Meet the Most Powerful Woman in the NFL

Charlotte Jones Anderson -- the name would suggest that she is Dallas royalty.

Anderson, the daughter of Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, is one of the few women in power in the NFL.

She is the one who has her father's ear.

"All growing up, that was always my role," Anderson said. "I was always the one that could get him to soften and pretty much agree to anything that we might suggest."

Anderson manages the Cowboys' brand, one of the most valuable in all of sports.

She is in charge of crafting the Cowboys' image, reputation and marketability -- everything from T-shirts to the design of Cowboys Stadium.

"Here, you are on a national stage, you're in a sport that is one of the most viewed things by all Americans and you're [one of] the most visible entities in sports. Well, that comes with it a lot of responsibility to use your brand in the right way, to protect it and to leverage it and to really make the most of it," Anderson said.

Sports Connection

Connecting you to your favorite North Texas sports teams as well as sports news around the globe.

Source: Blake Snell, Giants agree to two-year, $62M contract

Lionel Messi out of Argentina's March friendlies in the US due to injury

The Stanford graduate said that being a woman in a man's world has never fazed her.

"My father never saw the gender difference," she said. "He was always quick to be inclusive in any discussion, in any decision."

Anderson is credited with bringing Super Bowl XLV to North Texas.

"I heard all the details about how it went down, how the vote was tough, but it finally swung our way, and I think she was one of the important reasons that it did," Arlington Mayor Robert Cluck said. "She is a very powerful person and can get things done that others perhaps can't."

Even Jerry Jones says his daughter ultimately sealed the deal. But she won't take that credit.

"I don't know. It took a lot of people to get that and to get us there, and I think people don't understand the mystery of that owner's room and what actually happens when it goes to vote," she said.

Now Anderson says she wants another Super Bowl in North Texas.

"It's really too early to tell when we will get another shot at it, but I know we will," she said.

Anderson broke another gender barrier recently, becoming the first female National Advisory Board Chair for the Salvation Army, a charity she and the Cowboys have supported for 15 years.

"We have been blessed beyond what we deserve, and if you can give back in any way, then you need to find a way to do it," she said.

Anderson shrugs when asked if she will one day run the Cowboys when her father steps aside.

"I tell you what -- our whole family is so involved," she said. "My mother is so involved. Obviously, my brothers are -- everyone knows that. Now coming up, hopefully our kids will be involved. The point is, this is a family business, and there is something for everybody in it."

Anderson is the mother of three -- Haley, Shy and Paxton.

"They love what I do, they love that I'm involved and, hopefully, I've set an example that they will be interested in following," she said.

Her oldest, Haley, already helps out with some of the Dallas Cowboys cheerleader events.

Whether Anderson will run her father's $2 billion empire remains to be seen. But she said she is just getting started.

"You know, at some point you try to figure out why you're here and what you're supposed to do with what you have," she said. "I don't know, it's hard to make a projection of five years. Maybe another Super Bowl ring?"

Contact Us