The war of words between the Eagles and the city continues.
The two sides are in an increasingly bitter standoff over money the team owes the city on luxury boxes at a stadium that no longer exists. That, of course would be Veterans Stadium. The Eagles now play in a swanky new playground called Lincoln Financial Field, which was built in no small part thanks to a big chunk of public money.
Here’s the dispute: The city says the team owes $8 million in revenue from the old skyboxes at The Vet. Ironically, they were constructed in the old bowl as part of the deal that kept former owner Leonoard Tose from relocating the team to the Arizona desert.
The city filed suit against the team to get the money. The team fired back, saying they were withholding funding because the city owed them money for the fiasco that led to the cancellation of a preseason game against the Baltimore Ravens when the turf at the city-owned and operated facility was found to be in dangerous disrepair. Guess how much the Eagles claimed they were owed? Yep, that would $8 million.
Now Eagles owner Jeff Lurie and his right-hand man Joe Banner have decided to up the ante in the dispute. In sworn statements filed in court, they say they actually had a verbal agreement with former Mayor John Street to settle the matter for a lot less, around $1 million.
Only one problem. Street does not remember any such deal. The Eagles say they had a verbal agreement. That comes as news to Street, but apparently not to a city rep who was in the negotiations and who also believes the two sides had reached a deal. But Street yesterday made his first statement on the story, and denied the team’s version of events.
“We didn’t cut a secret deal. There was no deal,” he said.
Kind of brings to mind the old adage, “Get it in writing.” Apparently the Eagles did not.
Here’s the bottom line, especially for the Eagles. They very well may be right, and they’d still be wrong.
Lurie and Banner could star in a new version of “Grounhog Day.” They keep reliving the same PR blunders.
Just weeks after the Brian Dawkins disaster blew up in their face, they are right back at it, proving how bad you can look even if you happen to be right. I don’t know if the team is right in this case or not. I do know they look like hell, and wonder if the $8 million is worth the hit their image is taking.
Then again, maybe Lurie and Banner don’t care about that image. If they did, I somehow don’t think they would continue to let themselves be put in these positions, as the public face of an organization that so many people insist “just don’t get it.”
Jeff Lurie recently was added to Forbes Magazine’s list of the richest men in America, a newly minted billionaire.
The city is facing an economic nightmare, a massive budget deficit that is threatening city jobs and services. At one point they considered closing libraries.
And here Lurie sits bickering with them over $8 million. Yes, that’s a lot of money. To you and me.
But to an organization valued at $1.1 billion, is it worth this kind of aggravation?
More importantly, is it worth being held up as greedy misers counting every penny while the city you call home and fans who line your pockets struggle in the worst economy since the Great Depression.
The Eagles, famous for considering themselves the “gold standard,” just may have struck fool’s gold.
The two sides are in an increasingly bitter standoff over money the team owes the city on luxury boxes at a stadium that no longer exists. That, of course would be Veterans Stadium. The Eagles now play in a swanky new playground called Lincoln Financial Field, which was built in no small part thanks to a big chunk of public money.
Here’s the dispute: The city says the team owes $8 million in revenue from the old skyboxes at The Vet. Ironically, they were constructed in the old bowl as part of the deal that kept former owner Leonoard Tose from relocating the team to the Arizona desert.
The city filed suit against the team to get the money. The team fired back, saying they were withholding funding because the city owed them money for the fiasco that led to the cancellation of a preseason game against the Baltimore Ravens when the turf at the city-owned and operated facility was found to be in dangerous disrepair. Guess how much the Eagles claimed they were owed? Yep, that would $8 million.
Now Eagles owner Jeff Lurie and his right-hand man Joe Banner have decided to up the ante in the dispute. In sworn statements filed in court, they say they actually had a verbal agreement with former Mayor John Street to settle the matter for a lot less, around $1 million.
Only one problem. Street does not remember any such deal. The Eagles say they had a verbal agreement. That comes as news to Street, but apparently not to a city rep who was in the negotiations and who also believes the two sides had reached a deal. But Street yesterday made his first statement on the story, and denied the team’s version of events.
“We didn’t cut a secret deal. There was no deal,” he said.
Kind of brings to mind the old adage, “Get it in writing.” Apparently the Eagles did not.
Here’s the bottom line, especially for the Eagles. They very well may be right, and they’d still be wrong.
Lurie and Banner could star in a new version of “Grounhog Day.” They keep reliving the same PR blunders.
Just weeks after the Brian Dawkins disaster blew up in their face, they are right back at it, proving how bad you can look even if you happen to be right. I don’t know if the team is right in this case or not. I do know they look like hell, and wonder if the $8 million is worth the hit their image is taking.
Then again, maybe Lurie and Banner don’t care about that image. If they did, I somehow don’t think they would continue to let themselves be put in these positions, as the public face of an organization that so many people insist “just don’t get it.”
Jeff Lurie recently was added to Forbes Magazine’s list of the richest men in America, a newly minted billionaire.
The city is facing an economic nightmare, a massive budget deficit that is threatening city jobs and services. At one point they considered closing libraries.
And here Lurie sits bickering with them over $8 million. Yes, that’s a lot of money. To you and me.
But to an organization valued at $1.1 billion, is it worth this kind of aggravation?
More importantly, is it worth being held up as greedy misers counting every penny while the city you call home and fans who line your pockets struggle in the worst economy since the Great Depression.
The Eagles, famous for considering themselves the “gold standard,” just may have struck fool’s gold.
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