December 20, 2022
The Philadelphia Eagles are in the midst of a season that will go down as one of the organization's most impressive, well-rounded and exciting runs in team history. Philadelphia sports fans have been living in a dream state since September, watching in awe as Jalen Hurts and company pile up wins, amassing a 13-1 record heading into Christmas Eve's showdown with the Cowboys.
For owner and CEO Jeffrey Lurie, the Eagles' success is further vindication of the decision he made to purchase the team from Norman Braman in 1994. The $185-million price Lurie paid was the most for any pro sports team at the time.
The franchise is worth about $4.9 billion in 2022, according to Forbes' index of NFL team valuations. It's safe to say Lurie, who's also an Oscar-winning movie producer, made a wise assessment of the risk.
Lurie joined Bloomberg's Jason Kelly for a rare and ranging interview on his recollections of buying the team and his philosophy as an owner over the years. The "Business of Sports" podcast was recorded earlier in the season, before the Eagles surged to the top of the NFL's standings, but Lurie offers insight into the mindset that has made his team one of the league's most consistent winners since he took the reins.
In the 1980's, Lurie had been working for General Cinema Corp., his grandfather's national movie theater chain that had grown to become a conglomerate with companies in publishing, insurance, retail and consulting. Lurie's insight into the entertainment industry, through his founding of film- and TV-venture Chestnut Hill Productions, gave him a gut feeling about where the NFL was moving as a business in the mid-1990s.
"This was at a time when satellites were emerging. Paid TV was emerging. And there were so many ways of being able to distribute sports, similar to hit-making with movies," Lurie says. "It allowed me to probably not overanalyze the buying of the Eagles and not get paralyzed by it — just go for it."
When Lurie purchased the team, he remembered the Wall Street Journal publishing a front page story that criticized him for spending too much.
"They ridiculed me, and said this must have been a passion purchase — one that was emotionally driven and had no basis in value," Lurie says. "I'm pretty young at the time, 42, and I thought, jeez, they're probably right."
Lurie reveals that he had made the purchase without ever visiting the team's facilities, in part because Braman wanted to keep a low profile about selling the Eagles. He had been the owner since 1985, overseeing a few solid runs that never sustained momentum. Lurie quickly saw that part of the problem was that the team's facilities were atrocious.
"The first day I get to the offices in Veterans Stadium, in the bowels of Veterans Stadium, no windows, gloominess everywhere, not a particularly good football team — and I go to the weight room and see where the players are. It's not enough for more than three people at a time, maybe, no place for one to talk to the organization or the players," Lurie says. "I'm thinking, this is the NFL?"
Over the next several years, Lurie pushed for the construction of the NovaCare Complex, which opened in 2001, and Lincoln Financial Field, which debuted in 2003. By then, the rebranded, midnight-green Eagles had already turned around into one of the league's top teams. The tandem of head coach Andy Reid and quarterback Donovan McNabb, the highest-drafted Black quarterback in NFL history when he was chosen second overall in 1999, made the Eagles a perennial threat. They managed to maintain stability even through change, a hallmark of Lurie's ownership.
Lurie says McNabb set the tone for what he came to value in choosing an Eagles quarterback.
"It's very important that whoever is playing quarterback for us represents the team and the community really well," Lurie says. "On the other hand, do I wish we drafted Tom Brady in the fifth round? Uh, yeah. We talked about him. Do I wish we drafted Russell Wilson in the second round? Yeah, I do. You're going to miss out on certain players, but you've got to be resilient. We have always tried to get really superior people that have a lot of physical talent — and so yes, I do value mobility in a quarterback. Especially in today's game, where you've got so many great athletes on defense."
Lurie gives every indication that he expects 24-year-old Jalen Hurts, whose rapid maturation has the Eagles in Super Bowl contention again, to become the face of the franchise.
"Jalen Hurts, right now, you can't ask for a better representative of a franchise in terms of his character and focus and all of that," the owner says.
In contrast to some owners, like the Dallas Cowboys' Jerry Jones, it's not often that Lurie, 71, puts himself in the spotlight with interviews and other appearances. He is not the type to go on the radio to riff about the Birds.
"It's much more wanting to embrace the fans directly, not through gatekeepers," Lurie says. "I always saw sports talk radio as interesting, valuable for fans, but it's a very different business. We're in the business of trying to win big, have a great organization, represent the community in a great way. We're not into wanting to monetize drama, or monetize conflicts."
Lurie talks about his controversial decision to sign Michael Vick after he was released from prison and his admiration of socially engaged players, like Malcolm Jenkins. He also discussed his role in producing Questlove's Oscar-winning documentary, "Summer of Soul," and the possibility that his son, Julian Lurie, could take over as the Eagles owner one day.
Nearly 30 years into his run with the team, Lurie feels he has connected with the fanbase in Philadelphia because of the way he's approached his job as an owner.
"I think the fans and people of Philadelphia really appreciated an owner or a CEO that was willing to give his all — that really wanted to have a great franchise they could be proud of," Lurie said. "They've embraced me ever since. I feel like it's been an incredible relationship between the city and myself in 20-odd years, and devoting every day to try to make the team or the organization better, and stay humble."
