Sports play a very significant role in the culture of the city and the Greater Philadelphia area. Philadelphia sports fans are considered to be some of the most knowledgeable fans in sports, and are known for their extreme passion for all of their teams. Philadelphia fans, particularly Phillies and Eagles fans, have a reputation for being the "Meanest Fans in America".[2] Philadelphia's passionate and knowledgeable fans, combined with the number and extensive history and tradition of the city's teams have many times led the city to be described as the nation's best sports city.[3][4]
In addition to the major professional and college sports, numerous semi-pro, amateur, community, and high school teams play in Philadelphia. The city hosts numerous sporting events, such as the Penn Relays and the Collegiate Rugby Championship, and Philadelphia has been the most frequent host of the annual Army–Navy football game. Philadelphia has also been the home of several renowned athletes and sports figures. Philly furthermore has played a historically significant role in the development of cricket and extreme wrestling in the United States.
Philadelphia has a long history of professional sports teams. Philadelphia is one of six cities that has won at least one championship in the NHL, NFL, MLB, and NBA. Philadelphia's combined total of 19 championships in these leagues ranks seventh among North American cities in total championships.
In 1980, Philadelphia became the only North American city in which all four major sports teams played for their respective championships in one year (although the Phillies were the only team to win the championship). The Flyers' run to the 2010 Stanley Cup Finals made the city of Philadelphia the first North American city to have all four of its major professional sports league teams play in the league championship finals at least once since 2000, although the Phillies and the Eagles are the only teams to have won a championship since 2000.[8][9][10] Philadelphia has had an odd trend of losing championship games during presidential inauguration years; the Sixers, Eagles, Phillies, and Flyers collectively have an 0–8 record in such games since 1977.[11]
In 2011, the Phillies became the first team in the city's major professional sports history to finish the regular season in first place in five consecutive seasons.[12][13] Two other teams finished first during four consecutive seasons: the 1973–77 Flyers and the 2001–04 Eagles.[12] Five other teams finished first for three seasons in a row: the 1929–31 Athletics, 1947–49 Eagles, 1965–68 Sixers, 1976–78 Phillies, and 1984–87 Flyers.[12]
The city's sole existing Major League Baseball (MLB) team is the Philadelphia Phillies. Founded in 1883, the team is the oldest continuous, one-name, one-city franchise in all of professional American sports.[14] The Phillies compete in the National League East and have won the World Series twice, in 1980 and 2008. The Phillies have won eight National Leaguepennants and eleven NL Eastdivision titles. In 2007, the Phillies lost a game for the 10,000th time in franchise history; according to the Elias Sports Bureau, no professional sports franchise in any sport has lost more games.[15] For its first 30 years, the franchise often finished in the middle of the National League. Led by pitcher Grover Cleveland Alexander, the franchise appeared in the 1915 World Series and made strong finishes in 1916 and 1917. After trading Alexander in 1917, the franchise had one of the worst stretches in professional sports history, as it managed just one winning season between 1918 and 1948. The "Whiz Kid" Phillies, led by pitcher Robin Roberts, reached the 1950 World Series, but the team was swept by the New York Yankees. The team finished towards the middle of the pack for much of the 1950s and 1960s. After a down period in the early 1970s, third baseman Mike Schmidt and pitcher Steve Carlton led the Phillies to six playoff appearances in eight years. The Phillies won their first World Series in 1980, defeating the Kansas City Royals in six games. The Phillies also appeared in the 1983 World Series, but lost to the Baltimore Orioles. The franchise had just one winning season between 1987 and 2000, although the 1993 Phillies appeared in the 1993 World Series, losing to the Toronto Blue Jays. The franchise experienced a resurgence starting in 2001, though it did not make the playoffs until 2007. From 2007 to 2011, the Phillies made the playoffs for five straight seasons, winning the 2008 World Series over the Tampa Bay Rays and also appearing in the 2009 World Series. After an 11-year playoff drought, the Phillies reached the 2022 World Series, losing to the Houston Astros in six games.
