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, 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 site in the nation. Franklin Field 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.
From 1958 through 1970, Franklin Field was the home of the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League. It hosted the NFL Championship Game in December 1960, as the Eagles defeated the Green Bay Packers by four points.
History
19th century
Until around 1860, the grounds of what became Franklin Field served as a potter's field. The crania of some of these individuals were acquired by Samuel Morton and are now housed in the Penn Museum.Franklin Field was built for and dedicated on April 20, 1895, for the first running of the Penn Relays. The Field supplemented and eventually replaced the venue called University Athletic Grounds, which was located a few blocks west on a block bounded by Spruce Street, 38th Street, Pine Street, Woodland Avenue and 37th Street T-intersection. Its location was typically given as "37th and Spruce".
20th century
Permanent Franklin Field construction did not begin until after the turn of the century. Weightman Hall gymnasium, the stadium, and permanent grandstands were designed by architect Frank Miles Day & Brother and were erected from 1903 to 1905 at a cost of. The field was long and wide. The site featured a ¼-mile track, a football field, and a baseball diamond. Beneath the stands were indoor tracks and indoor training facilities.In 1916, university officials, led by George Neitzche, planned with the city to build a new 100,000-seat half-sunken stadium for $750,000 at Woodland Ravine, a depression on the southeastern side of Woodland Cemetery. Plans called for a new train station called Union Station which would feature a Pennsylvania Railroad stop and a stop on a proposed elevated subway line connected to the Market–Frankford Line. Architecture firm Koronski & Cameron created a rendering but plans quickly collapsed. Five years later, it was decided instead to expand Franklin Field.
1922 rebuilding
The current stadium structure was built in the 1920s, designed by Day & Klauder, after the original wooden bleachers were torn down. The lower tier was erected in 1922. The old wood stands were razed immediately following the Penn Relays and the new concrete lower tier and seating for 50,000 were built. The second tier was added in 1925, again designed by Day & Klauder, when it became the second and the largest two-tiered stadium in the United States.The stadium was designed of steel and concrete in the shape of a letter "U". Initial cost was estimated around $725,000. At the time of its construction, it was noted that Franklin Field was one of the few large fields which was built to support baseball as well as football and track sports. Most other large stadia were meant only for football and track.
The first football radio broadcast originated from Franklin Field in 1922, carried by Philadelphia station WIP. This claim is pre-empted by an earlier live radio broadcast emanating from Forbes Field in Pittsburgh, on October 8, 1921, a full year before Franklin Field's claim to fame. Harold W. Arlin announced the live broadcast of the Pitt-West Virginia football game on October 8, 1921, on radio station KDKA. The first commercial football television broadcast in 1939 also came from Franklin Field.
The 1936 Democratic National Convention was concluded at Franklin Field, where President Franklin D. Roosevelt delivered his acceptance speech after being renominated for a second term.
In the 1930s and 1940s, Penn led the nation in attendance. The 65,000-seat stadium was expanded each fall with temporary stands to seat 78,000.
The annual Thanksgiving Cornell–Penn game, broadcast on national radio, attracted a reported 70,000 to the stadium in 1931. The game earned a story on the front page of The Philadelphia Inquirer along with a quarter-by-quarter breakdown of every detail of the game. The 1947 game attracted a crowd estimated in contemporary reports at "about 80,000".
By the start of the 21st Century, Franklin Field seated 52,958.
Franklin Field switched from natural grass to AstroTurf in 1969 and became first NFL stadium with artificial turf. The stadium's fifth AstroTurf surface was installed in 1993, and the current Sprinturf field replaced it in 2004. Tenants since 1958, the Eagles moved to Veterans Stadium in 1971, also with artificial turf.
Franklin Field was considered a candidate to host games for the 1994 World Cup. FIFA required that host stadiums have natural grass. Had Philadelphia been selected and Franklin Field used, the stadium would have had to return to a grass surface, or perhaps use a temporary grass field as was done at two World Cup sites—Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, and the Pontiac Silverdome in Pontiac, Michigan.
