The same request Cowboys players had been making for years became a reality, but not exactly for them. The home of the Dallas Cowboys, AT&T Stadium, has frequently faced scrutiny due to a design flaw through which sunlight streams directly through the venue’s massive glass windows, compromising the players’ vision. However, for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the facility has undergone necessary changes to prevent that.

The AT&T Stadium, temporarily rebranded to Dallas Stadium, is scheduled to host nine tournament matches of the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Out of them, four fixtures have already gone down at the Texas facility. But for last night’s match between Japan and Sweden, there were special arrangements. FIFA explicitly ordered stadium operators to draw the large, built-in blackout curtains for the group F match on June 25.

And the reason behind that move was the timing of the match, which kicked off at 6:00 PM local time. With sunset not occurring until 8:40 PM, the low, blinding evening sun would have beamed straight onto the pitch during the second half of the game. Hence, FIFA deemed it necessary for the players to have a level playing field for the competing nations.

This was the first time that the curtains blocking the sunlight were visible for any sporting event. In fact, moving forward, the FIFA officials will keep the curtains on standby for the remaining Dallas matches, ready to deploy them if weather patterns or cloud cover change unexpectedly.

However, these changes now bring conversations around the Cowboys stakeholders’ responsibility towards their players.  In NFL games, Dallas players have often voiced their frustration with the sunlight glare that becomes a part of late-afternoon games. Former Cowboys WR Dez Bryant blamed the sunlight for their missed catches in games.

“The sun really is that big a deal,” Bryant said to reporters in 2017. “I was going across as I was going up. The ball caught the light, and I lost it a little bit. I told coach, ‘Hey man there’s nothing I can do about that one.’ These fans can go to hell today.”

Despite that, owner Jerry Jones has yet to address the matter practically. Whenever the questions were raised, Jones claimed that because the Cowboys “know where the damn sun is going to be,” they can use it to their advantage when choosing a side of the field after the pre-game coin flip.

Now, after FIFA took necessary steps to avoid any negative impacts on their games in the Dallas Stadium, the spotlight again falls on Jones and his intentions towards addressing the Dallas players’ displeasure with the facility’s sunlight problem.

Fans raise voices against Jerry Jones after the Dallas Stadium infrastructure change

The fans quickly took notice of the changes during the Japan vs. Sweden match last night. Watching that, the netizens didn’t shy away from raising questions to Jerry Jones.

One user in particular issued concerns around Jones’ intention behind not tackling the sunlight glare at the Dallas Stadium. “Is it the blocking of the annoying glare that is usually seen at Cowboys games? If FIFA can pay to do that, why can’t Jerry???” the fan wrote.

But the Jerry Jones-owned facility always had those curtains to block the annoying sunlight glare. Yet, he never dropped those curtains for a Cowboys game. And that fumed the fans. “Then Jerry Jones closes the curtains for the World Cup but not his DALLAS COWBOYS!?” a user commented.

Then another fan made a simple request to Jones to sort the issue. Their argument mainly lies around: If FIFA officials can, why can’t the Cowboys stakeholders? “For the love of God, Jerry better keep those up,” a netizen wrote.

However, amid that, there were uproars as well, directly poking fun at the Cowboys’ owner. “Curtains in one and tint in the other. Thanks, Jerry. I mean.. thanks Gianni, Jerry can’t take care of his house,” a fan commented.

So, overall, the fans are visibly disappointed with the way Jones handles the issue around the sunlight glare at the AT&T Stadium. On that note, it will be interesting to see if Jones will be moved towards making the changes for the upcoming season.