The Philadelphia Eagles decided to make a surprise announcement on Tuesday. After 25 years, the franchise decided to part ways with the longstanding name of NovaCare Complex, marking the end of an era.

“Eagles’ practice facility will no longer be named NovaCare Complex. It will now be the Jefferson Health Training Complex after the organization announced a multi-year extension of their ‘healthcare partnerships with Jefferson Health and Select Medical under the NovaCare Rehabilitation brand,'” Jeff McLane of the Inquirer reported on X.

The name change comes as the Eagles expanded their partnership with Jefferson Health and Select Medical under its NovaCare Rehabilitation brand. Under the new agreement, Jefferson Health secures naming rights to the practice facility. That explains the sudden rebrand from a name that has been synonymous with Eagles football since 2001. 

Jefferson Health will also continue as the patch sponsor on the team’s practice jerseys. While NovaCare Rehab maintains its role as the Official Physical Therapy Partner of the franchise. Eagles president Don Smolenski tagged this moment as a defining chapter in the organization’s partnership with its healthcare collaborators. 

“The Eagles and NovaCare have been authentically connected for more than 25 years,” Smolenski said. “This new multi-year deal, with one of our longest-tenured founding partners, will now carry us into the future for years to come. We are grateful for NovaCare’s support and collaboration over the past two and a half decades and look forward to celebrating many more milestones together.”

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While the facility’s exterior signage will change, what happens inside remains the same, with no renovations for now. The building was last renovated in 2020. During the pandemic, the organization made necessary adjustments to accommodate health and safety protocols. The facility features multiple weight rooms, meeting rooms, a cafeteria, spaced-out locker rooms, and pristine practice fields.

The name change is going to take some getting used to for Philly. Most people are still going to refer to it as the NovaCare Complex, at least for the next few years. It’s not a huge change in the grand scheme of things. But old habits die hard, and 25 years of calling something by one name doesn’t just disappear overnight.

However, as the Eagles renamed their practice facility, the next question on everyone’s mind naturally circles back to their stadium. What does the future of Lincoln Financial Field look like?

What’s next for Lincoln Financial Field?

The Eagles have been preparing since last offseason. The lease for Linc is set to expire in 2032. And with other teams already revamping or building new state-of-the-art stadiums, Philadelphia is shifting all its gears toward figuring out what comes next.

The franchise sent out surveys and held focus groups last May. It was to find out what fans and the city want in a future stadium. According to one attendee who participated in the focus group, the franchise is reportedly leaning more toward building a “new stadium” rather than renovating the current one. But that decision ultimately depends on state and city support.

Eagles COO Frank Gumienny stated in August that “everything is on the table” when it comes to the new stadium. The goal, according to Gumienny, is to create a venue that can “host more than just Eagles games but also concerts and major events.”

The attendee also pointed out that the franchise was genuinely invested in making the fan experience better. Especially something most Philadelphia natives hold sacred: tailgating. The Eagles were exploring ideas for a space where people could park their cars and join in a large, communal outdoor tailgate experience. ​

“That’s the kind of way they framed it, and most people were just like, ‘I’m not interested in that… we go down, we park, we tailgate on our own, and we’re happy doing it that way,'” the attendee said.

The discussion during the focus group also touched on the possibility of adding a translucent roof to Lincoln Financial Field. A feature that would allow Philadelphia to host major events like the Super Bowl or the NCAA Final Four.

The attendee noted that a translucent roof was also discussed. But it’s something that was “technologically an impossibility” at the time of those early conversations.