TV Networks Confirm Cowboys As 'America's Team'

FRISCO - Through the years, several NFL teams have made a run at "America's Team." During their six-championship dynasty the New England Patriots tried to yank the prestigious moniker away from the Dallas Cowboys. The Kansas City Chiefs and even the Philadelphia Eagles have also given themselves the label.

But despite not appearing in a Super Bowl in almost 30 years, the Cowboys remain the league's most popular and polarizing team. Just ask the TV networks.

Coming off a disastrous 7-10 season, they will play eight "spotlight" games in 2025. Among those - meaning they will be the only game at the time - six will come in prime time. The first of those comes in the NFL's Kickoff Game against the Eagles on Sept. 4.

Only the Chiefs - who have played in the last three Super Bowls - have more primetime games with seven.

The Cowboys' proliferation of night games - including four on Thursdays - leaves network like FOX with holes to fill. Dallas was once their go-to team for the most-watched 3:35 Sunday afternoon game.

"Sometimes we’ve heard exasperation from fans that the Fox 3:25 game is always the Cowboys," FOX executive Michael Mulvihill said in an interview with The Athletic last week. "It’s still gonna be the Cowboys sometimes this year, but you’ll see a little bit more variety in terms of top teams in late ."

The Cowboys play only three Sunday 3:25 p.m. games on FOX.

“In other years, we’ve gone looking for five or six Dallas games at 3:25," Mulvihill said. "What we wanted for this year was more AFC, more Philly, but also more Detroit and a little more Washington to try to capitalize on the Jayden Daniels' story. I think we have a better mix of teams than we’ve had in the past."