Franklin Field

Franklin Field
An aerial view of Franklin Field in November 2008
Map
Philadelphia is located in the United States
Philadelphia
Philadelphia
Location in the United States
Philadelphia is located in Pennsylvania
Philadelphia
Philadelphia
Location in Pennsylvania
AddressS. 33rd and Spruce Streets
LocationUniversity of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Public transit Penn Medicine:
SEPTA Regional Rail
Bus transport SEPTA bus:
30, 40, 42, 49, LUCY
OwnerUniversity of Pennsylvania
OperatorUniversity of Pennsylvania
Capacity52,958 (2003–present)

Former capacity:

List
    • 30,000 (1895–1922)
    • 50,000 (1922–1925)
    • 78,000 (1925–1958)
    • 60,658 (1958–1970)
    • 60,546 (1970–1989)
    • 52,593 (1989–2002)
SurfaceField
Natural grass (1895–1968)
AstroTurf (1969–2003)
Sprinturf (2004–present)
Track
Cinder (1895–1987)
Rekortan (1988–present)
Construction
Broke ground1895
OpenedApril 20, 1895;
129 years ago
 (April 20, 1895)
Construction cost$100,000 (1895)
($3.66 million in 2023[1])
ArchitectFrank Miles Day & Brother
Charles Klauder
General contractorTurner Construction
(permanent structure in 1922)
Tenants
Penn Quakers (NCAA) (1895–present)
Philadelphia Eagles (NFL) (1958–1970)
Philadelphia Bell (WFL) (1975)
Philadelphia Atoms (NASL) (1976)
Philadelphia Spinners (MLU) (2012–2014)
Philadelphia Fury (NISA) (2019)
Website
upenn.edu/franklin-field

Franklin Field is a sports stadium in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, at the eastern edge of the University of Pennsylvania's campus. Named after Penn's founder, Benjamin Franklin, it is the home stadium for the Penn Relays,[2] and the university's venue for football, track and field, and lacrosse. Franklin is also used by Penn students for recreation, intramural and club sports, including touch football and cricket; it is also the site of Penn's commencement exercises, weather permitting.

Franklin Field is the oldest still operating college football stadium in the nation. It was the first college stadium in the United States with a scoreboard and the second with an upper deck of seats. In 1922, it was the site of the first radio broadcast of a football game on WIP, as well as of the first television broadcast of a football game by Philco.[3]

From 1958 through 1970, Franklin Field was the home of the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League (NFL).[4] It hosted the NFL Championship Game in December 1960, as the Eagles defeated the Green Bay Packers by four points.

  1. ^ 1634–1699: McCusker, J. J. (1997). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1700–1799: McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1800–present: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved February 29, 2024.
  2. ^ "Franklin Field". University of Pennsylvania Facilities and Real Estate Services. December 20, 2012. Retrieved April 13, 2020.
  3. ^ "Franklin Field". Archived from the original on June 6, 2017. Retrieved June 3, 2017.
  4. ^ "Franklin Field - History, Photos & More of the former NFL stadium of the Philadelphia Eagles". Stadiums of Pro Football - Your Ticket to Every NFL Football Stadium. Retrieved April 13, 2020.