Chris Christie, Jerry Jones

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, left, talks with Dallas Cowboys team owner Jerry Jones, right, on the field as the teams warm up before an NFL football game against the Indianapolis Colts, Sunday, Dec. 21, 2014, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Brandon Wade)

(Brandon Wade)

TRENTON — New Jersey's top ethics watchdog said Gov. Chris Christie's weekend trip to watch the Dallas Cowboys playoff game last weekend — paid for by team owner Jerry Jones — "seems to be permissible," but others say the governor is taking some ethical and political risks with his high-profile fandom.

"I personally don't see anything contrary to the ethics laws," said Susana Guerrero, executive director of the state ethics commission who was appointed last year at Christie's urging. "He's not going in his official state capacity. He's going for entertainment, not as 'the governor of New Jersey.'"

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The actual cost of flying Christie and his family by private jet to watch the Dallas Cowboys beat Detroit from inside Jones’ luxury 50 yard line owner’s suite is not known, but ticket brokers and several private jet operators say replicating the experience would cost tens of thousands of dollars.

While the seats in Jones box aren’t for sale, a representative for Suite Experience Group, a New Haven, Conn.-based reseller of luxury stadium skyboxes, said that a suite in the Hall of Fame section closest to the owner’s box could run as high as $125,000, with suites closer to the 20 yard line commanding as much as $80,000.

There are 20 seats in a suite, which would mean tickets for the higher-priced ones would exceed $6,000.

“For games such as Sunday’s, and extending further into the playoffs, the value of any suite ticket could easily be deemed priceless by many fans for whom that game day experience would likely be a once in a lifetime opportunity," said David M. Carter, executive Director USC Marshall Sports Business Institute.

The governor's office confirmed that Christie flew at Jones' expense by private jet to the event with his family. Neither the governor's office nor a Cowboys VP of publicity, Rich Dalrymple, could say whether the Christies flew in Jones' personal 2001 Gulfstream V, or in another private jet Jones provided. Dalrymple said the Christies did not lodge at Jones' residence during their time in Dallas.



Dean Browning, the chief financial officer of New World Aviation in Allentown, Pa., said the current cost to operate a Gulfstream 5 is about $3,700 an hour. A trip from New Jersey to the Cowboys AT&T Stadium in Arlington is roughly three hours.

The tens of thousands of dollars worth of airfare and entertainment paid for by Jones is “not considered a contribution” to Christie’s campaign, but instead a gift to the governor, according to Joseph Donohue, deputy director of the state Election Law Enforcement Commission. As such, it falls to the state’s ethics panel to decide if it violates any statutes.

Under The Code of Conduct for the Governor, adopted under former Gov. Jim McGreevey in Executive Order 77, the governor “may accept gifts, favors, services, gratuities, meals, lodging or travel expenses from relatives or personal friends that are paid for with personal funds.”

In April 2010, in an updated version of the code, Christie signed Executive Order 24 stipulating that “all public officials must avoid conduct that violates the public trust or creates an appearance of impropriety.”

William Schluter, who championed ethics reform as a state lawmaker and was a vice chairman of the state ethics commission, said Christie’s appearance in the owner’s box raised questions for him.

“I saw him on TV in his red sweater, and I wondered, ‘How did he get there?’” said Schluter. “If that’s an outright gift, he’s not getting it because he’s Joe Blow… he’s an important public figure. Then at the very least, it should be fully disclosed. Goodness sakes, these are tremendous benefits that somebody is getting because of his position.”

Schluter said the law allows for a sitting governor to accept such gifts from a friend, but wondered whether Jones is actually a personal friend of Christie’s.

“The law is pretty clear that he can accept favors from a relative or a personal friend, but it begs the question: Is Jerry Jones a personal friend? Or is he someone who might benefit from having the ability to seek a business favor from a person in a position of favor?”

Under Christie's stewardship, New Jersey granted more than over $17 million in tax breaks and other reimbursements to the NFL to cover the cost of the 2014 Super Bowl.

Jones is both a billionaire NFL team owner who sits on its ownership committee, but made his initial fortune as an oil and gas tycoon, and still operates Blue Star Oil and Gas Exploration, among other ventures.

Carter noted that “it’s quite common for team owners to entertain the highest echelons of constituents and dignitaries in their suites. It’s an important component of business development for all included, whether businesspeople or politicians.”

Julian Zelizer, a presidential historian at Princeton University and a professor of political science, said Christie’s association with Jones raises questions not just about ethics, but optics, as the governor considers a run for president.

“There’s the question of [Jones] being something more than just a football team owner: The kind of people in that box, these are the kind of people with enormous influence in those [oil and gas producing] states and there’s the risk of him getting too close,” Zelizer said. “It isn’t the image of independence that Christie likes to boast about.”

He added: “He has to be careful. It also undermines this image of him as the governor who’s an ordinary guy. He’s hanging out with wealthy people, and the optics are pictures of him living the high life.”

NJ Advance Media staff writers Brent Johnson and Samantha Marcus contributed to this report.

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Claude Brodesser-Akner may be reached at cbrodesser@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @claudebrodesser. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.