The Philadelphia Athletics were founded in 1901 as one of the eight charter franchises of the American League. Like several other MLB teams, the Athletics relocated in the 1950s, moving to Kansas City after the 1954 season. The Philadelphia Athletics won the World Series in 1910, 1911, 1913, 1929, and 1930. The team won the American Leaguepennant nine times while in Philadelphia, including a 1902 pennant victory that occurred before the start of the modern World Series. The Athletics declined after their victory in the 1930 World Series, and usually finished below .500 in the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s. Having played 53 seasons in Philadelphia, the Athletics are the sixth-longest tenured team in major North American professional sports to relocate, behind four other baseball teams (the Braves, Giants, Dodgers, and Senators) and one football team (the Chargers). The Athletics would later relocate to Oakland after the 1967 season, becoming the Oakland Athletics, and plans are now in place for the Athletics to relocate to Las Vegas in 2028. Philadelphia Athletics players such as Lefty Grove, Jimmie Foxx, and Al Simmons have been inducted into the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame, as has long-time manager and owner Connie Mack, who holds the record for most games managed, won, and lost. While the Athletics played in Philadelphia, they frequently played the Phillies in exhibition games known as the City Series. However, the teams never met in the World Series, and did not play each other in the regular season until 2003 (after the introduction of interleague play).[citation needed]
Before the integration of Major League Baseball following World War II, Philadelphia was the home of numerous Negro league teams playing in various leagues. The Philadelphia Pythians played from 1867 to 1887, and were one of the top early black baseball clubs. Shortly after the end of the Civil War, the Pythians tried to join the National League but were denied membership.[16] The Philadelphia Giants were a Negro league team that played from 1902 to 1911. The Hilldale Club played as an independent and in several leagues from 1910 to 1932. The Philadelphia Tigers played in the Eastern Colored League in 1928. Two franchises played in the second incarnation of the Negro National League: the Philadelphia Stars played from 1934 to 1948, while the Bacharach Giants played in the league in 1934. In 2020, Major League Baseball retroactively extended major league recognition to seven negro leagues,[17] making the Giants, the Tigers, the Hilldale Club, the Bacharach Giants, and the Stars major league franchises for part or all of their existences. The Hilldale Club and the Stars, two of the longest lasting Negro League franchises, were both led by local postal official Ed Bolden. Hilldale was defeated in the inaugural Negro World Series of 1924 but won the following year in 1925, while the Stars won the Negro National League championship in 1934.[18]
The first game in the history of Major League Baseball was played in Philadelphia, on Saturday, April 22, 1876, at the Jefferson Street Grounds. The Boston Red Caps defeated the Philadelphia Athletics, 6–5, in the inaugural game of the National League.[19][20] These Athletics (officially known as the Athletic Base Ball Club of Philadelphia) were formed in 1860, and played in the National Association of Base Ball Players (NABBP), then the National Association (NA), and finally the National League (NL; for only one year). The Athletics won the inaugural National Association title, making the franchise the winner of arguably the first title in major league history. After the end of the 1876 season, the franchise folded, having been expelled from the National League for refusing to make a late-season road trip. Three other franchises would later use the name "Athletics", including the now–Oakland Athletics. Though the 1860–76 Athletics were the first prominent Philadelphia baseball club, the history of baseball in Philadelphia extends to even before the Athletics, as Philadelphians were playing town ball by the 1820s.[21]
The Philadelphia 76ers (commonly referred to as the Sixers) represent Philadelphia in the NBA. The franchise, which plays in the Atlantic Division, has won three NBA championships, nine conference titles, and five division titles. As of 2014, the Sixers have the third most wins in NBA history.[22] The franchise began in 1946, as the Syracuse Nationals in the National Basketball League (NBL). In 1949, the Nationals were one of seven NBL teams that merged with the BAA to form the NBA. The franchise won its first championship in 1955, as the Nationals. After moving to Philadelphia in 1963 and being renamed the 76ers, the franchise acquired Wilt Chamberlain and experienced a great period of success. The team won a then-record 68 games and the championship in the 1966–1967 season, making it the only team besides the Boston Celtics to win an NBA championship in the 1960s. The franchise missed the playoffs for four consecutive seasons in the early 1970s, and the 1972–1973 Sixers hold the NBA record for most losses in one season, with 73. However, the team quickly bounced back after it acquired Julius Erving, and Erving and Moses Malone led the Sixers to a championship in 1983. The franchise continued to experience success until the early 1990s, when it traded Charles Barkley. The Sixers missed the playoffs for seven straight seasons until the emergence of Allen Iverson, who led the team to the 2001 Finals. The team hovered around .500 for most of the 2000s decade, and missed the playoffs from 2013 to 2017.[23] However, the team has since made six consecutive playoff appearances with star center Joel Embiid. In 1996, the NBA named the 1967 and 1983 championship-winning teams two of the ten greatest teams in NBA history.
