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The new stadium being constructed in South Philadelphia for the Philadelphia Eagles finally has a name. It WILL be referred to as Lincoln Financial Field and ONLY as Lincoln Financial Field. But more on that later.
Under the terms of the agreement announced on Monday, June 3, 2002, by Jon A. Boscia, Chairman and CEO of Lincoln Financial Group, Jeffrey Lurie, Chairman and CEO of the Philadelphia Eagles and Joe Banner, President of the Eagles, the team will receive $139.6 million over the next 20 years. This is an average of $6.7 million per year.
Lincoln Financial Group relocated its headquarters to Philadelphia from Ft. Wayne, Indiana in 1998. The company currently employs approximately 1200 people in Philadelphia. It sells annuities, life insurance, 401(k) plans, mutual funds and other financial services. Its assets total nearly $98 billion and its revenues amounted to $6.4 billion in 2001.
The deal is part of Lincoln Financial's strategy to significantly raise their national (and indeed local) name awareness. In fact, when the deal was first announced, few local residents had ever heard of the company, which was established in 1905. By most accounts, the deal represents a win-win situation for both the Philadelphia Eagles and the Lincoln Financial Group. Considering some of the names that could have been given to the new stadium, depending on their choice of partner, the name is quite acceptable. That, however, is the good news.
Corporate sponsorship of sporting arenas and stadiums is nothing new. It has been around for several years. The high costs of operating sports teams and sports venues, when combined with the potential marketing exposure to a company, made these sponsorships inevitable. For most fans, their first exposure to this practice began with the annual college bowl games, which began to see sponsorships in the mid 1990's. It was college football that first brought us the likes of the Humanitarian Bowl, the Weed Wacker Bowl, the Gallery Furniture Bowl, and the Outback Bowl (which to many is just too much of a reminder of the privies of the past).
For every sporting arena or stadium sponsorship that both makes sense and sounds at least somewhat attractive, such as Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, another sounds totally ridiculous and sometimes totally offensive. You just need to look at how fast the Houston Astros recently moved to change the name of their new ballpark from Enron Field despite a long-term contract.
Here in Philadelphia, we have seen first-hand that arena names are only as sure as the stability of the sponsoring company. When the Philadelphia Flyers named their new arena the CoreStates Center in 1995, few thought that within three years it would be renamed the First Union Center following the sale of Philadelphia-based CoreStates Financial Group to First Union Financial of Charlotte, NC. Surely executives of First Union cringe whenever the arena is referred to by its new nickname, the "F.U. Center." Now, four years later, the arena is looking forward to another new name, the Wachovia Center, following the 2001 merger of First Union and the Wachovia Corporation of Winston-Salem, NC. What was once a name with long-standing ties to the Greater Philadelphia region will soon become a name that most folks won't even be able to spell.
All of this brings us back to the new home of the Philadelphia Eagles, Lincoln Financial Field. In announcing the agreement with the Philadelphia Eagles, Lincoln Financial Chairman and CEO, Jon A. Boscia, stressed his company's firm desire that the fans and media of Philadelphia not refer to the stadium by anything except the full name of "Lincoln Financial Field." Mr. Boscia's explanation is two-fold. In citing that his company is the only company to use the name of former president Abraham Lincoln with the express permission of the Lincoln family, Boscia feels it is a matter of dignity and respect for the former president that the name not, in any way, be shortened into a nickname. (Clearly, "The Linc" is not something considered acceptable to Mr. Boscia.)
In addition, Mr. Boscia sees this as a matter of respect for his company's investment of $139.6 million. Clearly, "The Linc" does not immediately cause one's mind to think of the Lincoln Financial Group or the services that they provide. Moreover, old "Honest Abe"...excuse me, former president Abraham Lincoln.. and his family name must be respected.
What about respect for the 29,000 or so Eagles ticket holders who are paying a total of about $50 million for their personal seat licenses? What about respect for the long-time season ticket holders who found out in late May that their tickets were cancelled because they did not pay for their season tickets exactly on time? (Little matter that, for many years, late payments were readily accepted.)
So, Eagles fans and local media are being asked to respect the name of Lincoln Financial Group. So be it. The new stadium will open in August of 2003. It will be a grand opening at a state-of-the-art football venue. I'm looking forward to it. I'll see you there...at the "Eagles' Nest." Tell a Philadelphian what to do? Yeah, right.