Weightman Hall gymnasium, the stadium, and permanent grandstands were designed by architect Frank Miles Day & Brother and were erected from 1903 to 1905 at a cost of US$500,000 (equivalent to $16,955,556 in 2023).

[9] The current stadium structure was built in the 1920s, designed by Day & Klauder, after the original wooden bleachers were torn down.

Harold W. Arlin announced the live broadcast of the Pitt-West Virginia football game on October 8, 1921, on radio station KDKA.

[citation needed] Franklin Field switched from natural grass to AstroTurf in 1969 and became first NFL stadium with artificial turf.

On October 26, 1907, Jim Thorpe and the Carlisle Indian school trounced a powerful University of Pennsylvania team, 26–6, before an overflow crowd of 20,000 at Franklin Field.

[24] Red Grange set an NCAA record at Franklin Field when he rushed for 331 yards[25] in the University of Illinois' 24–2 victory over Penn on October 31, 1925, before 67,877 spectators.

[26] On Saturday, November 16, 2002, ESPN broadcast College GameDay from Franklin Field prior to the game between Penn and Harvard.

According to then-Eagles president Frank L. McNamee, the Eagles did not pay rent for use of Franklin Field because Penn was a not-for-profit organization.

[13] On October 11, 1959, NFL Commissioner Bert Bell died at the nearby university hospital after suffering a heart attack at Franklin Field during the last two minutes of the game between the Eagles and Pittsburgh Steelers.

[30][31][32] The Eagles hosted the 1960 NFL Championship Game here on December 26,[33] defeating the favored Green Bay Packers 17–13 [34][35][36][37][38][39][40] in head coach Vince Lombardi's only career playoff loss.

In lieu of the original halftime show, a 19-year-old fan named Frank Olivo (who came to the stadium already wearing a Santa Claus costume) was invited onto the field to toss candy canes with the cheerleaders.

Frustrated by the team, the ugly wet weather, and his unconvincing beard, fans booed Olivo and threw snowballs at him.

In the first season of Monday Night Football in 1970, announcer Howard Cosell was apparently drunk during the Eagles-New York Giants game on November 23.

After throwing up on color commentator Don Meredith's cowboy boots shortly before halftime, Cosell left the stadium and took a taxi back to New York City.

The Army–Navy Game was played 18 times at Franklin Field between 1899 and 1935 before moving to the larger Municipal Stadium in South Philadelphia in 1936.

Temple moved its home games to Veterans Stadium in the late 1970s but the Phillies had priority for the field for Saturdays during baseball season, which ends the last week in September.

This continued through the 2002 season, Temple's final year at the Vet before the Owls moved to Lincoln Financial Field as tenants of the Eagles.

[48] In 2016, the multi-division Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) held the second installment of its six NCAA Division III post-season bowl games (over three days) at Franklin Field for select member teams that did not make the DIII playoffs.

[51] On August 23, 1958, a Canadian Football League game was played at Franklin Field, as the Hamilton Tiger-Cats defeated the Ottawa Rough Riders, 13–7.

On June 30, 1984, the Stars defeated the New Jersey Generals, 28–7, behind two touchdowns from Kelvin Bryant; a crowd of 19,038 saw the game on a warm and overcast afternoon.

[53] A week later, the Stars downed the Birmingham Stallions, 20-10, in the Eastern Conference championship game at Franklin Field, in front of 26,616 fans.

Frank B. Ellis, chairman of Penn's track committee, was looking for an event to mark the dedication of the school's then new stadium, Franklin Field.

Stars who competed included Parry O'Brien, Ray Norton, Al Cantello, Hayes Jones, Tamara Press, Vasili Kuznetsov, Dyrol Burleson, Greg Bell, a young Wilma Rudolph, and future long-jump great Igor Ter-Ovanesyan.

Montreal Olympians at the meet included Hasely Crawford, Don Quarrie, Michael Shine and Edwin Moses.

The meet was also a chance for top runners including Houston McTear who had not been able to compete in Montreal to race against medal winners.

[64] Franklin Field was the longtime home of Philadelphia's city title high school football championship game.

[68] On August 25, 1989, a crowd of 43,356 at Franklin Field saw the US national soccer team defeat Dnepr of the Soviet Top League, 1–0; Eric Eichmann scored the lone goal in the game's 12th minute.

[71] April 14, 2012, marked the debut of Franklin Field as the home stadium for the Philadelphia Spinners in their first AUDL season.

On June 8, 1997, Franklin Field hosted Irish rock band U2 during the first leg of their PopMart tour, which was the stadium's first concert since the 1970s.

In the 2006 movie Invincible, Franklin Field served as a stand-in for the demolished Veterans Stadium, whose images were digitally superimposed on some of the football action sequences.