The Philadelphia Eagles franchise is one of the most prominent in not only the NFL but American sports. As a team playing in a division with the New York Giants and Dallas Cowboys, the Eagles are often featured in primetime and have one of the most zealous fanbases. So who owns this high-profile team, and how did he come to acquire the Birds?
Who Is the Philadelphia Eagles’ Owner?
Jeffrey Lurie purchased the Eagles franchise on May 6, 1994, for $195 million. An avid Boston sports fan, the motion picture productions businessman was initially involved in bidding for the New England Patriots just one year earlier before the team was bought by Robert Kraft. Lurie was also in talks to purchase the Los Angeles Rams and invest in the Baltimore Ravens before landing the Eagles.
Lurie received his undergraduate degree from Clark University, a master’s degree from Boston University, and his Ph.D. from The Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University. He started off his career in education as a professor at BU before venturing into the world of Hollywood business.
In 1985, he founded Chestnut Hill Productions and has since produced two Oscar-winning films, Inside Job (best documentary film) and Inocente (best documentary short film).
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In the late 1990s, Lurie and the team’s top brass decided the organization’s physical spaces were in need of an upgrade, and he began working towards building a brand new training facility and stadium for the franchise. In 2001, the Eagles opened the NovaCare Complex in South Philadelphia, a state-of-the-art facility that still houses the team’s headquarters.
In 2003, the team unveiled Lincoln Financial Field, a stadium that not only hosts the Eagles’ NFL games but a variety of other high-profile entertainment events as well.
The team has been largely successful during Lurie’s stewardship, reaching the postseason 16 times in 29 seasons, including four trips to the NFC Championship game, two Super Bowl appearances, and one Lombardi Trophy.
Lurie has also done a great job hiring head coaches and general managers during his tenure. Andy Reid was one of the most successful coaches in franchise history, Doug Pederson won a Super Bowl with the team, and Nick Siriani is off to a roaring start as one of the league’s brightest young offensive minds.
The veteran owner also launched the Eagles Autism Challenge, a foundation that has successfully raised millions to help support research and care programs.
Jeffrey Lurie’s Net Worth
While estimates vary, Forbes lists Lurie’s net worth at $4.4 billion. That number has benefited from the substantial rise in the value of the Philadelphia Eagles since Lurie took over the organization, as the team is worth far more than the $195 million he initially invested.
How Much Are the Philadelphia Eagles Worth?
In August 2022, Forbes released a list of values for every NFL team, and the Eagles landed within the top 10. According to the business media company, the Eagles are worth $4.9 billion, a whopping 25 times more than when Lurie made his initial purchase and 29% more than in 2021.
The Eagles are the 10th most valuable franchise in the league, falling behind the Las Vegas Raiders ($5.1 billion), San Francisco 49ers ($5.2 billion), New York Jets ($5.4 billion), Washington Commanders ($5.6 billion), Chicago Bears ($5.8 billion), New York Giants ($6 billion), Los Angeles Rams ($6.2 billion), New England Patriots ($6.4 billion), and Dallas Cowboys ($8 billion).
The Eagles’ operating income is reportedly $144.8 million.
History of Lincoln Financial Field
Ground was broken on the construction of Lincoln Financial Field in 2001. The stadium was unveiled to the public two years later and has been the home of the Eagles ever since. The roughly 70,000-person venue is also the home stadium of the Temple Owls football team.
The Lincoln Financial Group purchased the naming rights to the stadium for almost $140 million for a period of 21 years, a deal that would’ve expired in 2023 before an extension was signed prior to the 2021 NFL season. The company now holds the naming rights to the stadium through 2032.
In addition to Eagles and Owls games, Lincoln Financial Field also frequently hosts Army-Navy football games and Philadelphia Union Major League Soccer exhibition matches and is set to host soccer matches when the 2026 FIFA World Cup comes to North America.
A variety of high-profile performance artists have also entertained sold-out crowds at the storied stadium. Just scratching the surface of the list produces some of the world’s most famous entertainers, including The Weeknd, Coldplay, Beyoncè, Jay-Z, The Rolling Stones, Taylor Swift, Kevin Hart, Luke Bryan, the Zac Brown Band, and Bruce Springsteen.
Brief History of the Philadelphia Eagles
The Philadelphia Eagles were founded in 1933 as an NFL expansion team. The franchise won its first NFL Championship 15 years later in 1948 but didn’t win its first Super Bowl until the Doug Pederson-led Birds defeated the New England Patriots in the big game in 2017.
The team has an all-time winning percentage of .493, 19th in the league, but has been one of the NFL’s more successful organizations since 2000. The Eagles have reached the postseason 14 times in the last 23 years and have had just four full-time head coaches in that span.
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The Eagles’ longest run of irrelevance was from 1961 to 1977, when the team missed the playoffs in 17 straight seasons following its 1960 NFL Championship victory. Since 1977, the Eagles’ longest postseason drought is just six seasons, and the team hasn’t gone more than three years without a playoff berth since 1988.
The team’s all-time winningest and longest-tenured head coach is Andy Reid, who donned the green and white from 1999 to 2012 and coached 224 games with the Eagles, winning 130. He won the AP Coach of the Year Award in 2002 and, given his success with both the Eagles and Chiefs, is widely considered to be one of the greatest head coaches in NFL history.