The greater Philadelphia area has had four other football teams that played in the NFL or in leagues that attempted to compete with the NFL. The Pottsville Maroons, a member of the National Football League, played in nearby Pottsville during the 1920s. In 1925, the Maroons were briefly suspended from the NFL for playing an unauthorized exhibition game at Philadelphia's Shibe Park. The team moved to Boston in 1929, but folded at the end of the season. The Philadelphia Quakers played one season in Philadelphia as part of the American Football League, a fledgling league intent on challenging the NFL as the premier football league in the country. The team took its name from the Union Quakers of Philadelphia, a local club which had been denied entry into the American Professional Football Association (as the NFL was known before 1922). The AFL Quakers won the league championship in 1926, giving Philadelphia two football championships in one year, as the Frankford Yellow Jackets won the 1926 NFL title. However, both the AFL and the Quakers folded after just one season of existence. The Philadelphia Bell was a franchise of the World Football League, which operated from 1974 to 1975 and attempted to challenge the NFL's dominance. The league was founded by Gary Davidson, who had also led the founding of World Hockey Association and the American Basketball Association, but the WFL folded after only two years and no teams were absorbed into the NFL. The Bell played its home games in JFK Stadium, and they employed the first African-American head coach in modern professional football history (retired Hall of Fame safety Willie Wood).[26]
The Philadelphia Stars were a football team in the USFL, a league that attempted to compete with the NFL for three seasons in the 1980s. The Stars, playing at Veterans Stadium, won the league championship in their second season in Philadelphia in 1983−84, but the franchise moved to Baltimore for the league's final season. The team was coached by Jim Mora, who went on to a successful coaching career in the NFL, and among its players were future NFL Pro Bowlers Sam Mills and Sean Landeta (who later played for the Philadelphia Eagles). Unlike the NFL, the league played in the spring and summer, but it folded after a failed antitrust lawsuit and an aborted attempt to directly compete with the NFL in the fall. In 2022, the Philadelphia Stars name and iconography were resurrected with a team in the new USFL (although all games were played in Birmingham, Alabama). In 2023, that league merged with the XFL to form the United Football League, which announced that the Stars franchise would not be folded into the new league.[27]
Dave Schultz, who played for the Philadelphia Flyers from 1971 to 1976, helped lead the Flyers to two Stanley Cup victories while also helping establish their reputation as the Broad Street Bullies, setting the all-time NHL record for most penalty minutes in a season (472 in 1973–74).[28]
Philadelphia has had only brief experiences with top-level hockey aside from the Flyers. The Philadelphia Quakers were a National Hockey League team that played only one full season, 1930–31, at the Philadelphia Arena. The franchise, which had moved from Pittsburgh, folded after its only season in Philadelphia, during which the club set a record for the lowest winning percentage and the longest losing streak in league history—records that stood for over forty years. The Quakers were one of several NHL teams that folded in the 1930s, leaving the NHL with just six teams between 1942 and the 1967 expansion that brought the NHL to Philadelphia and five other American cities. Len Peto attempted to bring the Montreal Maroons to Philadelphia in the 1940s, but the lack of both league support and a suitable arena prevented the Maroons from playing in Philadelphia.[33] The Philadelphia Blazers played for one season in the World Hockey Association, a league that attempted to challenge the NHL's supremacy, using a rink constructed in Convention Hall at the Civic Center (later used by the Philadelphia Firebirds of the North American Hockey League and the American Hockey League). After the 1972–73 season, the Blazers moved to Vancouver and then Calgary, but the franchise folded in 1977. Another World Hockey Association franchise, the Jersey Knights, moved in November 1973 to the Cherry Hill Arena in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, and then relocated to San Diego before the start of the 1974–75 season.[34]
The Philadelphia Union is a Major League Soccer (MLS) team that plays in the Eastern Conference. The franchise began play in 2010. The Union play at Subaru Park, a soccer-specific stadium located in Chester, Pennsylvania. The Sons of Ben is an independent supporters group that helped bring the Union to the Philadelphia area and continues to support the Union. The Union's top affiliate is Philadelphia Union II. Originally known as Bethlehem Steel FC as a tribute to the early 20th century soccer powerhouse, the team began play in 2015 in the second-level United Soccer League, now known as the USL Championship. Steel FC played its first four seasons at Goodman Stadium in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, but moved to Subaru Park for at least the 2019 season because Goodman Stadium no longer meets league stadium requirements. Steel FC was renamed Union II in advance of the 2020 season, and went on hiatus for the 2021 season. Union II returned the next year as one of the inaugural teams of MLS Next Pro, an MLS-operated third-level league made up mainly of MLS reserve sides.
