since
the team moved to Arizona.
No wonder Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is already talking about
finding a way to continue playing in the desert.
"I believe we need to make it a priority to do everything
possible for the Cowboys to play a game in Tempe as often as
possible for the next 10 to 15 years," Jones said. "Whether it be
in the preseason or doing whatever we can to make it part of the
regular-season schedule, we need to make it happen."
Arizona owner Bill Bidwill appreciated Jones' offer and hopes to
be able to take him up on it.
"I'm very happy that Jerry agreed to do that," Bidwill said.
The Cardinals provided the high point of the Cowboys' season
last year: a 48-7 victory that was Dallas' most lopsided victory
since 1980.
Arizona, which narrowly won an early season meeting, was so
humiliated that it fired its coach the next day. The Cardinals
wound up 3-13, preventing Dallas (5-11) from finishing last in the
division.
Without the Cardinals, the NFC East will have Dallas,
Washington, Philadelphia and the New York Giants.
Jones hinted there was never any chance of the Cowboys being
forced to move.
"It was so important for the Dallas Cowboys, for the networks
and for the league to maintain the traditional rivalries that fans
have grown to enjoy for so many years," he said. "We needed to
keep those rivalries with the Redskins, Giants and Eagles going. It
was very important."
The Cardinals' West division-mates will be St. Louis, San
Francisco and Seattle.
Losing a division foe means the Cowboys will have two more games
against the rest of the NFL. The new scheduling format ensures that
every team meets every other team in the league at least once every
four years.
Cowboys fans in Arizona can hardly wait.
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