Eagles COO drops a telling quote about stadium plans and it sounds like they want public money

The Eagles have been pretty tight-lipped about the whole sports complex facelift/future stadium situation, but Chief Operating Officer Frank Gumienny just sat down with the Philadelphia Business Journal, and one particular line feels like it’s worth circling in red ink.

Eagles COO dropped a telling quote about stadium plans:

“I think most of Philadelphia knows our lease [at the city-owned Lincoln Financial Field] runs through 2032. That’s both far away in some ways, and not so far away in others. Right now, we are just starting to gather information. Everything is on the table.”

You don’t have to read too deep between the lines here. When “everything is on the table” that’s essentially front-office speak for yes, we’ll at least explore public money. When pressed on it, Gumienny didn’t exactly slam that door shut. In fact, his answer basically laid out why he thinks the Eagles deserve it.

“Every ticket has a 5% amusement tax that goes to the city. There are also parking taxes and liquor taxes. Every major event we have done here has brought a very sizable amount of tax dollars to Philadelphia. That will continue.”

This is how most stadium deals work, even in 2025.

Public investment is pitched as a long-term payoff, usually financed through one-time measures that can hit outsiders instead of local taxpayers like when Philly used a 2% car rental tax to help build the Linc and Citizens Bank Park 20+ years ago.

Back then, the city dropped $300 million, the state added $170 million, and private money covered the rest.

The difference now is the fact that the 76 Place saga changed the optics.

The entire world is in “eat the rich” mode.

The Sixers realized that and then swore that they would pay every penny themselves for 76 Place. It also doesn’t help that five major new arenas, Chase Center, Intuit Dome, SoFi, T-Mobile Arena, UBS Arena, were all built without public money.

Here in Philly, when you add in the SEPTA funding in crisis and state budget debates raging, the “why should we subsidize billionaire toys when mass transit is falling apart?” argument is louder than ever.

It’s not just the Eagles, either. The Flyers, Sixers, Phillies, and even the Steelers are all going to be in similar spots soon. Acrisure Stadium’s lease is up in 2030, just two years before The Linc, so if Harrisburg cuts a check for one, you better believe the other is going to be part of the same conversation.

The Eagles might not need public funding, but this quote makes it pretty clear they’d be happy to take it. Whether Philly and Pennsylvania are in the mood to play ball… well, that’s a much bigger fight coming down the road.

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