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Monday, June 8, 2009
Judge: Eagles Owe The City $8 Million

A Common Pleas Court judge this morning ruled that the Philadelphia Eagles owe the city $8 million in skybox revenue from the former Veterans Stadium.  The other cleat is expected to drop next week in the long-running legal battle when Judge Albert W. Sheppard Jr. is expected to rule on how much the city owes the Eagles from a 2001 pre-season game that was canceled due to field conditions at the Vet.

The legal tussle drew media attention like linemen on a fumble when the Eagles went to court in March, claiming they had a secret deal with then-Mayor John Street to settle the skybox and canceled game disputes for less than $1 million.  Street then claimed that there was no secret deal.

Sheppard ruled in August 2005 that the Eagles owed the city money for the skyboxes but didn't set an amount.  He also ruled that the city owed the Eagles an amount "to be determined" for the canceled pre-season game.  That amount will be set next week.

UPDATE, 1:10 pm:  It appears the Eagles are going to come out of this dispute owing the city somewhere between $0 and $3 million, if next week's ruling by Sheppard tracks with recent negotiations concluded by attorneys for the Nutter administration and the football team.

Mathieu Shapiro, an attorney for the Eagles, said he anticipates that Sheppard will rule next week that the city owes the team somewhere between $5 million and $8 million for the missed pre-season game.  Shapiro said of the negotiations: "A lot of hard work went into this on both sides."  The Eagles have no plans to appeal, he added.

That echoed sentiment expressed by Mayor Nutter a few minutes ago.  "I'm certainly very, very pleased that this particular part has been resolved," Nutter said of today's ruling. "I appreciate all the efforts that anyone has made with regards to this matter. There's been a lot of back and forth. There's been a lot of time and effort spent dealing with this."

Posted by Chris Brennan @ 12:28 PM  Permalink | 88 comments
Comments   
Posted 12:47 PM, 06/08/2009
yahmpy
The city will then owe the Eagles 8mil, and the only people that will suffer are the kids when they have no pools or libraries. Meanwhile, John Street will have walked away laughing with his cut.
Posted 12:48 PM, 06/08/2009
GoBirds77
Serves them right. Jeffrey and Joe
Posted 12:51 PM, 06/08/2009
holmie54
The city owes the Eagles / the Eagles owe the city......they probably spent 8 mil in legal fees, call it a wash.
Posted 12:53 PM, 06/08/2009
James
The clown judge prince will say the city owes the Eagles 8M for the cancelled preseason game in 2001 and the lawyers will walk over to Reading Terminal to laugh it off over pastrami sandwiches and beer.
Posted 12:53 PM, 06/08/2009
GreenOrangeRedBlueBlood
Don't think for one minute that the Eagles will claim as "little" as $8M for their loss!!
Posted 12:54 PM, 06/08/2009
karbase8
The Eagles owe it to this city to pay the 8 million and beyond, all the support the fans and this city gives them, the police department, etc, we are in despearate need of the money, pay up.
Posted 12:54 PM, 06/08/2009
FMJKD66
This all could have been setteled out of court if Jeffrey and Joe weren't such penny pinchers.
Posted 01:01 PM, 06/08/2009
sumdumshmuck
The Eagles should be fined for Charging FULL PRICE for a Glorified Practice Game. They should be sued for FRAUD.
Posted 01:04 PM, 06/08/2009
hotmale_59405
This is the second time that the Eagles have been found to owe the city 8 million dollars, this time it should also have included interest on the original 8 million since the last ruling!
Posted 01:04 PM, 06/08/2009
idiotbox
the city is gonna get the shaft on this one. watch the judge rule that the city owes the Eagles 10 mil.
Posted 01:09 PM, 06/08/2009
MoBayYankee
How much do you want to bet The Eagles'Jeffrey and Joe will say the City owes the the Eagles from the Vet situation, you guessed it, $8 million. LOL
Posted 01:10 PM, 06/08/2009
cusoraider
They won't pay. Jeff and Joe Don t care about the city and they don't care about you.
Posted 01:10 PM, 06/08/2009
bh12801
The Eagles will owe 8 mil, the city will owe 8 mil, and the lawyers will charge 8 mil on both sides for dealing with this. The lawyers always win.
Posted 01:12 PM, 06/08/2009
didderbops
Banner in an orange jump suit...one can only hope
Posted 01:13 PM, 06/08/2009
rich42
I will be SHOCKED if the Eagles pay the city.
88 comments | View All Comments | View All By Latest
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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Catherine Lucey
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