If there’s one thing we know about Jerry Jones, it’s that he loves Jerry World. After all, twenty years ago, Jones commissioned the stadium that would be the home for the Cowboys. And he’s turned up to home games every season, watching the game in his exclusive suite on the 50-yard line. But this weekend, Jones won’t have that same privilege.

As the Dallas Cowboys turn the Maracanã into their home for the weekend, Jones isn’t happy that his team will have to cede the home advantage with a game away from AT&T Stadium. And for a second time this week, Jones is making a lot of sense, especially when it comes to the league’s international plans. 

Jones discussed the issue during his appearance on The K&C Masterpiece with 105.3 The Fan, where he also addressed Dallas’ international plans. The Cowboys are scheduled to face the Ravens at Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro on Sunday, September 27, with Dallas officially listed as the home team. It will be the Cowboys’ first regular-season international game since 2014.

“Well, you pay a price. But that’s the price we’re paying to create and sustain the interest internationally. And that creates a lot of interest in television. That gives us another place to show our games during the Sunday morning of the week. And so all of this is good. I’m in complete agreement with how we’re developing and doing our international games. But I don’t like it when it takes one of your home games away. That’s no good,” Jones said during the interview.

To understand Jones’ perspective, let’s first see how the NFL decides who plays these international games. For starters, each team alternates every year between 9 home games / 8 away games and 8 home games / 9 away games. The NFL usually uses the team with an extra home game as the designated home team in an international game. 

The Cowboys’ Brazil game is exactly that scenario. Dallas has nine scheduled home games in the 2026 regular season, as per the NFL’s 17-game schedule, but its matchup with Baltimore is being played outside the country. The league has made international games a much larger part of its schedule, with a record nine games outside the United States this season across four continents and seven countries.

But that’s not all. This season, the NFL took away the team’s right to protect some home games. Previously, an NFL team could lock in two guaranteed home games to avoid having them moved away, but that’s not the case this season.

That’s why we’re not surprised Jones isn’t happy. The home advantage is too big to lose for any team, especially the Dallas Cowboys. At the AT&T Stadium, that advantage comes in the form of an average noise level of 87 decibels, and it spikes incredibly during plays. When you go against a team like the Baltimore Ravens, that same advantage could come in handy. 

He does not oppose the league taking games overseas, but he clearly sees losing a Cowboys home date as the downside of that plan.

“And so we weren’t going because teams would say, ‘We don’t want our Cowboys game to go on the road. We’ll keep it here, and we’ll do another one, but we don’t want to do the Cowboys game.” That rule changed, and now the other club can’t veto it. So, we’ll be doing more away games,” Jones said.

And it’s not just about losing the home field advantage for Jerry Jones. He has never shied away from appreciating the fans who show up at the AT&T Stadium for the Cowboys’ home games. In fact, during one such home win against the Lions, Jones went as far as to say, “What was the most significant thing about this game was that crowd and the size of that crowd and the dominance of the crowd.” 

But that hasn’t made a difference in the league. The NFL is not backing away from their that push. Owners have approved up to 10 international games per season beyond 2026, while Commissioner Roger Goodell has previously said the league’s long-term target is 16. 

That would give every team the chance to play at least one game outside the United States each season. And if that was the case, we know where Jones would want the Cowboys to play. 

Mexico stands out because of the Cowboys’ established following there. He has previously pushed for Dallas to play in Mexico City, pointing to the team’s fan base and presence in the market. The Cowboys also hold an International Home Marketing Area license in Mexico, giving the organization commercial and marketing rights there.

“So, we’ll be doing more away games. And where we really want to go is Mexico. That really fits for us. It’s great for us. It’s where our core base of fans are. We really believe that we have the highest percentage of Hispanic and Mexican fans in the United States. And every time we go and play in Mexico, it endears us and creates more interest for our fans here in the United States.”

In any case, Jones has already criticized the league’s international plans, particularly about bringing in an international expansion team before the Super Bowl is ever hosted outside the United States. 

“I don’t know that an expansion; I see the games continuing like they are, and I see the ethos, if you will, of the game, the story of the game really expanding all over the world. But fundamentally, I think that to have an expansion team probably is pretty far; if it’s here, it’s in the future,” he said. 

Jerry Jones has seen it all in the nearly four decades he has spent in the NFL. From visiting different countries for international games to seeing NFL Europe’s failure, he knows the troubles the league faces. And this time, he has a point when he highlights the drawbacks of going international.