Philadelphia has one of the United States' longest and richest traditions in professional, semi-professional, amateur, college, and high school sports. The city is one of twelve cities that host teams in each of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada, and one of just four cities in North America in which one team from every league plays within its city limits.
The four major sports teams are the Philadelphia Phillies of Major League Baseball (MLB), the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League (NFL), the Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League (NHL). Each team has played in Philadelphia since at least the 1960s, and each team has won at least two championships. Since 2010, the Philadelphia metropolitan area has also been the home of the Philadelphia Union of Major League Soccer (MLS), making the Philadelphia market one of only nine cities in North America to host a team in the five major sports leagues. Prior to the 1980s, Philadelphia was home to several other notable professional franchises, including the Philadelphia Athletics, the Frankford Yellow Jackets, the Philadelphia Warriors, the Philadelphia Quakers, Philadelphia Atoms, and the Philadelphia Field Club.
Sports play a significant role in the culture of the city and the surrounding area. Philadelphia sports fans are known for their passion for their teams. Philadelphia fans, particularly Phillies and Eagles fans, have a reputation for being the "Meanest Fans in America". Philadelphia's fans, combined with the history and tradition of the city's teams have often led the city to be described as the nation's best sports city.
Metropolitan Philadelphia hosts several college sports teams as well. The Philadelphia Big 5 is an informal association of college basketball programs in Philadelphia, historically consisting of La Salle University, the University of Pennsylvania, Saint Joseph's University, Temple University, and Villanova University and also including Drexel University as of the 2023–24 school year. These six schools, along with Delaware State University and the University of Delaware, all represent Greater Philadelphia in NCAA Division I, while several other area schools field teams in other divisions of the NCAA. Temple and Delaware field the lone Division I FBS football teams in the region, though many Philadelphia fans root for other programs, such as the Penn State Nittany Lions.
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, and has played a significant role in the development of cricket and extreme wrestling in the United States.
Professional teams
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.
The Eagles, Flyers, Phillies, and 76ers all play their home games in the South Philadelphia Sports Complex within the city. The Eagles currently play at Lincoln Financial Field, commonly referred to as "The Linc", built in 2003. The Phillies play at Citizens Bank Park, which opened in 2004. The Flyers and 76ers share the Xfinity Mobile Arena, which opened in 1996. All three venues are within walking distance of NRG Station on SEPTA's B line, and have close access to Interstates 76 and 95. The Philadelphia Union play their home games at Subaru Park in Chester, a Philadelphia suburb roughly southwest of the city.
Philadelphia also has historically been home to relocated and defunct franchises. The Philadelphia Athletics, now the Athletics, of MLB, the Philadelphia Warriors, now the Golden State Warriors, of the NBA, and the Frankford Yellow Jackets of the NFL each played in Philadelphia for over a decade. Other former Philadelphia teams, including the Philadelphia Quakers of the NHL, have been more short-lived. The Warriors currently play in the San Francisco Bay Area, while the Athletics are currently playing in Sacramento until they move to Las Vegas.
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 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 in the 21st century. Philadelphia had an odd trend of losing championship games during presidential inauguration years until recently; the Sixers, Eagles, Phillies, and Flyers collectively had an 0–8 record in such games from 1977 until 2021. On February 9, 2025, however, the Eagles broke the so-called Curse of the Inauguration, winning Super Bowl LIX just twenty days after the second inauguration of Donald Trump.
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. Two other teams finished first during four consecutive seasons: the 1973–77 Flyers and the 2001–04 Eagles. 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. Club League Division Venue Location Founded Titles Head coach / manager General manager MLB NL East Citizens Bank Park Philadelphia 1883 2 Don Mattingly Sam Fuld NFL NFC East Lincoln Financial Field Philadelphia 1933 5 Nick Sirianni Howie Roseman NBA Atlantic Xfinity Mobile Arena Philadelphia 1946 2 Nick Nurse Elton Brand NHL Metropolitan 1967 2 Rick Tocchet Daniel Briere MLS Eastern Subaru Park Chester 2010 0 Bradley Carnell Ernst Tanner WNBA Eastern New South Philadelphia Arena Philadelphia 2030 0 TBA TBA
Baseball
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. The Phillies compete in the National League East and have won the World Series twice, in and . The Phillies have won eight National League pennants and eleven NL East division 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. 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, and have appeared in the playoffs for the past four seasons.
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 , , , , and . The team won the American League pennant 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). Under the current MLB regular season scheduling structure, the Athletics play one series in Philadelphia against the Phillies in even-numbered years.
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. 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, 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.