Lincoln Financial Field
Lincoln Financial Field
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Lincoln Financial Field was something that was dreamed up by a fresh management team headed by new team owner Jeff Lurie in 1994. It wasn’t until five years later, in 1999, that a plan was set in motion by the Pennsylvania government when they announced $320 million would be set aside for the construction of 4 new professional stadiums in the state, 2 in Philadelphia and 2 in Pittsburgh. It took a few years longer than Pittsburgh, especially with the poor local growth coalition in Philadelphia, for the project to begin after the announcement to get everything straightened out so that what would be called Lincoln Financial Field could be built. With little public input and few objections to the football stadium that was to be the new home of the Eagles they were able to start building before the baseball stadium. However, the concerns and issues were not just for the baseball stadium; because both teams shared their previous stadium the city of Philadelphia took both the creation of a new baseball stadium and football stadium together.
This resulted in any draw backs that were caused by issues with the baseball stadium to be directly reflected onto the football stadium as well. Because the city of Philadelphia took the two stadiums together the budget along with many other financial plans and projections where for the two combined. The total cost was assumed to be $1.01 billion for the two stadiums. It was assumed that the Eagle’s stadium would cost approximately $400 million and the Phillies’ stadium would cost in the range of $350 million. The remaining $250 million was to go toward site development and capital reserves. A plan was approved in December 2000, was for the Eagles to contribute $310 million, the Phillies $172 million, the state of Pennsylvania $170 million, and the city $300 million plus another $90 million that will go specifically toward operating and maintaining the Eagles’ stadium. The cost of the
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Lincoln Financial Field was something that was dreamed up by a fresh management team headed by new team owner Jeff Lurie in 1994. It wasn’t until five years later, in 1999, that a plan was set in motion by the Pennsylvania government when they announced $320 million would be set aside for the construction of 4 new professional stadiums in the state, 2 in Philadelphia and 2 in Pittsburgh. It took a few years longer than Pittsburgh, especially with the poor local growth coalition in Philadelphia, for the project to begin after the announcement to get everything straightened out so that what would be called Lincoln Financial Field could be built. With little public input and few objections to the football stadium that was to be the new home of the Eagles they were able to start building before the baseball stadium. However, the concerns and issues were not just for the baseball stadium; because both teams shared their previous stadium the city of Philadelphia took both the creation of a new baseball stadium and football stadium together.
This resulted in any draw backs that were caused by issues with the baseball stadium to be directly reflected onto the football stadium as well. Because the city of Philadelphia took the two stadiums together the budget along with many other financial plans and projections where for the two combined. The total cost was assumed to be $1.01 billion for the two stadiums. It was assumed that the Eagle’s stadium would cost approximately $400 million and the Phillies’ stadium would cost in the range of $350 million. The remaining $250 million was to go toward site development and capital reserves. A plan was approved in December 2000, was for the Eagles to contribute $310 million, the Phillies $172 million, the state of Pennsylvania $170 million, and the city $300 million plus another $90 million that will go specifically toward operating and maintaining the Eagles’ stadium. The cost of the
Cited: Delaney, Kevin J., and Rick Eckstein. Public Dollars, Private Stadiums. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 2003 "Stadium Facts." Lincoln National Group, n.d. Web. 11 Apr. 2012. <http://www.lincolnfinancialfield.com/stadiuminfo/>. Veterans Stadium. Ballparks, 2004. Web. 14 Apr. 2012. <http://www.ballparks.com/baseball/national/vetera.htm>.