ARLINGTON, Texas – The lawsuits surrounding the seating issues at Super Bowl XLV have kept the Dallas Cowboys from pushing for a return of the NFL championship game to AT&T Stadium, but executive vice president Stephen Jones expects that to change soon.

“We obviously totally understand that we had business that needed to clear up here from the previous Super Bowl, which was unfortunate and hopefully that is coming to an end here this summer,” Jones said. “We think that hopefully we’ll be in the hunt. We think this building is special, AT&T Stadium, certainly a great place for players to come play. I think if you ask players around the league they certainly enjoy playing the game here and I think North Texas is a great area. I think we were a little snake bit in terms of our weather.”

A snow and ice storm blanketed the region for the week of the game, which caused issues. Also temporary seating was not complete in time for the game, leading to lawsuits from fans. In March 2015 a jury found the NFL breached its contract with seven fans and were ordered to pay nearly $76,000 in combined damages.

Earlier this week the NFL awarded Super Bowls LIII, LIV and LV to Atlanta, South Florida and Los Angeles. The earliest the Super Bowl could return to Arlington, Texas, would be 2022.

Despite the issues surrounding Super Bowl XLV, it was profitable for NFL owners.

“We all know economics are important in any situation and we certainly hope that plays in our favor,” Jones said. “We have more suites than any team in the NFL. We’ve got more premium-type items. We’ve got a great situation for just fans in general, general admission fans. We’ve got great areas out here in Arlington to entertain in terms of the plazas and things of those nature. We think we can have a very, very competitive bid and tell a compelling story as to why we ought to have one of the greatest events, which is the Super Bowl, the event, at this stadium.

“Obviously we have college football championships, we have NBA All-Star Games, we have all sorts of major events here and we certainly would hope at some point we’d get another opportunity here with the NFL.”

Jones said the Cowboys would like to host the 2018 NFL draft at either at AT&T Stadium, their new facility in Frisco, Texas, The Star, or a combination of the two. The Cowboys are among a number of teams that have expressed interest in hosting the draft. The NFL expects to announce where it will hold the 2017 draft this summer.

“We think those two things might make for a unique experience for our fans,” Jones said.