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The glare through the windows at AT&T Stadium has been a fairly hot topic of discussion over the years thanks to the impact it’s had on games and Jerry Jones’ refusal to address it. However, FIFA will not be taking any chances when the World Cup arrives in Dallas.
In 2009, the Dallas Cowboys traded their longtime home of Texas Stadium for what is currently known as AT&T Stadium, the $1.2 billion venue that was primarily funded by Jerry Jones.
The billionaire owner had his fingerprints all over the design of that massive football cathedral, which boasts one of the biggest scoreboards in the world and a massive wall of windows that overlook the end zone that’s situated on its western end.
However, the decision to orient the stadium that way has led to issues on the field during games. Humans have known the sun sets in the west for thousands of years, and that did not change upon the construction of “The House That Jerry Built,” which has led to glare impacting play on multiple occasions.
In 2024, CeeDee Lamb blamed the sunlight after dropping a wide-open touchdown pass, and Jones stubbornly brushed aside the suggestions that curtains should be installed to prevent similar mishaps from unfolding. However, he doesn’t have any say in how things are handled when the building hosts the World Cup.
FIFA will install the curtains that Jerry Jones refuses to hang up at AT&T Stadium for the World Cup
AT&T Stadium will be known as “Dallas Stadium” during the World Cup and will host nine games—five in the group stage, two in the round of 32, another in the round of 16, and one of the semifinals—over the course of the tournament.
That includes the Group F showdown between Japan and Sweden that will get underway at 6 P.M. CDT on June 25th, which means the sun has some serious potential to interfere with the proceedings.
However, Front Office Sports reports FIFA will be doing what Jones refuses to by harnessing curtains to block any glare. That is currently the only game where that strategy will be deployed (the rest of the contests are scheduled for later in the day), but a spokesperson noted, “The venue team will remain vigilant and assess whether the curtains will be needed for any other matches.”
This isn’t the only way FIFA will be addressing an issue that has had a negative impact on NFL games, as natural turf has also been installed at every stadium that usually boasts the artificial surfaces that have been linked to injuries.