The Union have also reached the U.S. Open Cup final three times, in 2014, 2015 and 2018, losing two games at home (in extra time in 2014 to Seattle Sounders FC and after penalties in 2015 to Sporting Kansas City) and once on the road (in 2018 away to the Houston Dynamo). In 2020, the Union won the Supporters' Shield, given to the team in MLS with the best regular season record, the first major trophy in the team's history.[35]
The original Bethlehem Steel F.C. was one of the most successful early American soccer clubs; the club was sponsored by the Bethlehem Steel and played from 1907 to 1930.[36] The club won league championships in two semi-professional leagues, the AAFBA and the NAFBL. For the inaugural 1921–1922 season of the professional American Soccer League, Bethlehem Steel F.C. moved to Philadelphia and competed as the Philadelphia Field Club. The team won the first American Soccer League championship, but moved back to Bethlehem and reverted to its original name. Three other franchises also competed as the Philadelphia Field Club, giving Philadelphia continuous representation in the ASL between 1921 and 1929 (although the second incarnation of Philadelphia Field Club changed its name to the Philadelphia Celtic for one season). During the 1924–1925 season, Fleisher Yarn joined the ASL, giving Philadelphia two teams. Excluding the first incarnation of the Philadelphia Field Club, the Philadelphia ASL teams experienced little success. The ASL was one of the most popular sports leagues in the country before it dissolved due to the onset of the Great Depression and disagreements with the United States Football Association and FIFA.[37] After returning to Bethlehem, Bethlehem Steel F.C. won a second ASL championship in 1927, and then played in the Eastern Professional Soccer League from 1928 to 1929, winning the league championship in both seasons. The EPSL and ASL merged after the 1929 season, but Bethlehem Steel FC folded in 1930 and the ASL collapsed in 1933. Bethlehem Steel F.C. won the US Open Cup five times, which remains a record (shared with Maccabi Los Angeles). The club also won the American Cup six times. Hall of Fame Bethlehem Steel players include Jock Ferguson, Robert Millar, Harry Ratican, Tommy Fleming, and Archie Stark, whose international record of 70 goals in one season stood for 87 years before it was broken by Lionel Messi in 2012.[38] In 2013, the Philadelphia Union unveiled a third uniform that pays homage to Bethlehem Steel F.C.[39]
Following the collapse of the ASL, soccer in the United States declined in popularity and the country lacked a major professional soccer league. In 1967, two major soccer leagues, the National Professional Soccer League (NPSL) and the United Soccer Association (USA), both began play.[40] The Philadelphia Spartans, owned by Pittsburgh Steelers owner Art Rooney, played at Temple Stadium for the NPSL's lone season. After one season, both leagues merged to form the FIFA-backed, major professional North American Soccer League (NASL). The Spartans did not make the jump to the NASL, but two different franchises later represented Philadelphia. The Philadelphia Atoms played from 1973 to 1976, winning the Soccer Bowl in their inaugural 1973 season. Philadelphia goalkeeper and Pennsylvania native Bob Rigby became the first soccer player to be featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated following the club's championship. The Atoms folded after the 1976 season, having been bought by Mexican owners whose plans to move the team to San Antonio were not approved by the league. The Philadelphia Fury played from 1978 to 1980, but were bought by Molson Brewery and moved to Montreal to become the Manic. The Atoms and the Fury both played at Veterans Stadium, though the Atoms played their final season in Philadelphia at Franklin Field. The NASL folded in 1984, leaving the United States without a top-level soccer league until Major League Soccer (MLS) began play in 1996.
Philadelphia is one of eleven U.S. cities which will host matches during the 2026 FIFA World Cup.[41]
Two teams named the Philadelphia Freedoms played in World TeamTennis, the original Philadelphia Freedoms, for which the Elton John song was written, and a second Philadelphia Freedoms team from 2001 until the league folded in 2021. Elton John and Freedoms star Billie Jean King were good friends, and John and his songwriting partner, Bernie Taupin, wrote the song for the team to be used as a team anthem at home matches in the Spectrum.[42] John was such a big fan of the Freedoms that he attended home matches wearing the team's uniform and sat on the bench with the players.[43] He recorded the song in the summer of 1974, and it was released on February 24, 1975.
