Polygraph

The stadiums in Philadelphia, Atlanta, Tampa, Indianapolis, and Arlington, Texas are owned by public entities.

Posted by Behind the Bastards, Checked

Polygraph verdictTrue
Sources
7 support1 context
Said
1 time·
Confidence
80%
Behind the BastardsOct 3, 2026
View on Podcast ↗
Video frame
206 claimsThe check →

The sources consistently show all five stadiums are owned by public entities: the City of Philadelphia (Lincoln Financial Field, with a public structure per one source), the Georgia World Congress Center Authority (Mercedes-Benz, Atlanta), the Indiana Stadium and Convention Building Authority (Lucas Oil, Indianapolis), Hillsborough County (Raymond James, Tampa), and the City of Arlington (AT&T Stadium).

This claim is about the present, so it is judged as of the day it was checked.

What was said

… I think one of them, you said, is owned by the state of Florida. Yeah, so I can, like, dive into a little bit of the details on that. There's specifically this, the stadiums that are in Philadelphia, Atlanta, Tampa, Indianapolis, and Arlington, Texas. They're not all operated by public entities, but they are all owned by public entities, between, you know, city, county, and state. But in the examples where they are privately operated, it's like the Atlanta Falcons or the Philadelphia Eagles, but that, you know, I reached out to these different groups, and in some cases they tried to push it onto the operators. …
Behind the Bastards · · from the transcriptPost →

What we found

Supports. A DePaul ownership study lists AT&T Stadium as owned by the City of Arlington, Texas, and a 2025-published analysis of NFL stadium ownership identifies it as city-owned rather than team-owned.[1][2]

Supports. A structured ownership table identifies Mercedes-Benz Stadium as held by the Georgia World Congress Center Authority, a state instrumentality, and Lucas Oil Stadium as held by the Indiana Stadium and Convention Building Authority, a state agency.[3][4]

Supports. Reporting on the Macklemore dispute says Lucas Oil Stadium and Raymond James Stadium are publicly owned and operated, and that Lincoln Financial Field, Mercedes-Benz Stadium, and AT&T Stadium are publicly owned but privately leased and operated.[5]

Supports. A social media compilation and an ownership guide identify Lincoln Financial Field as owned by the City of Philadelphia and Raymond James Stadium as owned by Hillsborough County, Florida, though these are lower-credibility sources.[6][7]

Context. The Eagles and Falcons operate their home stadiums under leases or stadium agreements, which is the 'not all operated by public entities' nuance the post itself acknowledged; this does not contradict public ownership.[3][8]

Sources

8 sources: 1 primary, 7 not rated

  1. 1Convergence and Divergence in Stadium Ownership Structuresvia.library.depaul.edu · primary source · cited for: supports
  2. 2Who Owns NFL Stadiums: Teams, Cities, or Taxpayers?legalclarity.org · not rated · cited for: supports
  3. 3Why Was Macklemore Dropped From Ed Sheeran’s Tour? Kraft ...sherafy.com · not rated · cited for: supports, context
  4. 4Who is behind the stadiums hosting Ed Sheeran but ... - TRT Worldtrtworld.com · not rated · cited for: supports
  5. 5Did Macklemore's ouster violate the First Amendment? One ...wgbh.org · not rated · cited for: supports
  6. 6Gillette Stadium: built with private funding by billionaire ...x.com · not rated · cited for: supports
  7. 7Who Owns Lincoln Financial Field? (2026)whoistheownerof.com · not rated · cited for: supports
  8. 8Mercedes-Benz on target with superlative about Atlanta stadium rightsapi.politifact.com · not rated · cited for: context

Where this claim was made

Said in 1 published post

How Polygraph checks a claim

Our Weekly Newsletter

The Readout

The week's most-shared posts, checked. What they claimed, how they argued, and what held up.

Unsubscribe any time. See our privacy policy.