Veterans Stadium
| "The Vet" | |
 An aerial view of Veterans Stadium in 2002. Construction work on Citizens Bank Park is visible in the lower right.
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| Location | 3501 South Broad Street Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19148 United States |
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| Coordinates | 39°54′24″N 75°10′16″W / 39.90667°N 75.17111°WCoordinates: 39°54′24″N 75°10′16″W / 39.90667°N 75.17111°W |
| Owner | City of Philadelphia |
| Operator | Philadelphia Department of Recreation |
| Capacity | Baseball: 61,831 Football: 65,352 |
| Field size |
Baseball: Left field — 330 feet (100 meters) Left center field — 371 feet (113 meters) Center field — 408 feet (124 meters) Right center field — 371 feet (113 meters) Right field — 330 feet (100 meters) Backstop — 54 feet (16 meters) (2003) |
| Surface |
AstroTurf (1969–2000) NexTurf (2001–2003) |
| Construction | |
| Broke ground | October 2, 1967 |
| Opened | April 10, 1971 |
| Closed | September 28, 2003 |
| Demolished | March 21, 2004 |
| Construction cost | US$63 million ($373 million in 2017 dollars) |
| Architect |
Hugh Stubbins & Associates George M. Ewing Co. Stonorov & Haws |
| Structural engineer | McCormick Taylor & Associates, Inc. |
| General contractor | McCloskey & Co. |
| Tenants | |
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Philadelphia Phillies (MLB) (1971–2003) Philadelphia Eagles (NFL) (1971–2003) Philadelphia Atoms (NASL) (1973–1975) Philadelphia Fury (NASL) (1978–1980) Philadelphia Stars (USFL) (1983–1984) Temple Owls (NCAA) (1978–2002) |
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| Designated | September 28, 2005 |
Veterans Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium in Philadelphia, in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. It was located at the northeast corner of Broad Street and Pattison Avenue, as part of the South Philadelphia Sports Complex. The listed seating capacities in 1971 were 65,358 seats for football, and 56,371 for baseball.
It hosted the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League (NFL) from 1971 to January 2003 and the Philadelphia Phillies of Major League Baseball from 1971 to 2003. The 1976 and 1996 Major League Baseball All-Star Games were held at the venue. The Vet also hosted the annual Army-Navy football game seventeen times, between 1980 and 2001.
In addition to professional baseball and football, the stadium hosted other amateur and professional sports, large entertainment events, and other civic affairs. It was demolished by implosion in March 2004 after being replaced by the adjacent Citizens Bank Park and Lincoln Financial Field. A parking lot now sits on its former site.
As early as 1959, Phillies owner Bob Carpenter proposed building a new ballpark for the Phillies on 72 acres (290,000 m2) adjacent to the Garden State Park Racetrack in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. The Phillies' then-home, Connie Mack Stadium, was starting to show its age (it had been built in 1909), had inadequate parking, and was located in a declining neighborhood. Furthermore, in 1959 alcohol sales at sporting events were banned in Pennsylvania but were legal in New Jersey. The proposed ballpark would have seated 45,000 fans, been expandable to 60,000 and would have had 15,000 parking spaces.
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