Welcome to the latest session of the Jeff Lurie-Joe Banner Charm School.
The Eagles brass find themselves in a bit of a hissing match with Philadelphia city officials over money the city believes the team owes from luxury boxes at Veterans Stadium.
Now Lurie and Banner – the men who brought us the “gold standard” – have a new spin on the story.
They now claim that they had a deal with former Mayor John Street to settle the claim for a lot less than what the city now believes the team owes. The city says the team is in arrears to the tune of $8 million. But the Eagles have now filed legal documents in a bid to prove that they had a deal with Street to settle the matter for a number more like $1 million. The team is in court, asking a judge to enforce the smaller number.
The Nutter Administration says it knows nothing about any such deal.
This all stems from the city filing suit against the team back in 2004, saying they owed money from the luxury boxes at Veterans Stadium. The team countered by saying the city never forked over the money the team lost when a preseason game had to be canceled because of poor turf conditions at the Vet. They’ve been at a legal impasse ever since.
A couple of things strike me here. You may recall that a fairly substantial amount of public funds went into building the Eagles swanky new playground, Lincoln Financial Field.
And Forbes Magazine recently added Lurie to its list of the richest people in America, a bona fide billionaire.
The city is currently standing at the edge of an economic abyss, a budget deficit that grows by the day and currently stands in the neighborhood of $2.5 billion. That’s a nice neighborhood, one no doubt Lurie would be comfortable in.
Meanwhile, the Eagles are swimming in green, one of the most prized franchises in pro sports.
You might say they are solid gold, every bit of what Team Lurie and Banner have so infamously coined the “Gold Standard.”
Except for two areas: Winning Super Bowls and, apparently, paying city taxes.
The Eagles brass find themselves in a bit of a hissing match with Philadelphia city officials over money the city believes the team owes from luxury boxes at Veterans Stadium.
Now Lurie and Banner – the men who brought us the “gold standard” – have a new spin on the story.
They now claim that they had a deal with former Mayor John Street to settle the claim for a lot less than what the city now believes the team owes. The city says the team is in arrears to the tune of $8 million. But the Eagles have now filed legal documents in a bid to prove that they had a deal with Street to settle the matter for a number more like $1 million. The team is in court, asking a judge to enforce the smaller number.
The Nutter Administration says it knows nothing about any such deal.
This all stems from the city filing suit against the team back in 2004, saying they owed money from the luxury boxes at Veterans Stadium. The team countered by saying the city never forked over the money the team lost when a preseason game had to be canceled because of poor turf conditions at the Vet. They’ve been at a legal impasse ever since.
A couple of things strike me here. You may recall that a fairly substantial amount of public funds went into building the Eagles swanky new playground, Lincoln Financial Field.
And Forbes Magazine recently added Lurie to its list of the richest people in America, a bona fide billionaire.
The city is currently standing at the edge of an economic abyss, a budget deficit that grows by the day and currently stands in the neighborhood of $2.5 billion. That’s a nice neighborhood, one no doubt Lurie would be comfortable in.
Meanwhile, the Eagles are swimming in green, one of the most prized franchises in pro sports.
You might say they are solid gold, every bit of what Team Lurie and Banner have so infamously coined the “Gold Standard.”
Except for two areas: Winning Super Bowls and, apparently, paying city taxes.
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