50 Fun Facts About Philadelphia Sports

Which team beat the Eagles in Super Bowl XV?

Oakland Raiders: their January 1981 win capped a run in which all four Philadelphia teams reached a final and only the Phillies brought a title home.

Founded in 1883, the Phillies hold what distinction in American pro sports?

Oldest one-name, one-city franchise: the club has stayed in Philadelphia under the Phillies name since the 1880s, while every older club has moved or been renamed.

In 2007 the Phillies became the first franchise in any pro sport to reach which unwanted milestone?

10,000 losses: the Phillies reached the mark against the Cardinals on July 15, 2007, then recovered to win the National League East that autumn.

Whom did the Phillies beat to win their first World Series title?

Kansas City Royals: the Phillies won in six games, Tug McGraw striking out Willie Wilson to end Game 6 at Veterans Stadium, with Mike Schmidt named Series MVP.

The 1950 'Whiz Kids', led by pitcher Robin Roberts, were swept in the World Series by which team?

New York Yankees: they swept the 1950 Series in four games, three decided by one run, with Joe DiMaggio's 10th-inning homer beating Robin Roberts in Game 2.

Which manager led the Philadelphia Athletics to all five of their World Series titles?

Connie Mack ran the A's dugout for 50 years in a business suit, and twice broke up champion teams by selling off his stars when money ran short.

Which team did the Eagles temporarily merge with in 1943 because of wartime player shortages?

Pittsburgh Steelers: every player on the combined 'Steagles' also held a full-time job in a war plant, yet the team went 5-4-1 for the Eagles' first winning season.

How did the Eagles win both the 1948 and 1949 NFL championship games?

By shutout: Steve Van Buren's touchdown beat the Cardinals 7-0 in a Philadelphia snowstorm in 1948, and the Eagles blanked the Rams 14-0 in driving rain a year later.

The 1960 champion Eagles were the only team ever to beat which coach in a playoff game?

Vince Lombardi never lost another playoff game: Chuck Bednarik tackled Jim Taylor at the nine-yard line as time ran out, and the Packers won five of the next seven NFL titles.

Whom did the Eagles beat in Super Bowl LII to win their first Super Bowl?

New England Patriots: Doug Pederson's Eagles won 41-33 in Minneapolis, sealed when Brandon Graham stripped the ball from Tom Brady for the game's only sack.

In the 'Philly Special' trick play in Super Bowl LII, who caught the touchdown pass?

Nick Foles: Corey Clement took the direct snap, pitched to Trey Burton, and Burton threw to Foles in the end zone, making Foles the first player to throw and catch a touchdown in one Super Bowl.

Whom did the Eagles beat 40-22 in Super Bowl LIX in February 2025 to win their second Super Bowl?

Kansas City Chiefs: the win denied them a third straight title and ended an odd local streak, eight straight finals lost by Philadelphia teams in presidential inauguration years.

Which team won the 1926 NFL championship, seven years before the Eagles took its place in the league?

Frankford Yellow Jackets: Pennsylvania's blue laws barred Sunday games, so the club from Philadelphia's Frankford section often played at home on Saturday and away on Sunday, going 14-1-2.

The Philadelphia Stars won the 1984 championship of which spring football league?

USFL: the Stars beat the Arizona Wranglers 23-3 in the 1984 title game under coach Jim Mora, then moved to Baltimore and won again in 1985, the league's last season.

Which Flyers goaltender was named playoff MVP in both of the team's Stanley Cup-winning seasons?

Bernie Parent won the Conn Smythe Trophy in 1974 and 1975, inspiring the Philadelphia bumper sticker 'Only the Lord saves more than Bernie Parent'.

Which Flyers enforcer set the NHL record for penalty minutes in a season with 472?

Dave Schultz: 'The Hammer' spent the equivalent of nearly eight full games in the penalty box in 1974-75, then cashed in on his fame with a local hit single, 'The Penalty Box'.

Which team left the ice at the Spectrum in 1976 in protest at the Flyers' rough play?

The Soviet Central Red Army: after Ed Van Impe flattened star Valeri Kharlamov, the Soviet coach pulled his team off in protest; they came back and lost 4-1 to the defending champions.

