Let’s go ahead and clear something up.
No matter what the internet might try to convince you of, "America’s Team'' is still the Dallas Cowboys.
The Kansas City Chiefs are everything a franchise should aspire to be right now. They win at the highest level. They’ve built something special with Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce, and Andy Reid. And the added attention that came with Taylor Swift’s presence was a marketing dream for the league.
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But let’s keep this conversation grounded in reality.
The Cowboys didn’t become "America’s Team'' because of who was in their luxury box. They became "America’s Team'' because their star logo is instantly recognizable across the globe — across eras, generations, and yes, even win-loss records.
It was NFL Films in the late-70's that recognized this. They coined the phrase. It stuck.
It still sticks.
The Cowboys went 7–10 last year and still averaged more viewers per game than almost anyone else in football. Still packed prime-time slots. Still sold merch. Still owned headlines. And they did it without a global pop star helping to boost the signal.
The Thanksgiving Day matchup last year featuring the Cowboys and Giants? 38.8 million viewers, peaking at 41.3 million — the most-watched NFL game of the entire regular season. Even despite it featuring two teams with losing records.
Despite a 7–10 record, the Cowboys still averaged 23.14 million viewers per game, tying them for the third-highest in the league alongside the Ravens. For context? The NFL’s overall average viewership was about 17 million per game. The Cowboys were pulling about 6–8 million more viewers per game — even in what fans would call a “down year.”
So the conversation around who "America's Team" starts and stops there. ... in part because as our Mike Fisher notes, the nickname isn't transferrable. It doesn't move from team to team on an annual basis depending on who wins.
That's what the Lombardi Trophy is for.
And the name Taylor Swift has nothing to do with it ... unless she shows up at this year's Chiefs-at-Cowboys Thanksgiving game, which will allow both franchises to bask in her glow.
Another twist: The Cowboys aren’t just "America’s Team.'' They’re America’s favorite team to hate.
When your fan base is as massive as Dallas’s, it naturally comes with more noise, more bad apples, more loud takes. And when there are more loud Cowboys fans, there are more people eager to root against them. Which means the national media happily feeds that fire. Because it sells.
Love them or hate them — people still tune in. And that’s what all of this boils down to anyway, isn’t it?
Ratings.
And in that department, over the course of decades, are still on top.
Case closed.