There’s exactly one place on the planet where you can stand on the turf the Dallas Cowboys practice on, browse the biggest Cowboys Pro Shop in existence, and have a full conversation with an AI hologram of Jerry Jones — all in the same afternoon, and most of it for free. That place is The Star Frisco, and it’s the single most-visited sports attraction in North Texas for a reason.
The Star Frisco is the Dallas Cowboys’ 91-acre world headquarters and practice facility at 1 Cowboys Way, and it’s open to the public daily. You can walk the plaza, shop, and eat for free; only the guided tour, ticketed Ford Center events, and private hotel and restaurant areas cost money. This guide is for anyone planning a visit — first-time tourist, die-hard fan, or family looking to fill a half-day — and it covers tours, dining, parking, the best photo spots, and the timing tricks that make the trip worth it.
The Star is the largest single attraction in our pillar guide to Frisco TX sports, and honestly it’s the one stop I’d tell any visitor not to skip. Pair it with the National Videogame Museum right inside the campus, or the National Soccer Hall of Fame a short drive south at Toyota Stadium, and you’ve got a complete Frisco sports day without leaving the west side of town.
What Is The Star in Frisco?
The Star opened in 2016 as a three-way partnership between the Cowboys, the City of Frisco, and Frisco Independent School District. That last partner is the part people never expect: this is a working NFL headquarters that also hosts high school football. Located at 1 Cowboys Way (the corner of the Dallas North Tollway and Warren Parkway), the campus packs a 510,000-square-foot Cowboys office building, two outdoor practice fields, the indoor Ford Center stadium, the Tostitos Championship Plaza, the Cowboys Pro Shop, the Cowboys Fit gym, the Omni Frisco Hotel, the members-only Cowboys Club, a reconstructed Cowboys Locker Room built for tours, the National Videogame Museum, and roughly a dozen restaurants and bars.
Here’s what sets it apart from a normal NFL stadium: it’s free to walk through. The plaza, the public spaces, the restaurants, the Pro Shop — all open daily, no ticket required. You’re strolling through the actual working headquarters of the most valuable franchise in American sports, and nobody’s charging you at the gate. That combination of access and genuine behind-the-scenes cred is what turned The Star into one of the most-visited destinations in the entire DFW metroplex.
The Star at a Glance
| What | Cost (2026 — check current) | Good to know |
|---|---|---|
| Plaza, Pro Shop, restaurants | Free | Open daily, ~9 AM–11 PM by venue |
| Standard Star Tour (75 min) | $30 adult / $20 kid | First-timers and casual fans |
| VIP Guided Tour (90 min) | $65 adult / $45 kid | Adds the Draft War Room + hologram + swag bag |
| Jerry Jones Hologram | Included in VIP, or $20 add-on to Standard | Debuted 2024; plan 15–20 extra minutes |
| National Videogame Museum | $14 adult / $10 kid | Inside The Star; combo ticket saves 15% |
| Parking | Free | Eastern garage off Cowboys Way is closest |
The Star Tours: Standard, VIP & the Jerry Jones Hologram
The tour is the headline experience, and it’s been upgraded several times since 2016. There are two tiers, plus one very modern add-on.
Standard Star Tour ($30 adult / $20 kid)
The 75-minute Standard Tour walks small groups through the reconstructed Cowboys Locker Room, Tostitos Championship Plaza, the Cowboys Hall of Fame display, the Hill of Honor commemorating Cowboys greats, and the Miller Lite House sponsor bar — then finishes with a midfield photo on the Ford Center practice field. Tours run on the half-hour, generally 10 AM through 4 PM. If it’s your first time or you’re a casual fan, this is plenty.
VIP Guided Tour ($65 adult / $45 kid)
The 90-minute VIP Tour is where it gets good. You get inside the actual NFL Draft War Room — the conference room where the Cowboys run their draft strategy — plus the press-conference podium, the executive-offices viewing area, and extra time in the Cowboys Hall of Fame. VIP guests also walk out with a swag bag: an “Authentic Letter of Fandom” from Jerry Jones, a magnetic pop-up picture frame, an exclusive Cowboys lapel pin, an event-day tote, and a 10% Pro Shop discount good for that day. For a serious fan, the extra thirty-five bucks is the move.
