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Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Judge: Eagles Owe City $3 Million In Skybox Money

A Common Pleas Court judge just ruled that the city owes the Philadelphia Eagles $5 million for a 2001 preseason game at Veteran's Stadium that was canceled due to problems with the playing surface.  Senior Judge Albert Sheppard Jr. ruled last week that the Eagles owe the city $8 million in revenue from skyboxes in the 2000 and 2001 seasons at the former stadium.  That means the long dispute, which resulted in dueling lawsuits in 2004, has been settled with the city to receive $3 million from the team.

"I'm definitely pleased that the matter has concluded," said Mayor Nutter, calling the whole matter "unfortunate" while praising the team as a great corporate citizen.  The case turned nasty in March when the Eagles went to court, claiming they had a previously undisclosed deal with then-Mayor John Street to settle the dispute for less than $1 million.  The team had said the missed preseason game cost the team $8 million, the exact amount the city said it was owed for the skyboxes. Street denied that he had approved a secret deal, saying he would have demanded it be put in writing if that had happened.

The city and the team started negotiating a deal after that dust-up.  An attorney for the Eagles last week said the team expected Sheppard to rule this week that the city owed the Eagles between $5 million and $8 million, based on the recent negotiations.  "The judge has determined that it is fair," Nutter said when asked what he thought of the settlement. "I'm satisfied with that.  The matter is over."

In the March court filing, the Eagles said they had hoped a quiet deal with Street's administration would help the team avoid "negative publicity" from the dispute.  That didn't happen.  Eagles spokeswoman Pamela Browner Crawley this morning said the team is glad to be done with the court battle.  "While it wasn’t the easiest decision to make, we wanted to come to a conclusion," Crawley said. "So this is exactly where we wanted to be."

Posted by Chris Brennan @ 10:30 AM  Permalink | 35 comments
Comments   
Posted 10:58 AM, 06/17/2009
tonyS
Hopefully those jerks will pay up quickly.
Posted 11:00 AM, 06/17/2009
NJBites
What a waste of time...
Posted 11:20 AM, 06/17/2009
merl1n
Watch what happens now. The Eagles will say, "We might move to Jersey", as they can't appeal. As for payment? They *should* pay ASAP, but probably not. Shame that the payment won't have interest tagged with it....
Posted 11:26 AM, 06/17/2009
chasing history
This whole mess irked me from Day 1. The Eagles had a legitimate gripe about the canceled game, but they signed a contract with the city for the skybox revenue. Again, the only people who made money are the lawyers. I hope the city charged interest on that 3 million.
Posted 11:33 AM, 06/17/2009
heinz guderian
why did it take eight years to resolve this?
Posted 11:39 AM, 06/17/2009
jacksplat
First we get robbed by Vinnie, now it's the EAGLES!! Shame on them. This would never ever happen with the Steelers and Pittsburgh!
Posted 11:42 AM, 06/17/2009
heinz guderian
pittsburgh also probably wouldn't have let three rivers fall into such disrepair that a game had to be cancelled
Posted 11:48 AM, 06/17/2009
Fernando08
Is it a coincidence that McNabb's bonus is equal to the city's obligation to pay the Eagles? Looks like that Eagles have a dedicated source of funding for this type of Largess courtesy of Phila Tax Paypayers. Thanks, Mr Lurie, please do not ever think of asking for another penny for any reason from the city.
Posted 11:52 AM, 06/17/2009
drnnat
Stupid Eagles ownership. Too bad it took a court to settle a dispute that seemed so obvious, Never a dispute over the facts, just trying to stiff the city. Dont you just love billionaire team owners?
Posted 12:24 PM, 06/17/2009
ahab
Yes, there were several important factual disputes involved here. But now that it's settled, will the busybodies please STFU about it?
Posted 12:26 PM, 06/17/2009
safetydan
The Eagles had no choice but to hold out to make the city compensate them for the canceled game. If they had paid the $* Million they owed do you think the city would ever pay them the $5 Million for the canceled game?
Posted 12:31 PM, 06/17/2009
ynot716
The Eagles shouldn't have went off a handshake and the city should have paid up for what was obviously their fault and error many years ago. In the end the taxpayers have a little more come out of their paychecks in the long run to settle something that should have been done by each party on their own.
Posted 12:45 PM, 06/17/2009
NathanielMerriweather
Let me get this straight. The Eagles owe the city $8 million but only have to pay $3 million? And the Mayor is satisfied with that? Cool -- next time I get a parking ticket I think I'll just pay $10 instead of the $26.
Posted 12:53 PM, 06/17/2009
SlinkTMP
The Eagkles agreed to pay after the city worked out the final numbers. The city wanted the full 8 million and then they were going to pay the Eagles back. Philly chose not to not work out a deal. SafetyDan is 100 % correct on this. People are lucky to get money back from the city now when it is owed to them. Do you really think the city of Philadelphia would have paid the 5 million to the Eagles after the Eagles gave them the 8 million? Come one people, wake up to Philly politics. Amazing how a business that makes money needs to pay, but the government that ONLY spends more money than it makes get the free pass on this. STOP ELECTING THE SAME OFFICIALS INTO CITY COUNCIL and maybe they won't take multimillion payouts of YOUR money in the DROP program.
Posted 12:55 PM, 06/17/2009
SlinkTMP
NathanielMerriweather... both side owed each other money. The 3 million is the difference, which is all the Eagles were after all along.
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About Chris Brennan and Catherine Lucey
PhillyClout
Chris Brennan, a native Philadelphian and graduate of Temple University, joined the Daily News in 1999. He has written about SEPTA, the Philadelphia School District, the legalization of casino gambling, state government, the mayor, the governor, City Council and political campaigns.

Catherine Lucey joined the Daily News in 2002. Since then she has written about murderous drug gangs, political protesters and Harry Potter. For the past two years, she covered the 2007 mayoral election. Now that the battle is over, she has moved down to the City Hall bureau where she will report on the Nutter administration.

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