Temple paid over $4.5 million to the Philadelphia Eagles and related entities that manage Lincoln Financial Field in 2022, the third year under a five-year lease extension that the two entities announced in February 2020, according to public documents reviewed by OwlsDaily. The Owls played seven home games in 2022.
For Temple, the per-game cost of playing at the Linc jumped significantly in 2022 as compared to 2021, when it paid roughly $2.85 million for a six-game home schedule. The average cost increased from slightly over $475,000 per contest in 2021 to more than $665,000 per game in 2022.
The University’s itemized expenditures are detailed in an annual report submitted to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Included in that report are payment records to vendors across all financial units, including the athletic department. The most recent available report covers the fiscal year 2023, from July 1, 2022 through June 30, 2023.
Temple paid $4,655,884.00 to Eagles Stadium Operator LLC in FY2023, according to the report. The total payment is debited under two budget lines – $4,500,000 under Intercollegiate Athletics and $155,884 under the Office of the President.
In FY2022, the second year under the aforementioned five-year lease extension, Temple paid a total of $2,861,476.85 to Eagles Stadium Operator LLC. In FY2021, that figure was $2,783,498.78.
The Linc’s rent has ballooned since the expiration of Temple’s original 15-year lease that ran from 2003 through 2017 and a pair of one-year extensions to the original lease.
In FY2020, Temple paid a total of $1,033,735 to Eagles Stadium Operator LLC and Philadelphia Eagles LLC. In FY2019, Temple paid a total of $1,075,669 to those two entities. Rent for those two years was paid under the terms of the one-year extensions.
The University’s Commonwealth Reporting Requirements document is not readily available for FY2018 or FY2017, Temple’s final two years under the original Lincoln Financial Field lease signed in 2003. The report for FY2016 indicates that Temple paid $564,353 to the Eagles entities that year.
The Owls played three non-conference home games in 2022, hosting Lafayette, Rutgers, and UMass. Temple paid $301,500 for its one-time meeting with Lafayette, according to the report, and paid $175,000 to Rutgers and $150,000 to UMass, both games being part of home-and-home series with those teams.
In previous years, Temple paid $300,000 to Wagner and $250,000 to Boston College for non-conference home games in 2021; paid $250,000 to Bucknell, $250,000 to Georgia Tech, and $225,000 to Maryland for non-conference home games in 2019; and paid $275,000 to Villanova and $150,000 to Buffalo for non-conference home games in 2018. The Owls did not play any non-conference games in 2020.
Overall, the Temple athletic department paid $18,663,950.41 to vendors in FY2023, a $3.9 million increase (26.3 percent) over the previous fiscal year. The largest line item besides the stadium expense was a $1.3 million payment to Nike in its third year as the official uniform and apparel vendor for the athletic department. Another line item of note, the Owls paid $70,000 to Wagner for the men’s basketball team’s 2022-23 season opener at The Liacouras Center, which Wagner won in overtime.