The Jerry Jones Hologram Experience
This is the one everybody’s talking about. Debuted in 2024, the Jerry Jones hologram is a life-sized, AI-driven projection of the Cowboys owner that actually converses with you — answers questions about the team and his life, and spins Cowboys history on request. It’s included free with the VIP Tour, or you can add it to the Standard Tour for $20. Budget an extra 15 to 20 minutes; people linger, and the questions get better the longer you stand there.
Booking Tips
Book online ahead of time. Saturday tours regularly sell out by Wednesday, so don’t wing it on a weekend. Your tour ticket includes access to the main public areas before and after, so show up 30 minutes early and walk the plaza first. Photography’s allowed throughout except in the executive office areas. And kids under 4 are free on every tour, but they still need their own (free) reservation — easy to forget.
Ford Center at The Star: Concerts, Football & Events
The 12,000-seat Ford Center is the beating heart of the campus’s event calendar — roughly 80 events a year. It started life as the Cowboys’ indoor practice facility and moonlights as a genuine entertainment venue.
Friday Night Lights, Indoors
Every fall, the Ford Center hosts Frisco ISD high school football, and watching Texas high school football inside an NFL-grade indoor stadium is something every visitor should do once. Tickets run about $10 to $15. The Friday-night atmosphere is the closest most out-of-towners will get to the real “Friday Night Lights” tradition, and it runs late August through November.
Concerts & Touring Acts
Ford Center books roughly 15 to 20 major concerts a year — heavy on country (it’s hosted Brad Paisley, Carrie Underwood, and Reba McEntire), plus Christian music, comedy (Sebastian Maniscalco, Bert Kreischer), and pop acts passing through DFW. Tickets typically land between $45 and $200.
Sports, Family Shows & Open Practices
The venue has hosted the Big 12 Championship, college basketball tournaments, indoor soccer, esports, and the Frisco Fighters indoor football team. Family programming includes Disney on Ice, Cirque du Soleil, Sesame Street Live, monster trucks, and PBR Bull Riding, generally $25 to $75 a head. And here’s the one to chase: during Cowboys training camp (usually late July) and select offseason workouts, some practices are open to the public — typically free, with reservations released one to two weeks ahead on the Cowboys’ official site. Those open practices are among the most coveted free Cowboys experiences anywhere.
Cowboys Pro Shop: The World’s Largest Cowboys Store
The Cowboys Pro Shop runs 7,500 square feet and carries the most complete Cowboys merchandise selection anywhere — broader than the shops at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, and in a different league from any third-party retailer. You’ll find authentic game jerseys, replicas, throwbacks, kids’ and women’s-cut gear, hats, hoodies, training-camp apparel, autographed memorabilia, signed footballs and helmets, Tom Landry-era throwbacks, and home decor from Cowboys lawn chairs to kitchen items. Plenty of it exists nowhere else.
The shop also does free in-store jersey number customization with most jersey purchases — worth knowing before you buy elsewhere. On pricing (2026 — check current): replica jerseys start around $130, authentic Nike Elite game jerseys run $325, custom autographed memorabilia spans $200 to $5,000-plus, and kids’ jerseys start around $80. Seasonal sales after the Super Bowl and in late-August back-to-school season frequently knock 25 to 40% off, and the store occasionally hosts player meet-and-greets — check the official schedule. If you love Cowboys and Rangers and Mavs gear, this is also the deepest fan-merch stop before you get to a proper mall; see how it stacks up in our guide to Frisco’s top attractions.
The Pro Shop is the anchor, but it isn’t the whole retail story here. Our guide to shopping The Star District walks the rest of the plaza’s boutiques, gift shops, and specialty tenants.
Restaurants & Dining at The Star
The Star is home to about a dozen restaurants and bars, from fast-fired pizza to fine dining, and the lineup is genuinely good — good enough that locals come just to eat. The ones worth knowing:
- Cane Rosso — Wood-fired Neapolitan pizza, James Beard-recognized. The most popular dinner option on campus, and the one I’d send you to first.
- Trompo Frisco — Award-winning trompo-style tacos al pastor, a Dallas favorite that landed a Star location in 2021. The move if you want something quick and local.
- Mi Cocina — Tex-Mex that built a Dallas legend on its Mambo Taxi cocktail. Solid for groups.
- Neighborhood Services — Modern American comfort food inside the Omni Frisco Hotel; expect $30 to $50 per person and the most polished sit-down room here.
