Jones May Face Suit Over Cowboy Deals

The next step for the NFL in its escalating marketing battle with Dallas Cowboy owner Jerry Jones could be a lawsuit, according to Denver Bronco owner Pat Bowlen.

“What you are headed for is a substantial lawsuit,” Bowlen said. “It’s sad, but that is the direction that this thing is going. The league cannot stand passively by and watch Jerry pick at revenue sharing.

“This is a major, major issue. The Raiders’ move to Oakland is minor compared to this issue.”

Most of the league’s owners are furious at Jones for signing lucrative agreements with both Pepsi and, most recently, Nike, to sponsor his team.

The money Jones earns from these deals, more than $10 million total, goes directly into his pocket because the contracts fall outside the league’s revenue-sharing agreement, in which all teams share equally in money from a select group of endorsements.

The practice of sharing more than 95% of all revenues is considered the cornerstone of the league’s success.

In recent days, Jones has been compared to a “heroin addict” by San Francisco 49er owner Eddie DeBartolo and characterized as selfish by Wellington Mara of the New York Giants, the league’s senior owner.

Bowlen is the first to mention a lawsuit.

“I love my colleagues, but we don’t all wear the same shoes,” Jones said. “I don’t know if anybody put as much on the line [$140 million] in cash for their team. I know how imaginative you can get when you wake up every morning with that much on the table.”

Even players are taking shots at Jones.

Brett Favre, the Green Bay Packers’ quarterback, was asked Wednesday about Jones’ sideline scene on Monday night at the Meadowlands, where he celebrated his Nike deal by introducing his celebrity friends to players during the game.

“[Jones] tries to make it a circus; that’s not what it is,” Favre said. “Most people in the football world laugh at him. He’s a silly man with a lot of money.”