Should Temple Build an On-Campus Stadium?

The House That Rhule Built. How does that sound?

Temple has been renting out Lincoln Financial Field (The Linc) from Philadelphia Eagles’ owner Jeffrey Lurie for its home games since 2003. Since then, the Owls have always been good tenants. They don’t throw many parties (not many sell-outs) but they always pay their rent on time ($1 million per season). But soon, rent increases thrice as much (those pesky landlords!) and now, Temple is strongly considering building a stadium of its own.

As Rantsports’ Mike Gibson points out, now may be the time for Temple to announce plans for an on-campus stadium. Doing so by early March would allow them to have a new home, The Friendly Confines of Bernard Pierce Stadium, constructed in time for the 2018 season.

It’s cool to for a team to say that they share a stadium with an NFL team. But a smaller, exclusive stadium that fills up closer to capacity is much cooler looking than a larger, shared stadium that doesn’t fill. For Temple, the Linc doesn’t fill.

As a former student at the University of Pittsburgh (the Panthers play at Heinz Field where the Steelers play), I heard this sentence hundreds of times in a variety of ways (mostly by Penn Staters): “You can’t be taken seriously if you don’t even have your own stadium.”

And it’s true to a degree. A college football program without its own stadium is kind of like seeing a really awesome movie trailer but being disappointed when the voiceover guy says “rated PG-13.” You know the movie has a ceiling that it will never be able to exceed. It sets a limit. If your program was really, truly legit, it would need its own stadium, right?

But is it really a good idea for Temple, with an athletics department that is losing $7 million a year, to build a stadium for an estimated $100 million? This is a program that has been competitive for three of the last 25 seasons. The Owls were essentially kicked out of the Big East because they couldn’t fully commit to their football program. Sure we would like to believe they’re good now and that they’ve even reached a turning point. But realistically, why should we believe that will last?

According to a Temple media guide, Temple home games have only sold out twice at the Linc—once in 2007 and then again in 2011, both against Penn State. Since then, the highest attended game was a 2013 game against (you guessed it) Rutgers! Temple’s newest archrival.

Temple has played at Lincoln Financial Field since 2003. Before that, it played at old Veterans Stadium. And as late as 1977, it played at Temple Stadium. Yes, the Owls had their own stadium at one point. Temple Stadium shut down for unknown reasons (I can’t find it anywhere online) which was somewhat tough to believe, considering the team actually drew crowds in the 70’s.

That isn’t true anymore. But this year, the Owls play home games against Penn State and Notre Dame. One of those two games could easily outdraw all other home games combined. It’s a shame the Owls don’t play Rutgers this year in the Delaware River Rivalry/Ben Franklin Brawl/Will Smith Shootout because that would give them three games with sell-out potential. Alas.

Temple football doesn’t exactly draw capacity crowds and a new stadium doesn’t necessarily expand a fan base. It’s four hours away, but Philadelphia is still Penn State territory. Temple would need to take away from the mammoth Penn State fan base to build upon their own– an almost impossible task. But if they believe in the future of their football program, why not make the $100 million gamble?

If you build it, will they come?

Credit to Jacob Thigpen for the idea for this post.