WTT's inaugural season was 1974, and the Freedoms were one of the charter franchises. Teams had the opportunity to sign players to contracts prior to the draft held by the new 16-team league, and King signed with the Freedoms. She served as the team's player-coach, making her the first female head coach of a professional sports team that included male players, since WTT was a co-ed league. The Freedoms finished with WTT's best regular-season record at 39–5 in the league's inaugural season. King was the league's MVP. The Freedoms defeated the Cleveland Nets in the Eastern Division semifinals and the Pittsburgh Triangles in the Eastern Division championship series. Although King performed well in the WTT Finals, WTT Playoffs MVP Andrew Pattison was dominant for the Denver Racquets, and that proved too much to overcome, as the Freedoms were swept in two straight matches.
Following the 1974 season, WTT owners concluded it would be in all their interests to have a successful franchise in New York City, and they pressured Freedoms co-owner, Dick Butera, to trade King to the New York Sets, who were 15–29 in 1974, in a complicated deal on February 5, 1975. Upon announcing the trade, Butera said, "It's not an easy thing to let Billie Jean go. I feel like King Faisal giving away his oil wells."[42][44]
After King was traded, a group of investors that included Bob Mades, Paul Slater, Herbert S. Hoffman, Robert K. Kraft and Harold Bayne expressed interest in buying the original Boston Lobsters. However, the Lobsters franchise had already been contracted by WTT. With Freedoms owners Dick and Ken Butera far less enthusiastic about their team after trading King, the two sides struck a deal, and the Freedoms were sold on March 27, 1975, and moved to Boston. In order to claim the name and intellectual property of the original Lobsters, the new ownership group was required to settle some of the debts of the former team. Once they accomplished this, the Freedoms were renamed as the Boston Lobsters.[45][46] As a consequence, "Philadelphia Freedom" was never paid at a home match of the original Philadelphia Freedoms. King went on the win two WTT championships in New York in 1976 and 1977. The team changed its name to New York Apples after the 1976 season.
Billie Jean King and the Freedoms returned in 2001, when they became a WTT expansion franchise with King as their owner. The team first played its home matches at Cabrini College in Radnor Township, Pennsylvania and won WTT championships in 2001 (as an expansion team) and 2006. For the 2008 and 2009 seasons, home matches were played at a temporary stadium erected in the parking lot of the King of Prussia mall. From 2010 to 2016, the Freedoms played their home matches at The Pavilion on the campus of Villanova University. In 2017, the Freedoms home court moved to Hagan Arena on the campus of Saint Joseph's University, returning to play within the City of Philadelphia for the first time since 1974.[47][48]
Timeline of franchises
The timeline includes Philadelphia franchises that played in major professional sports leagues after 1900.
BaseballFootballBasketballHockeySoccer
Major professional championships, awards, and events
Philadelphia has rivalries with three of the four other major cities in the Northeast megalopolis, particularly New York City along with a long instate rivalry with Pittsburgh. Philadelphia teams also compete with teams from New York City and Pittsburgh for fans support among New Jersey and Pennsylvania residents.[49][50][51] In addition to regional rivalries, teams from Philadelphia have a number of other rivalries with teams from other cities.
Philadelphia and Pittsburgh are the two major cities of Pennsylvania and the only two cities in the state with major professional sports franchises, and the teams of the two cities have had strong rivalries in the NHL, MLB, and NFL. Perhaps the strongest current rivalry is between the Philadelphia Flyers and the Pittsburgh Penguins, both of which play in the Metropolitan Division of the NHL. The rivalry is generally considered to be one of the fiercest in the NHL.[54][55]
Although not major rivals since the 1994 MLB divisional realignment, the Pittsburgh Pirates and Phillies had historically been heated rivals in the National League, and frequently competed for the National League East division title. The Phillies and Pirates still play regularly, but are no longer in the same division. The Pirates earned their name from a 19th-century incident with the Philadelphia Athletics; after the Pirates signed second baseman Lou Bierbauer, the Athletics protested that Pittsburgh's actions were "piratical."
