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Taking the Bait and Responding to the Hypothetical of Building a New Eagles Stadium at Franklin Mills Mall
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I’ve seen this post at least 25 times in the last week, as every Philadelphia Eagles Facebook fan page, real or fake, American or Chinese, shares it for the cheapest of clicks:
Not sure what’s more offensive here, the fact that artificial intelligence or rogue photoshopper places Franklin Mills in the heart of Philadelphia, or that it looks like a mashup of MetLife and the old Georgia Dome (RIP). The bubble roof looks like Penn’s indoor practice facility and it was created with the flayed skin of the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man.
Anyway, there’s a “full article” that goes to some fake Chinese site called “Hot News 247 US,” with a social blurb reading like this:
“Building a new stadium for the Philadelphia Eagles at the former Franklin Mills Mall site (now Philadelphia Mills) presents several key advantages.
Firstly, the location offers excellent accessibility due to its proximity to major highways like I-95 and the Pennsylvania Turnpike, as well as significant existing parking infrastructure, which could alleviate traffic and parking concerns often associated with urban stadium locations.
Secondly, the large, relatively flat parcel of land provides ample space for a state-of-the-art stadium complex, including potential for ancillary development such as retail, entertainment, or hotel facilities, creating a year-round destination. Finally, developing at this site could revitalize a previously underutilized commercial area, generating new jobs and tax revenue for the city and surrounding communities, and offering a more suburban game-day experience that might appeal to a broader fan base.”
Playing along for the sake of the exercise, you do have plenty of parking here. No doubt about that. Tailgating an Eagles game in Northeast Philadelphia would be the pinnacle of human experience for many, like a pigskin nirvana of sorts. The Birds and the great northeast go together like white on rice.
It’s also true that Woodhaven Road is the connector of 95, the Roosevelt Boulevard, and the turnpike. Driving here would not be any worse than the current shitshow at the sports complex. There’s no public transit though, just a train line through Trenton with a nearby stop at Cornwells Heights. So the urbanists would probably hate this idea.
As for space, there’s enough, but it does get residential pretty quickly up there. You have a creek running behind the east side of the site, and a golf course, while the other side of Knights Road is full of classic northeast rowhomes. The other side of Woodhaven is similarly residential with houses and apartment complexes. Honestly though, not sure how much closer they would be to a possible arena site than the people living in South Philly now, near the sports complex. We’ll have to send Pagan out there with a tape measure.
Anyway, can we be honest with each other? I don’t hate it! Theoretically, this would look a lot like the Patriots’ digs up in Foxboro. You’re slightly off 95, a huge stadium with tons of parking surrounded by a shopping mall and some restaurants. It’s not exactly close to civilization, but that didn’t stop hordes of people from showing up when the Pats were winning title after title. If you build it, and the team is good, they will come.
This has a 0.001% chance of this happening, our guess, but it could be an option if South Philly doesn’t work out and the Birds take their talents elsewhere. You never know!
Kevin has been writing about Philadelphia sports since 2009. He spent seven years in the CBS 3 sports department and started with the Union during the team's 2010 inaugural season. He went to the academic powerhouses of Boyertown High School and West Virginia University. email - k.kinkead@sportradar.com