Big East football already has a bit of an inferiority complex. The last thing it needs is to be playing conference games inside a stadium with a capacity only slightly larger than that of the Bucknell Bison.
Big East Teams Concerned About Villanova’s Soccer Stadium Plans
That seems to be the sticking point for some of the conference’s teams on the eve of Villanova’s announcement as to whether or not they plan to move their football program to the FBS level and join the Big East. As such, the school has reportedly postponed its vote and announcement in order to figure how to sway those concerned parties.
The chief sticking point, according to the source, is Villanova’s plan to use PPL Park in Chester, the 18,500-seat home of the Philadelphia Union, as its primary venue.
PPL Park would be the smallest stadium in the league. Potential plans to increase the seating capacity to roughly 30,000 have not convinced all the Big East schools to support the move.
At the moment, the smallest venue in the conference is Cincinnati’s Nippert Stadium at 35K, though plans are reportedly in the works to expand it. That would make the divide between Villanova and the rest of the conference that much bigger.
The current FCS football team plays in Villanova Stadium, which seats 12,500. Temple currently plays their home games at Lincoln Financial Field and don’t seem willing to split time with the Wildcats. Nearby Franklin Field, home of the Penn football team, seats 52K and could be a good stopgap if schedules worked, but there has apparently been no discussion between the two.
That leaves an expanded PPL Park as the only viable option. Villanova will probably need to get expansion plans in writing from PPL and its owner, Delaware County, in order to appease those Big East teams concerns. Do that and there shouldn’t be any more stumbling blocks for the Wildcats to jump over.
Unless, of course, you count winning FBS football games once they get there.
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