ARLINGTON – The Dallas Cowboys stand to earn hundreds of million of dollars when the team sells the naming rights to its new stadium.

But a fan who grew up in Philadelphia Eagles country and now lives near Nashville hopes there will be a little room for legendary coach Tom Landry in the stadium's new name. Rob Vail, a lifelong Cowboys fan despite never living here, has an online petition requesting that Mr. Landry be honored in the stadium's name. At least 1,714 people agree.

"I would never suggest that he not sell the naming rights," Mr. Vail said about team owner Jerry Jones. "It cost a lot of money to get that puppy up."

But, he said, Mr. Jones is clever enough to figure out a way to incorporate Mr. Landry into the name of the $1.1 billion stadium. The Denver Broncos call their stadium Invesco Field at Mile High, which gives them a paying sponsor and a nod to their old stadium. The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim were creative enough to squeeze two cities in their team name.

Mr. Vail said that Mr. Landry's reputation was the foundation of the Cowboys, and he helped make it a premier name in sports. It's only fair, he said, that the team's most famous coach gets to be part of the Cowboys' future.

There wasn't an immediate comment from the Cowboys about naming rights or what they might do to honor Mr. Landry.

Mr. Vail said he's not sure what effect the petition ­ available at www.petitiononline.com

/Landry/petition.html ­ will have on the Cowboys' decision or even whether the 1,700-plus signatures are a good response. The site has thousands of petitions that range from the 560 people calling for a manned mission to Mars to the nearly 303,000 demanding that critically reviled movie director Uwe Boll stop adapting video games for the big screen.

In another sign that stadium construction is switching gears, most of the cranes and other heavy equipment have been removed from field level. Workers in the past week have started using front-end loaders to level the ground in preparation for laying an 8-inch thick concrete slab. By mid-September, the team also expects to start installing the first seats.