The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team in the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference (NFC) in the National Football League (NFL). They are based in the Dallas suburb of Irving, Texas. The team currently plays their home games at Texas Stadium in Irving, but they are scheduled to move to a new stadium in nearby Arlington in 2009. The Cowboys joined the NFL as a 1960 expansion team. The team's national following might best be represented by its NFL record of consecutive games in front of sold out stadiums. The Cowboys' streak of 160 sold-out regular and post-season games began in 1990, and included 79 straight sellouts at their home, Texas Stadium, and 81 straight sell-outs on the road.
An article on Forbes Magazine's website, published September 13, 2007, lists the Cowboys as the most valuable sports team in the world, with an estimated value of approximately $1.5 billion, ahead of the Washington Redskins ($1.467 billion) and the New England Patriots ($1.199 billion). They are also one of the wealthiest teams in the NFL, generating almost $250 million in annual revenue.
The Cowboys are the most successful team of the modern era (since 1960). They have won 5 Super Bowls and 8 Conference Championships. The Cowboys have more victories (40) on Monday Night Football than any other NFL team; the Miami Dolphins are 2nd with 39 and the San Francisco 49ers are 3rd with 38. They hold NFL records for the most consecutive winning seasons (20, from 1966 to 1985) and most seasons with at least 10 wins (24). The team has earned the most postseason appearances (28, which includes another league record of 55 postseason games, winning 32 of them), the most appearances in the NFC Championship Game (14), and the most Super Bowl appearances (8), two more than any other NFL team. The Cowboys also played in 2 NFL championship games before the NFL's 1970 merger with the American Football League. The Cowboys became the first team in NFL history to win 3 Super Bowls in just 4 years (a feat that has been matched only once since, by the New England Patriots). They are also tied with the San Francisco 49ers and the Pittsburgh Steelers for having the most Super Bowl wins (5). The Cowboys' success and popularity has earned them the nickname "America's Team".