- Punch Bowl Social — A huge arcade-bar-restaurant with bowling, pingpong, and karaoke rooms. Great for groups, late nights, and rainy days.
- Press Box Grill — Sports bar with a deep beer list. The default Cowboys-game-day watching spot.
- The Tipsy Aussie — Australian-pub theme, kangaroo burgers, and a long whiskey list.
- Capriotti’s — Quick East Coast-style sandwiches when you just need fuel.
Members-only Cowboys Club is fine dining, but tour participants and hotel guests can sometimes get in via concierge — worth asking. For the wider picture, our guide to the best restaurants in Frisco TX and the definitive rundown of bars in Frisco TX will round out your night. If smoked meat’s your thing, the region’s best BBQ joints in Frisco are a short drive.
National Videogame Museum: A Bonus Inside The Star
Right inside the campus at 8004 Dallas Parkway sits the National Videogame Museum — the United States’ first museum dedicated to video games. Walking through is a multi-decade time capsule: original Atari consoles, the world’s largest Pong cabinet, rare prototypes, and a museum-spanning arcade where everything from Pac-Man to Street Fighter II is set to free play with admission. It’s a genuinely great rainy-day pivot.
Admission is $14 adults, $10 kids ages 4 to 11, and free under 4. Hours are Tuesday through Saturday 10 AM to 6 PM, Sunday noon to 5 PM, closed Monday. Plan 90 minutes to two hours — and if you’re touring The Star the same day, grab the combo ticket for a 15% discount.
Tostitos Championship Plaza & the Free Public Spaces
You can spend hours here without spending a dime. Tostitos Championship Plaza is the central gathering area, anchored by a model turf field for casual photos, a giant Cowboys star embedded in the plaza floor (the single most-photographed thing at The Star), interactive Cowboys timeline displays, and the open-air Miller Lite House sponsor bar. The Star Walk ringing the plaza adds statues, plaques honoring Cowboys legends, and rotating exhibits.
Plaza programming runs year-round: Cowboys watch parties that are free to attend during away games, summer outdoor movie nights, fall pep rallies before home games, free concerts at the plaza stage, and the annual Light Up The Star tree lighting in late November. Check the official events calendar for whatever’s on the month you visit — there’s almost always something.
Game-Day Experience at The Star
Here’s a thing that trips people up: the Cowboys don’t play regular-season home games here. Those happen 25 minutes south at AT&T Stadium in Arlington. But The Star still transforms on every game day into a major fan-gathering spot. Pre-game watch parties on Tostitos Plaza fire up three to four hours before kickoff with food trucks, live music, free face painting for kids, autograph signings, and giant outdoor TVs running pregame coverage.
The play a lot of fans run: drive to The Star for the pre-game festivities, then either continue to Arlington for the live game or plant yourself at one of the plaza bars for the broadcast. Game-day parking at The Star is free until kickoff, which makes it an easy call either way.
Hours, Parking & Getting There
Address: 1 Cowboys Way, Frisco, TX 75034 — the intersection of the Dallas North Tollway and Warren Parkway.
Public-area hours: Tostitos Plaza, restaurants, and the Pro Shop generally run 9 AM to 11 PM, though it varies by venue. Tour hours: typically 10 AM to 4:30 PM Tuesday through Saturday, 11 AM to 4:30 PM Sunday, no tours Monday (restaurants stay open).
Parking: Free in the surface lots and garage, with validation for paying restaurant and hotel guests. The closest entrance for the Pro Shop and Plaza is the eastern garage off Cowboys Way. Drive times: 30 minutes from DFW Airport via the DNT north, 35 from downtown Dallas, and 10 minutes south from Stonebriar Centre. Public transit is limited, so Uber and Lyft are your friends — expect $30 to $50 from DFW. If you’re weighing your route into town, our guide on how to get to Frisco TX covers airports, tollways, and rideshare in detail.
The Star Frisco: Best Time to Visit
It’s busy year-round, but timing changes the experience.
- Cowboys season (September–January): Highest energy — plaza events on game days, possible training-camp carryover, full tour groups. Sundays are the most crowded.
- Spring (March–May): Quieter, with great weather. The best window for a first guided tour without long lines.
- Summer (June–August): Heavy family-vacation traffic, but training camp usually opens late July with practices open to the public — the year’s most coveted free experience.