The Pittsburgh Steelers and the Eagles both came into the NFL during the 1933 season. Between 1945 and 1970, the Eagles and Steelers played each other every year, and the two teams met in a one-game playoff in 1947.[56] However, the Steelers moved to the American Football Conference as part of the 1970 AFL-NFL Merger, and the Eagles and Steelers only play each other every four years.
Philadelphia teams have rivalries with teams from outside of the Northeast. There is a passionate NFC Eastrivalry between the Eagles and the Cowboys, with a number of stories and memorable events surrounding the rivalry.[60] There was also a rivalry (stemming from the NFL) between the Soul and the Dallas Desperados. The 76ers enjoy an interconference rivalry with the Los Angeles Lakers. The two teams met in the NBA Finals in 1980, 1982, 1983, and 2001. The Phillies have developed a rivalry with the Atlanta Braves. The teams met in the 1993 NLCS, and the two franchises are the most frequent winners of the NL East.
The Philadelphia Soul are an Arena Football League (AFL) franchise founded in 2004. The team played in the Wells Fargo Center. The Soul won ArenaBowl XXII in 2008 before the league formally disbanded in 2009. The Soul returned in 2010 after the AFL restarted its operations as a new entity. The Soul won four conference championships and four division championships. The Soul won back-to-back championships in 2017 (ArenaBowl XXIX) and 2018 (ArenaBowl XXX), making it a total of three ArenaBowl Championships. The Soul disbanded in 2019 when the AFL folded again. In 2024, the Soul briefly returned under new ownership.
In 2017, Blizzard Entertainment announced their professional esports league for their game Overwatch, the Overwatch League (OWL). Philadelphia was home to one of the league's teams, the Philadelphia Fusion. The Overwatch League differs from traditional esports, with a set of permanent teams and regular season play, compared to the use of promotion and relegation commonly used in other esports leagues. The Fusion moved to South Korea and rebranded as the Seoul Infernal in December 2022.[62]
Both of the Flyers' minor league affiliates play in eastern Pennsylvania. The Lehigh Valley Phantoms of the American Hockey League (AHL) are the top minor league affiliate of the Flyers. The Phantoms have played in Allentown, Pennsylvania, since 2014. From 1996 to 2009, the Phantoms played in the Spectrum and were known as the Philadelphia Phantoms. The franchise won the Calder Cup in 1998 and 2005. The Reading Royals are the ECHL affiliate of the Philadelphia Flyers. The franchise was founded in 1991 as the Columbus Chill, but moved to Reading in 2001. The Royals won the league championship for the first time in 2013. The Flyers have had other affiliates in eastern Pennsylvania and New Jersey. The Trenton Titans of Trenton, New Jersey, played in the ECHL from 1999 to 2013, and served as the affiliate of the Flyers before they were bought by the New Jersey Devils. The Hershey Bears of Hershey, Pennsylvania, are the oldest continuously operating professional hockey franchise outside of the NHL's Original Six. The Bears served as the AHL affiliate of the Flyers for parts of the 1980s and 1990s.
Philadelphia has had several minor league hockey teams play in the city and the surrounding area. The Philadelphia Arrows were the first hockey franchise in city history, playing in the Canadian-American Hockey League from 1927 to 1935. The franchise changed its name to the Philadelphia Ramblers before the 1935–36 season and joined the American Hockey League, where it won the 1936 league championship (the year before the league introduced the Calder Cup). The team acted as the primary affiliate of the New York Rangers from 1935 to 1941. The Philadelphia Falcons played in the Eastern Hockey League (EHL) from 1942 to 1946, before jumping to the American Hockey League and playing as the Philadelphia Rockets from 1946 to 1949. Another franchise named the Ramblers played in the EHL from 1955 to 1964; the Ramblers moved to Cherry Hill, New Jersey and played as the Jersey Devils from 1964 to 1973. A previous EHL Cherry Hill team named the Jersey Larks had played one season in 1960–61. The Philadelphia Firebirds were a minor league hockey team that played in the Philadelphia Civic Center from 1974 to 1979. They played in the North American Hockey League (NAHL) from 1974 to 1977, winning the league championship in 1976. When the NAHL folded in 1977, they joined the AHL. The team moved to Syracuse in 1979, but folded in 1980. Another short-lived team that played in the Centrum (the renamed Cherry Hill Arena) was the Jersey Aces, which started the 1979–80 Northeastern Hockey League season in Cherry Hill but moved mid-season, playing the final 18 games of its season in Hampton, Virginia, where it continued operating until 1981.