Which singer's recording of 'God Bless America' became a Flyers good-luck tradition starting in 1969?

Kate Smith: the Flyers first played her recording in place of the anthem on December 11, 1969, and four years later she surprised the home-opener crowd by singing it in person.

What is the name of the furry orange, googly-eyed mascot the Flyers unveiled in 2018?

Gritty: the seven-foot orange creature arrived in September 2018 with an official biography claiming that construction at the arena had disturbed his secret hideout.

What did the Phillies skip buying along with the Phanatic costume in 1978?

The copyright: the club bought only the costume from its designers, then paid them more than $200,000 for the rights in 1984 and sued them over those rights in 2019.

The 76ers franchise began in Syracuse in 1946 in which league, before the 1949 merger that created the NBA?

National Basketball League: the Syracuse Nationals joined the NBL in 1946, won the 1955 NBA title, and moved to Philadelphia in 1963, where a fan contest renamed them for 1776.

The 68-win 1966-67 76ers ended which team's run of eight straight NBA titles?

Boston Celtics: Wilt Chamberlain's 76ers beat them four games to one in the Eastern finals, then took the championship Boston had held since 1959.

Which NBA franchise played in Philadelphia from 1946 to 1962 before moving to California?

The Warriors: Philadelphia's Warriors won the first BAA title in 1947 and the NBA title in 1956, and Wilt Chamberlain scored his 100 points in their uniform in 1962 before the move west.

Which supporters group is credited with helping bring the Philadelphia Union to MLS in 2010?

Sons of Ben: named for Benjamin Franklin, the group formed in January 2007 to help bring an MLS team to Philadelphia, three years before the Union played a match.

What was the Philadelphia Union's first major trophy, won in 2020?

The Supporters' Shield: the Union finished atop the 2020 regular-season table, 14-4-5 in a pandemic-shortened season, for the club's first major trophy after losing three U.S. Open Cup finals.

The Philadelphia Atoms won the 1973 championship in their first season in which competition?

North American Soccer League: with a largely American line-up, the Atoms beat the Dallas Tornado 2-0 in the 1973 final, and goalkeeper Bob Rigby landed on the cover of Sports Illustrated.

Which of these schools was added to the Big 5 college basketball rivalry in 2023?

Drexel: the Dragons became the sixth school in 2023, when the series dropped the round-robin it had played since 1955 for two pods and a one-day tripleheader.

What nickname does Penn's home gymnasium, the Palestra, carry?

The Cathedral of College Basketball: opened in 1927, the Palestra staged the Big 5's city series from 1955 until 1986, with the five schools sharing the profits.

Which Big 5 school won the 1954 NCAA men's basketball championship?

La Salle: Tom Gola led the Explorers past Bradley 92-76 for the school's only NCAA title, and a year later they reached the final again, losing to Bill Russell's San Francisco.

Villanova shot 78.6 percent in the 1985 NCAA final to upset which defending champion?

Georgetown, the defending champion and a top seed, fell 66-64 in the 'Perfect Game' to an eighth seed that missed only six of its 28 shots all night.

Penn's basketball rivalry with the neighbouring Dragons, whose gym sits blocks from the Palestra, is known by what name?

The Battle of 33rd Street: the two campuses share a border, and the Palestra stands on 33rd Street, only blocks from the Dragons' Daskalakis Athletic Center at 34th and Market.

Which stadium hosts the Penn Relays, the oldest and largest track meet in the United States?

Franklin Field: Penn's stadium opened in April 1895 for the first Penn Relays, and it was the Eagles' home from 1958 to 1970, including the 1960 NFL title game.

Which 10-mile Philadelphia race finishes at the Navy Yard?

The Broad Street Run starts beside Central High School and ends at the Navy Yard; first run in 1980, it draws some 40,000 runners, and most must win a place by lottery.

Which annual college football game has Philadelphia hosted more often than any other city?

Army–Navy: Philadelphia, roughly halfway between West Point and Annapolis, became the game's traditional home after the series resumed on Penn's campus in 1899.