- Holidays (November–December): The mid-November Light Up The Star ceremony kicks off the season with a 10-minute fireworks-and-light show over the plaza, free hot chocolate, and decorations that run through New Year’s.
The 5 Best Photo Spots at The Star
Want to come away with good photos? Prioritize these five.
- The giant Cowboys star in the Tostitos Plaza floor — the iconic shot, and the one everybody wants.
- The model turf field with the practice goalposts behind you — reads just like an NFL stadium photo.
- Midfield inside Ford Center on the practice field — included on guided tours, so save it for then.
- The Hill of Honor — a small grass mound topped with the names of Cowboys legends. Best at golden hour (4–5 PM in winter, 6–7 PM in summer).
- The Cowboys Pro Shop entrance with its giant logo — the quintessential gift-shop souvenir photo.
The Star Frisco FAQ
Is The Star in Frisco free to visit?
Yes. Tostitos Championship Plaza, the outdoor public spaces, the Cowboys Pro Shop, and the restaurants are all free. Only the guided tour, Ford Center ticketed events, and private hotel or restaurant access require payment. You can easily spend a couple of hours here without buying a ticket.
How much does The Star tour cost?
The 75-minute Standard Tour is $30 for adults and $20 for kids. The 90-minute VIP Tour is $65 adults and $45 kids, and includes the Jerry Jones hologram plus a Cowboys swag bag. The hologram is also available as a $20 add-on to the Standard Tour if you don’t want the full VIP.
Can you watch the Dallas Cowboys practice at The Star?
Sometimes. During training camp (usually late July) and select offseason workouts, the team practices in the Ford Center, and some sessions open to the public. Free reservations typically release one to two weeks in advance on the official Cowboys site. In-season practices during the year are closed to the public.
How long should I plan to spend at The Star?
Plan three to four hours for a complete first visit — a tour, time in the Pro Shop, lunch at one of the restaurants, and a walk through the plaza. Add another 90 minutes if you want the National Videogame Museum. Super-fans timing a training-camp or game-day trip can easily fill a full day.
Do Cowboys games happen at The Star?
No. Regular-season home games are played at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, 25 minutes south. The Star is the team’s practice facility and headquarters; the Ford Center hosts roughly 80 non-Cowboys events a year, including high school football, concerts, and family shows.
Is there a hotel at The Star?
Yes — the Omni Frisco Hotel sits right inside the campus with 300 rooms, an outdoor pool overlooking the practice fields, the Neighborhood Services restaurant, and Cowboys-themed suites decorated by current and former players. The Hyatt Regency Frisco opened next door in 2023 as an alternative. For the full range, see our roundup of the best luxury hotels in Frisco TX.
What’s the best food option at The Star?
Cane Rosso (wood-fired Neapolitan pizza) is the most popular dinner. Trompo (al pastor tacos) is the local-favorite quick bite. Neighborhood Services inside the Omni is the most polished sit-down. And Punch Bowl Social is the best group and family option, with bowling and games on-site.
How do I see Jerry Jones at The Star?
You interact with the AI-driven Jerry Jones hologram introduced in 2024 — included with the VIP Tour or a $20 add-on to the Standard Tour. The real Jerry Jones is rarely on the public side of the campus, though tour groups occasionally spot him passing through during business hours.
Plan Your Visit to The Star in Frisco
The Star is the cornerstone of any sports-themed trip to North Texas — and increasingly a full-day destination even for people with only mild Cowboys interest, thanks to the strong restaurant lineup, the National Videogame Museum, and the year-round plaza events. It’s the anchor most visitors build a Frisco day around.
Here’s a tested first-timer itinerary: arrive at 10 AM, take the 11 AM VIP Tour with the Jerry Jones hologram, grab lunch at Cane Rosso or Trompo, browse the Pro Shop after, hit the National Videogame Museum mid-afternoon, and close with sunset cocktails at The Tipsy Aussie or the Miller Lite House. Figure four to six hours total. Super-fans should time the trip to overlap training camp (late July) for open practices, or a home-game weekend for the full Tostitos Plaza atmosphere.
Either way, The Star earns the half-day everyone gives it. Bookmark this guide, then use our broader rundown of things to do in Frisco TX to build out the rest of your visit — and lean on the Sports City USA guide if you’re chasing the full lineup of Frisco sports. We refresh this page whenever The Star adds a tour, opens a restaurant, or shakes up its event calendar — and in this market, that’s at least once a year.
