The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas -- Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league 's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team is headquartered in Frisco, Texas, and plays its home games at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, which opened for the 2009 season. The stadium took its current name prior to the 2013 season. The Cowboys joined the NFL as an expansion team in 1960. The team 's national following might best be represented by its NFL record of consecutive sell - outs. The Cowboys ' streak of 190 consecutive sold - out regular and post-season games (home and away) began in 2002. The franchise has made it to the Super Bowl eight times, tied with the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Denver Broncos for second most Super Bowl appearances in history, just behind the New England Patriots record ten Super Bowl appearances. This has also corresponded to eight NFC championships, most in the NFC. The Cowboys have won five of those Super Bowl appearances, tying them with their NFC rivals, the San Francisco 49ers, and the AFC 's Patriots; all three are second to Pittsburgh 's record six Super Bowl championships. The Cowboys are the only NFL team to record 20 straight winning seasons (1966 -- 85), in which they only missed the playoffs twice (1974 and 1984), an NFL record that remains unchallenged.
how many super bowl appearances for dallas cowboys
eight times