Jerry Jones Praises Cowboys for Being Leaders in Attendance amid COVID-19

The Dallas Cowboys lead the league in attendance amid the COVID-19 pandemic, which has caused all 32 NFL teams to limit fans or ban them entirely from stadiums on game days. 

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones spoke about his team's leading attendance figures in an interview on 105.3 The Fan on Friday, per Michael Gehlken of the Dallas Morning News.

"We lead the country. I'm not sure we don't lead the world—that's a big statement; let's not go that far because I don't know—in attendance for our ballgames," Jones said. "We're leading everyone."

Jones also cited the stadium's air circulation amid the COVID-19 pandemic, per Gehlken: "We have air circulation in that facility that's three or four times the standards of operating rooms."

The owner previously spoke about his stadium's air in an interview with 105.3 The Fan in August, per Mark Lane of Texans Wire and WFAA Sports:

The Cowboys welcomed 31,700 people into AT&T Stadium for their 24-19 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday. They have averaged 25,750 fans for five home games, or over 10,000 more than the Jacksonville Jaguars, who are second in average home attendance at 15,211.

Jones' Cowboys don't lead the world in attendance in the COVID-19 era: Of note, over 46,000 fans went to Auckland, New Zealand's Eden Park on Oct. 18 to watch New Zealand beat Australia in the Bledisloe Cup, a rugby union competition between the two countries.

However, New Zealand has only 53 active COVID-19 cases in a country with a population of roughly five million, per the country's ministry of health. Meanwhile, the United States had its worst day yet during the COVID-19 pandemic on Thursday in terms of the number of cases and hospitalizations, per the COVID Tracking Project:

In addition, Texas became the first state to surpass 1 million COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, per Paul J. Weber and Jim Vertuno of the Associated Press.

Dallas did institute a Safe Stadium Policy in August that includes various attendance restrictions and protocols that all fans must follow on game day, including mask-wearing, seating in "pods," mobile-only ticketing and card-only purchasing, among other items.

The Cowboys are scheduled to host three more regular-season games this season beginning with a matchup against the Washington Football Team on Thanksgiving Day (Thursday, Nov. 26).