21st century
After 125 years, the original 1895 concrete stands were deteriorating badly. An extensive $44 million renovation to reinforce the concrete began in 2015. The project was staggered over multiple phases, which allowed the continued use of the stadium during renovation work. Previous coatings were removed, the failing sections were replaced, and rebar throughout the structure was reinforced. The project was completed by September 2023 and received a historic preservation award.Athletics
Football
Penn Quakers
played on Franklin Field for the first time in 1895. The University of Pennsylvania was one of the top football schools in the first years of college football. Many consider Penn to have been the national champion in college football in 1894, 1895, 1897 and 1904. Other sources identify Penn as national champions in 1895, 1897, 1904 and 1908.John H. Outland played at Franklin Field for Penn in 1897 and 1898. On October 26, 1907, Jim Thorpe and the Carlisle Indian school trounced a powerful University of Pennsylvania team, 26–6, before an overflow crowd of 20,000 at Franklin Field.
On October 26, 1918, with the Spanish flu sweeping through the city, the Penn football team played the Navy Yard's Marines football club at an empty Franklin Field with the stadium closed to fans to prevent the spread of the virus.
Red Grange set an NCAA record at Franklin Field when he rushed for 331 yards in the University of Illinois' 24–2 victory over Penn on October 31, 1925, before 67,877 spectators.
On Saturday, November 16, 2002, ESPN broadcast College GameDay from Franklin Field prior to the game between Penn and Harvard. Both teams entered the game undefeated, 5–0, in the conference. It was College GameDay's first broadcast from a Division I-AA college. Penn won the contest, 44–9, and was undefeated and untied for the season. Harvard finished 6–1 in conference, 7–3 overall.
The Penn Quakers football team played their 800th game ever at the stadium on October 4, 2008, against Dartmouth.
Philadelphia Eagles
The Philadelphia Eagles played at Franklin Field from 1958 through 1970. They moved to the stadium for the 1958 season after leaving Connie Mack Stadium: Franklin Field would seat over 60,000 for the Eagles whereas Connie Mack had a capacity of 39,000. According to then-Eagles president Frank L. McNamee, the Eagles did not pay rent for use of Franklin Field because Penn was a not-for-profit organization. Instead, the Eagles donated between $75,000 and $100,000 per-year to pay for maintenance and other expenses. The university collected all concessions and parking revenue.On October 11, 1959, NFL Commissioner Bert Bell died at the nearby university hospital after suffering a heart attack at Franklin Field during the last two minutes of the game between the Eagles and Pittsburgh Steelers.
The Eagles hosted the 1960 NFL Championship Game here on December 26, defeating the favored Green Bay Packers 17–13 in head coach Vince Lombardi's only career playoff loss. Two years earlier, the two franchises had finished second last and last in the twelve-team league: the attendance for the title game was 67,325. As the venue did not have lights at the time, the game started at noon to allow overtime to be played if required.
Two infamous incidents in Eagles history occurred at the stadium.
Santa Claus booed
During the 1968 season finale against the Minnesota Vikings on December 15, a Christmas show was planned for halftime. The struggling Eagles entered the game at 2–11, and fans were less than pleased with Eagles quarterback Norm Snead, owner Jerry Wolman, and especially coach Joe Kuharich: many fans came to the game wearing "Joe Must Go" buttons. Unfortunately, the man meant to play Santa was unable to make it to Franklin Field due to the bad weather.In lieu of the original halftime show, a 19-year-old fan named Frank Olivo was invited onto the field to toss candy canes with the cheerleaders. Frustrated by the team, the ugly wet weather, and his unconvincing beard, fans booed Olivo and threw snowballs at him. This incident is often referred to by sportscasters in denigrating Philadelphia sports fans as being so mean they booed Santa Claus. The Eagles lost the game, 24–17. Olivo continued to attend Eagles games and even made a return as Santa Claus four decades later, at the Eagles' December 27, 2009, game against the Denver Broncos at Lincoln Financial Field. This time, Olivo was not targeted by snowballs. Frank Olivo died in 2015 at age 66.