In 1968, fans of the 2-11 Eagles infamously pelted whom with snowballs during a halftime show?

Santa Claus: a snowstorm had buried the stands, and fans of the 2-11 Eagles turned on Frank Olivo, a 20-year-old fan in his own Santa suit who had been recruited as a stand-in.

What did Philadelphia install at Veterans Stadium in the late 1990s to deal with unruly Eagles fans?

A courtroom with a sitting judge: after ugly scenes at a 1997 Monday night game, Judge Seamus McCaffery held 'Eagles Court' at the Vet on game days until the stadium closed in 2003.

The 'Curse of Billy Penn' was blamed on the 1987 opening of which skyscraper?

One Liberty Place: its 1987 completion broke the gentlemen's agreement that no building would rise above the William Penn statue atop City Hall, and the title drought that followed became the curse.

Whom did the Phillies beat in the 2008 World Series?

Tampa Bay Rays: the Phillies won in five games, ending the 'Curse of Billy Penn' sixteen months after a small William Penn figurine was fixed atop the city's new tallest tower.

Hosts at which radio station founded Wing Bowl, the pre-Super Bowl eating contest held until 2018?

WIP: morning hosts Angelo Cataldi and Al Morganti of sports-radio station WIP started it in 1993 in a hotel lobby with two contestants and about 150 spectators; it grew to fill the Wells Fargo Center.

The 'Rocky Steps' lead up to which Philadelphia building?

Philadelphia Museum of Art: its 72 east-entrance steps became a tourist ritual after Rocky's 1976 training run, and the bronze statue made for Rocky III was later donated to the city and stands at the museum.

'Smokin' Joe' Frazier beat Muhammad Ali in 1971 in a bout known as what?

The Fight of the Century: Frazier floored Ali with a left hook in the 15th round and won a unanimous decision at Madison Square Garden, handing Ali his first professional defeat.

Which 2006 film dramatized Vince Papale's rise from bartender to Philadelphia Eagle?

Invincible: Mark Wahlberg played Vince Papale, who made the Eagles as a 30-year-old rookie and was voted special-teams captain; the film skips his two seasons in a rival pro league.

Which 76er was named NBA Most Valuable Player for the 2000-01 season?

Allen Iverson: he won the scoring title at 31.1 points a game, then scored 48 in Game 1 of the Finals to hand the Lakers their only loss of the 2001 playoffs.

Elton John wrote 'Philadelphia Freedom' as a tribute to which tennis star and her team?

Billie Jean King starred for the Philadelphia Freedoms in 1974; her friend Elton John sat on the team's bench in its uniform, and his tribute topped the US chart the next year.

Boathouse Row, a symbol of the city's rowing heritage, sits along which river?

Schuylkill: Boathouse Row stands on the river's east bank, and since the 1970s lights have outlined each boathouse at night, hung to revive houses that had fallen into disrepair.

The Philadelphia Quakers NHL team of 1930-31 set a league record for what?

Worst winning percentage: the Quakers went 4-36-4, a .136 mark that stayed the NHL's worst until the 1974-75 Washington Capitals, and the club never played another season.

Which Phillies pitcher threw both a perfect game and a postseason no-hitter in 2010?

Roy Halladay retired all 27 Marlins on May 29, 2010, then no-hit the Reds that October in his first postseason start, at the time only the second postseason no-hitter ever thrown.

Which short-lived 1974-75 World Football League team employed Willie Wood, pro football's first modern Black head coach?

Philadelphia Bell: Hall of Fame safety Willie Wood took over as head coach in 1975, but the league collapsed that October with his team at 4-7.

Which former Eagles quarterback served as president and co-owner of the Arena Football League's Philadelphia Soul?

Ron Jaworski, who quarterbacked the Eagles to Super Bowl XV, was president and part-owner of the Soul alongside rock star Jon Bon Jovi when they won the ArenaBowl in 2008.

The Union's home ground, Subaru Park, is in which city southwest of Philadelphia?

Chester: the Union played their first home games of 2010 at Lincoln Financial Field, then moved that June into the waterfront stadium beside the Commodore Barry Bridge.