Cowboys stadium officials hope to recruit top talents for concert series next year

Mr. Jones said he hopes the Cowboys' reputation, matched with a world-class stadium, will help attract talent. But ultimately, it will still be a business deal, he said.

And that could require a guaranteed payday of millions for each headliner, Mr. Apregan said.

"If the objective is to book superstar talent in a very consolidated window of time, chances are you are going to have to pay artists premium dollars," he said.

Mr. Apregan said he's heard rumors about different acts that will be on the road in the summer of 2009, but he didn't want to speculate about which one might be true. He said the performers who have the ability to play stadium shows include Madonna, Kenny Chesney, Jimmy Buffett, Billy Joel and Bruce Springsteen.

Mr. Apregan also said the Cowboys could assemble a lineup of small acts, but there is a risk to that.

"There are different combinations of talents where you can take artist one plus artist one plus artist one and still not have that add up to be three," Mr. Apregan said. "The flip side is there might be a combination where one plus one plus one makes 10."

Mr. Lefsetz said there are some obvious lineups that could be winners for Mr. Jones.

He said a night anchored by Metallica and several other popular hard-rock bands could sell out the stadium. Another no-brainer, he said, would be teaming Miley Cyrus, the Jonas Brothers and other tween stars.

Mr. Lefsetz said it would also make sense to pursue rock legends like Tom Petty, Prince or Eric Clapton.

Mr. Jones wouldn't reveal his dream lineups. "There's whole lot of them," he said.

"There is a lot to be said for a venue that is new, that wants to make a big statement," Mr. Apregan said. "I have no doubt that they [the Cowboys] will make a splash in some way."

Still, it might be hard for the Cowboys to top the consistent drawing power of the person who filled Texas Stadium for the first time back in 1971 to inaugurate that venue.

The big stadium draw that year was evangelist Billy Graham -- and the tickets were free.

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