In 2017, and starting again in 2022, the Philadelphia Rebels play NAHL tier-2 junior ice hockey.
Philadelphia has hosted several professional lacrosse teams. The original Philadelphia Wings won the National Lacrosse League (NLL) title six times, in 1989, 1990, 1994, 1995, 1998, and 2001. They were the longest tenured team in one location in the NLL, but relocated after the 2014 season to become the New England Black Wolves. In 2018, a new Philadelphia Wings, playing at the Wells Fargo Center, was launched in the NLL and named itself after the previous team.[63]
Another lacrosse franchise, the Philadelphia Barrage, played in Major League Lacrosse (MLL) from 2004 to 2008. The team won the league championship in three out of the five years they played in Philadelphia, but the franchise folded after the 2008 season. The Barrage were resurrected for the 2020 season, but MLL was merged into the Premier Lacrosse League at the end of the season and the Barrage were not included as a team in the merged league. The PLL uses a tour-based model unique in North American professional sports, in which each round of matches is played at a separate location. Since the league had 8 teams in its most recent 2022 season, this allows all teams to play at each tour stop. The semifinals and championship game are held at two additional tour stops. In the 2022 season, Subaru Park hosted the PLL championship game. In 2023, the PLL shifted to a new model in which touring would continue, but teams would also be affiliated with specific cities. The Philadelphia Waterdogs were announced as the team representing Philadelphia.[64]
Philadelphia has two defunct women's teams that played at the top level of the United States soccer pyramid. The Philadelphia Charge played in the Women's United Soccer Association from 2000 to 2003, while the Philadelphia Independence played the 2010 and 2011 seasons in Women's Professional Soccer, reaching (and losing in) the championship game each year before the league folded in 2012. Philadelphia has not yet had a team play in the National Women's Soccer League, which is currently the top women's league in the United States. However, the current NWSL side NJ/NY Gotham FC, normally based at Red Bull Arena in New York City's New Jersey suburbs, played one home game at Subaru Park in both 2021 and 2022. Presumably, this arrangement was intended to develop a fanbase in southern New Jersey.
Philadelphia has two professional ultimate frisbee teams. The Philadelphia Phoenix is the men's team, which was founded in 2013. The team played at the South Philadelphia Super Site until 2024 when their home field moved to Neumann University. The Philadelphia Surge was founded in 2023 and played at
Drexel joined Division I in 1973 and, before being officially added to the Big 5 rivalry in 2023, made up the City 6 in extramurals with the Big 5. It has its own basketball rivalry with Penn, known as the Battle of 33rd Street. The Drexel–Penn rivalry is geographically the closest in NCAA Division I; the two schools' campuses adjoin one another, and their basketball arenas are three blocks apart. Drexel has never made the Final Four, but did reach the second round of the 1996 tournament. Delaware has made five NCAA tournament appearances, reaching the second round in 2014. Delaware State has reached the NCAA tournament once, losing in the first round in 2005. Delaware and Drexel both play in the CAA, while Delaware State plays in the MEAC. Three Philadelphia schools field Division II teams: Chestnut Hill College, Holy Family University, and Thomas Jefferson University (known for sports purposes as Jefferson). The University of the Sciences also fielded a Division II team before it merged into Saint Joseph's University in 2022.
In 1939, Philadelphia hosted the first game of the first NCAA tournament.[70] Philadelphia also hosted the Final Four in 1976 and 1981.
Colleges in the area also offer club rugby teams, with most area teams competing as part of the Eastern Pennsylvania Rugby Union. The Collegiate Rugby Championship (CRC), is a college rugby sevens tournament held every June at Subaru Park near Philadelphia. The CRC is the highest profile college rugby competition in the United States, with the tournament broadcast live on NBC every year. The Collegiate Rugby Championship has succeeded in drawing media attention, corporate sponsorships and attendance.[73][74][75][76][77]
In addition to basketball, football, and rowing, schools in the Philadelphia area offer other varsity sports. Temple, for example, fields varsity teams in lacrosse, soccer, volleyball, and several other sports.[78] In 1905, Haverford College played in the first modern intercollegiate soccer match.[79]Penn'sfencing team has won three national championships. The schools also offer intramural sports.
