Franklin Field

Lore & Background

Franklin Field was built for and dedicated on April 20, 1895, for the first running of the Penn Relays. The reconstructed and expanded Franklin Field opened on September 26, 1903. The current stadium structure was built in the 1920s, designed by Day & Klauder. Franklin Field was the first college stadium in the United States with a scoreboard and the second with an upper deck of seats. In 1922, it was the site of the first radio broadcast of a football game on WIP, as well as of the first television broadcast of a football game by Philco. The 1936 Democratic National Convention was concluded at Franklin Field, where President Franklin D. Roosevelt delivered his acceptance speech. Franklin Field switched from natural grass to AstroTurf in 1969 and became the first NFL stadium with artificial turf.

Reader's Guide

Franklin Field is located at the eastern edge of the University of Pennsylvania's campus in Philadelphia. It is used by Penn students for recreation, intramural and club sports, including touch football and cricket; it is also the site of Penn's commencement exercises, weather permitting. The stadium seats 52,958 as of the start of the 21st century. An extensive $44 million renovation to reinforce the concrete began in 2015 and was completed by September 2023.

Did You Know?

• Franklin Field hosted the NFL Championship Game in December 1960, as the Eagles defeated the Green Bay Packers by four points.
• Franklin Field was considered a candidate to host games for the 1994 World Cup, but FIFA required natural grass.