Speaking at the NFL Owners Meetings in Arizona last week, Jeffrey Lurie made it known that the Eagles are exploring options for their future home, which could see them moving out of Lincoln Financial Field within the next decade. Their lease for the stadium ends in 2032. While Lurie didn’t say anything definitive about his plans, the topic will own heat up in the next couple of years.
Setting aside the debate that will eventually rage on about the possibility of public money being used for the stadium or Lurie’s non-committal stance last week about the team even remaining in South Philadelphia, which has been the site of the team’s home games for 55 years, I continue to find myself believing this type of undertaking is ultimately unnecessary.
I understand the business of why Lurie would want it and the optics it’d bring to his franchise’s residence. The Linc will play host to the FIFA World Cup this summer, but if the team’s next stadium is a dome or has a retractable roof, which I would certainly bet on, the global reach of the stadium would continue on. They could bring in the Final Four or the Super Bowl or winter mega-concerts. More eyes could be on Philadelphia in the sporting world than ever and I’d assume that would all play out quite well for Lurie financially. If this is all in the name of delivering the best in-stadium experience for Philadelphians, however, does it really matter?
I have no qualms with Lurie. He’s been a model professional sports owner in his three-plus decades running the show for the Birds and has overseen a quarter of a century of unprecedented success for the franchise. Philly sports fans should wish the city’s other organizations are as well run from the top down as this teams. I do question whether a new nest for the Eagles is a true need for the average fan who spends their Sundays (or Mondays or Thursdays…) watching the team play in person.
If we were talking about, say, a baseball stadium, I’d be a little more inclined to think this is important. A ballpark and it all brings on a summer day is just as much a part of the experience of attending an MLB game as is the on-field product. People want to try the latest viral food sensations, walk around the concourse, allow their kids to take part in some little games and perhaps even meet up with friends in standing room areas. A baseball team could lose a handful of games in a row without that streak cratering its season. For any given day, it’s not the most serious affair.
That’s the complete opposite of an afternoon at an NFL game. As long as the sight lines are good and the drinks are cold, everything else is negligible. No one’s walking around a football stadium, schmoozing and casually taking it all in, at least not in Philadelphia. It’s all about the action on the gridiron, living and dying with each snap. As long as it’s not a collapsing dump like Veterans Stadium (though it was our collapsing dump…), it’s fine. I’m going to an Eagles game as a psychological endurance test, not as merely an excuse to get outside for the day.
On top of it all, how could you want this team to give up their home-field advantage and play inside after seeing some of this team’s monumental home postseason wins over the years?
Whatever. I’d imagine that 15 years from now, I’ll be paying even more than I have recently to go to an Eagles home game or two per season. I’d imagine that the games will no longer be played outdoors in the cold in the elements. I’d imagine I won’t even care that much about all of that as long as the Eagles are winning and contending, but a small part of me will miss what once was. That’s the nature of growing up, getting older and time passing you by, but, hey, I don’t have to like it.
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