Photo Courtesy of Eagles Nation on X.
In the year 2030 — Philadelphia will have two professional basketball teams. The WNBA announced this week that they will be adding a franchise to Philadelphia in five years. That year will also mark seventy-five years since the Syracuse Nationals lone NBA Championship. Eight years later they moved to Philadelphia and became the 76ers.
Imagine this. In the only season that an NFL franchise played it’s first game internationally — that is the only year that an NFL team played in South America and then went on to win a Super Bowl — that team is the Eagles. It actually shouldn’t take that much imagination.
You shouldn’t be surprised. Philly is that greatest football town not in th e US— but in the world.
It’s hard to say exactly why Eagle’s founder Bert Bell didn’t favor the Frankford Yellow Jackets. It could be because his own aspiring Philadelphia team — the Quaker City Union — helped to claim the City Championship in 1921 by defeating Frankford 7–0. But thanks in part to Philadelphia’s Blue Laws — the Quakers did not pursue an NFL franchise.
Photo Courtesy of Eagles Nation on X.
The Frankford Yellow Jackets didn’t obtain an NFL franchise only by being persistence in applying — but by a simple formula. They didn’t just play other teams — they annihilated them. When finally — in 1924 their wish was granted and the Yellow Jackets represented Philadelphia in the NFL — the result was much the same. Finally — in 1926 — they won an NFL Championship.
But the Great Depression left the Yellow Jackets underfunded — not just for their team but also their facilities. When Bert Bell acquired the rights to the team in 1933 — he had no intention of reviving the team that he chose not to join at the tail end of his playing career. Instead — he replaced them with the Philadelphia Eagles.
The 76ers abandonment of previous 76 Place plans shows that a Center City location for a Philadelphia Sports Team rather than a relegation to South Philadelphia isn’t just feasible — it’s possible. An immediate draw for visitors- but also an easy destination for anyone coming into the city — without adding to the congestion in South Philadelphia. The revenue from such a venture would also fund civic improvements in Center City.
Our last best chance of an extension of the Philadelphia football season was recently when the USFL re-vitalized the former 1984 World Champion USFL Stars in 2022 — but the team didn’t make the cut during the new merger and played all games away in Birmingham that season.
Could Philadelphia support another football franchise like another USFL Team?
If so — there would be no better place for it.
Tags: Brian Westbrook Frankford Stadium Frankford Yellow Jackets philadelphia stars usfl WNBA
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