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For the past 17 seasons, the Dallas Cowboys have played their home games at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
The venue, best known for its massive video board hanging above the 50-yard line, has been temporarily renamed Dallas Stadium as it hosts several World Cup games.
End zones, yard markers and artificial turf disappear inside the retractable-roof stadium during football games. But one change caught the attention of Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer: curtains were installed to prevent the infamous sunlight from flooding the natural grass field.
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Dallas Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer watches before the game against the Denver Broncos at Empower Field at Mile High in Denver, Colorado, on October 26, 2025. (Ron Chenoy/Image Images)
“I’m a big…actually a World Cup guy. I watch a lot of games. It’s been great for me. I’ve been at The Star watching the viewing parties and things that people have had. It seems like they had their blinders up…the curtains,” Schottenheimer told reporters during a news conference earlier this week.
“So it’s majestic when we play our games. The grass and the shadows are not as majestic. They’re going to miss the experience.”
Sunlight shines through the windows of AT&T Stadium during the game between the Dallas Cowboys and the New York Giants in Arlington, Texas, on October 10, 2021. (Richard RodrÃguez/Getty Images)
Glaring natural light has been a recurring problem since the Cowboys moved into their billion-dollar home in 2009.
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During a 2017 game against the Kansas City Chiefs, then-Cowboys receivers Dez Bryant and Brice Butler blamed sun glare for missed sacks. A few years later, in a 2021 playoff game against the San Francisco 49ers, receiver Cedrick Wilson never seemed able to see a pass thrown his way. The following year, Michael Gallup failed to complete what would have been a touchdown, again likely due to glare.
Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith throws a pass during the NFL game against the Dallas Cowboys at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on Nov. 5, 2017. (Matthew Visinsky/Icon Sportswire)
Schottenheimer also weighed in on the topic early in his first season as Cowboys head coach, sarcastically calling the sunlight streaming through AT&T Stadium “majestic.”
“Well, I’ve been here for a while and I heard about it,” Schottenheimer said in October 2025 via the Associated Press.
“Hey, look, if you could see the process and the plan we have to solve it. We have satellite images. We have images of the sun, when it sets. There is a great plan and process. But I think when you look historically at what happened, it really hasn’t affected many situations. We planned it. The opponents planned it. But at the end of the day, it’s something we are aware of. It’s very beautiful. It’s majestic when the sun goes over there.”
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AT&T Stadium hosted its first World Cup match on June 14, when the Netherlands and Japan tied 1-1. The NFL headquarters, better known as “Jerry World” in a nod to former Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, hosted its second game of the tournament on Wednesday, when England defeated Croatia 4-2.
The curtain was raised on both games. They are expected to return on June 22, when Lionel Messi and reigning World Cup champions Argentina take on Austria.
