Presidential elections & the Dallas Cowboys: An Historical Analysis

With training camp set to open on Wednesday, the Dallas Cowboys officially begin their run on a new NFL season. We rarely mix sports and politics around here, but the fact is that we’re also in the run-up to a presidential election too.

So let us dare to beg the question: How do the Cowboys historically fare in a major election year?

If historical trends hold, the answer might not be so good if you have high hopes for the 2024 season.

By The Numbers

Dallas has only won a single championship in a season that also saw a presidential election take place. That came in 1992 when the Cowboys routed the Bills 52-17 in Super Bowl XXVII.

It’s also the only season in which they have won an NFC Championship game.

They did make it to conference title games in 1972 and 1976 but came out on the losing end of both. Dallas is just 3-4 in the divisional rounds of the playoffs.

On a brighter note, they are 2-0 in the wild card round in election years.

As far as winning the NFC East, they’ve only done that five times in an election year. They’ve missed the playoffs in nine of the 16 election seasons since 1960. Dallas’ overall regular season record in the 16 election seasons stands at 132-110-2 (.541).

In the 20th Century, the Cowboys went 85-61-2 (.574) and 7-5 in the playoffs. This century has been less kind to Dallas at 47-49 and 0-1 in the playoffs.

There is a tie that will be broken this year, no matter who wins the election in November. In the last 16 elections since Dallas joined the NFL, the two parties have split the victories evenly at eight apiece.

When a Democrat has emerged victorious, the Cowboys are 63-45-1 in the regular season. They are 4-2 in just three playoff years with the lone Super Bowl title.

When the GOP candidate wins, the Cowboys are 70-65-1 in the regular season.

While they are just 3-4 in the playoffs, without a Super Bowl victory, they have at least made the postseason in six of those eight years.

So, make of it what you will when you step into the voting booth in November.

What It Means For 2024

Let’s get real here. The numbers are fun to play around with, especially in the offseason when not much is happening. When it comes right down to it, the outcome of any election, for President of the United States or otherwise, plays no direct role in how the Cowboys’ season will play out.

As Thomas Crown once remarked, it’s a beautiful morning, what the hell else do we have to do?

There’s your obligatory obscure 1990s movie reference for the week.

You can crunch the numbers any way you want to get the desired result, no matter what that is. That’s the beauty – and the curse – of statistics.

If you really want to twist yourself into a pretzel, try this one out. In 2016 (when Donald Trump won), the Cowboys went 13-3 and won the NFC East. In 2020, when Joe Biden won, they went 6-10.

Second Term Results

The oddity of this season is that no matter who wins, and I’m not touching that subject with a 10-foot pole, it will be the second term for the winner.

There have been five times in Cowboys’ history when the presidential winner has won a second term.

Dallas is 43-35 in those five seasons (1972, 1984, 1996, 2004, and 2012). The Cowboys only made the playoffs in the 1972 and 1996 seasons.

They’ve never won the NFC East title when a president has won a second term.

That doesn’t bode well at all. Suddenly, a surge of Robert Kennedy Jr. votes emerges, stunning pollsters across the country!

In case you were wondering, here’s a year by year breakdown of the Cowboys’ record in presidential election years.

No, I’m not doing midterms next. I like my job here. I want to keep it.

Results By Election Year:

1960 – 0-11-1

1964 – 5-8-1

1968 – 12-2 / NFC East title — Lost in the Divisional round

1972 – 10-4 / Lost in the NFC Conference title game

1976 – 11-3 / NFC East title — Lost in the Divisional round

1980 – 12-4 / Lost in the NFC Conference title game

1984 – 9-7

1988 – 3-13

1992 – 13-3 / NFC East title — Won SB XXVII

1996 – 10-6 / Lost in the Divisional round

2000 – 5-11

2004 – 6-10

2008 – 9-7

2012 – 8-8

2016 – 13-3 / NFC East title — Lost in the Divisional round

2020 – 6-10

2024 – TBD