Dallas Cowboys training camp attendance will be interesting to watch this year.
Attendance at training camp last year caused a stir last year. You may have forgotten, but shortly after the Dallas Cowboys began work in Oxnard last summer there were all sorts of takeaways and things said about the attendance to watch them. More specifically, it was about the lack of attendance.
We are not gathered here today to re-litigate the way that this front office went about business last year because we have said it all many times and saw their brilliance on display in embarrassing fashion. There is zero doubt that their approach has been different this year and vibes around the proverbial water cooler are a bit more positive these days.
But “vibes” were definitely off last year and that really showed. In a recent story for The Dallas Morning News, Joe Hoyt uncovered the exact attendance number for the team’s training camp in Oxnard last year (the Cowboys just renewed their agreement with Oxnard and will continue to train there through 2030 by the way). It was a meager 24,500 and for some added context Joe added the 2017 number which was north of 55,000.
One note in the story: we discovered, via the City of Oxnard, that last year’s Cowboys training camp attendance was approximately 24,500 over 17 practices.
For perspective: in 2017, the Cowboys had over 55,000 people attend training camp. https://t.co/DVStS0nRT1
— Joseph Hoyt (@JoeJHoyt) July 10, 2025
It stands to reason, based on the vibes that we discussed a moment ago, that attendance will be higher this year. The Cowboys “actually tried” (to lump everything in a small phrase) this offseason and capped it all off by trading for George Pickens. Energy is around. Heck, energy exists. Those are serious steps forward from this time a year ago.
Seeing these numbers together was quite eye-opening, though. For a little bit more perspective we pulled a story from 2018 here at BTB where we discussed training camp numbers being low relative to the previous season (the one Hoyt mentioned in 2017). Rounding up a bit, the Cowboys had 39,000 people attend the Oxnard portion of training camp in 2018.
If you read our 2018 article we noted that part of the reason for this could be the “vibes” (to continue along these lines). Consider that at training camp in 2017 the Cowboys were coming off of a season in which they won 13 games, were the top seed in the conference and had this serious new nucleus of talent in Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott. A year later in 2018 they had just disappointed severely and morale was low, similar to how things were a year ago for the club.
Nobody prioritizes leading the NFL in training camp attendance. But it is difficult to discern the exact catalyst for the change in disposition from the Cowboys as far as last year relative to this one. In a world of infinite possibilities, you could suggest the team saw how people reacted to their methods and changed them up. Obviously there are a number of other possibilities here.
The Cowboys report to Oxnard in under two weeks so we will see soon enough just how many people are willing to sit under the sun to watch them practice. It won’t be hard to beat last year’s numbers so they likely will, but it will also be worth monitoring to see if the front office addresses attendance as a subject overall. You may have forgotten that when the team was pressed about fan apathy during their opening press conference at camp last year, they boasted about how they had the fastest season ticket renewal rate that they had ever experienced.
Again, these things do not matter in terms of the ultimate goal. But they matter to somebody and that somebody may be the one who has a serious say towards the ultimate goal.
We will be watching.