Semi-pro, amateur, and community teams
Cricket
Cricket has a long history of play in Philadelphia, and Philadelphia was one of the last bastions of cricket in the United States.[80] Philadelphia was the center of the "golden age" of American cricket in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The Philadelphian cricket team represented Philadelphia in first class cricket from 1878 to 1913, and played against some of the top teams in the world. Players on the team include George Patterson, John Lester, and Bart King, perhaps the greatest American cricket player.[81]
Since 1993, the city has been home to the annual Philadelphia International Cricket Festival, held during the first weekend in May, benefiting the Inglis Foundation. Each year, twelve teams, including five from the area and seven from across the United States or guest international sides, are invited to participate in the festival.
Rugby union is also an increasingly popular sport in the Philadelphia area. Schuylkill River Exiles Rugby Football Club are a Division 1 men's rugby club based in Philadelphia. The team plays matches on public fields in Fairmount Park, and are members of USA Rugby and the Mid-Atlantic Rugby Football Union. The club was founded in 1995. Brandywine Rugby Football Club is a Division 3 Men's Team founded in 1983 Located in Chester county. Media Rugby Football Club is a Division 3 rugby club that was founded in 1978. Media Rugby is a member of USA Rugby and the Mid-Atlantic Rugby Football Union. The Philadelphia Whitemarsh RFC is a division 3 rugby union team in Philadelphia. The team was formed in 1985 after the merging of the Philadelphia and Whitemarsh clubs. The Hibernian RFC formed in 1976 by former Blackthorn RFC players right outside of Philadelphia, in Bucks County. The Northeast Philadelphia Rugby team, also known as the Fish, is a division 3 team in Philadelphia that was formed in 2011.
Philadelphia has a rich history in boxing, with the sport having gained popularity in the 1850s.[21] The 2300 Arena is a prominent venue, and was named 2006 Venue of the Year by ESPN2 boxing program Wednesday Night Fights. The Blue Horizon was also a popular venue before it closed in 2010. Another contribution to the city's love of boxing, comes in the form of fiction, with the classic movie Rocky taking place in the city.
The Manayunk area of the city was home to the annual Philadelphia International Championship bike race, which ran from 1985 to 2016. The main feature of the race was the "Manayunk Wall", an inclined street including all of Levering Avenue and a few blocks of Lyceum Avenue. The race may have helped promote a local economic revival, and cycling is a prominent theme of many of the shops and restaurants in the area. The women's Liberty Classic was held at the same time and over the same course.
Other sports
Tennis player Bill Tilden, widely considered one of the best tennis players of the first half of the 20th century.[99]
As of 2023, Philadelphia has the fourth-largest media market in the United States, with almost three million television homes.[104]NBC Sports Philadelphia is a cable television channel that covers Philadelphia and Delaware Valley sports. The channel carries all Phillies, Sixers, and Flyers games that are not nationally televised, along with numerous Philadelphia-area college sports events. Sister channel NBC Sports Philadelphia Plus carries games when more than one team is playing at the same time. Due to the NFL's centralized television rights format, the Eagles, as an NFC team, usually play on WTXF-TVFox, although games can also appear on KYW-TVCBS, WPVI-TVABC, WCAUNBC, ESPN, NFL Network, or streaming on Amazon Prime Video. All Union games are broadcast on Apple's MLS Season Pass. The two major sports radio stations in Philadelphia are 94.1 WIP and 97.5 WPEN. WIP broadcasts all Phillies and Eagles games, while WPEN broadcasts all Sixers, Flyers, and Union games. 1210 WPHT carries Phillies games when the Eagles are playing at the same time on WIP, and 93.3 WMMR carries Flyers games when the Sixers are playing at the same time on WPEN.
^Warren, Ken (June 2, 2010). "Two cities that could use a CUP". Ottawa Citizen. p. B3.
^Fitzpatrick, Frank (May 26, 2010). "Uniquely Successful; In this decade, all 4 pro teams reached finals". Philadelphia Inquirer. p. C1. Among those cities with teams in the four major sports (not including metropolitan regions), only Philadelphia has reached championship rounds in all four in the new millennium.
^Sielski, Mike (April 17, 2021). "Sixers–Nets can be the Philly–New York NBA rivalry we've never had". Philadelphia Inquirer. p. A1. The Sixers and Knicks haven't been good at the same time, and the Nets were just... eh. This season could change everything.
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