Sports in Philadelphia (swimming, best, pay)

[rotodome]

Originally Posted by scosm

I see Union stuff around - bumper stickers and paraphernalia - and I have seen it on TVs in bars in University City. The Septa buses will often have signs of "Go Union!" on the front electronic board. I don't go around quizzing people about their knowledge of the Union (maybe I should), but I think lots of people have heard of them. Some maybe have a vague knowledge of them, but they are broadcast on CSN, so sports fans probably will have seen at least a sliver of the games.

I really like the logo and jerseys. The colors are based on the colors of the Philadelphia flag and the logo has the snake from the Don't Tread on Me flag. You guys need to check this stuff out!

Yeah...maybe that explains it. If I ever saw someone wearing one of these things out of the corner of my eye, I would probably mistaken it for a Police Academy, or P.A.L., or maybe AFSCME District Council 33 T-shirt!

Philadelphia Union Navy adidas Soccer Primary One T-Shirt

[BajanYankee]

Smooth looking shirt. I may have to get one of those.

The Flyers have the best jerseys in the NHL. I can't wait until Starter jackets come back in style. I've got a Flyers jacket I've been waiting to break out since '93.

[kidphilly]

PHILADELPHIA UNION "DOOP" SONG!-2011 MLS PLAYOFF VS DYNAMO 10/30/11 - YouTube

[Marius Pontmercy]

Originally Posted by Trip33

As stated by all, the Union might be the 5th most popular sports team in the city. They certainly rank above the Soul (Arena football) or the Wings (lacrosse). They enjoy a very dedicated fan base though.

As far as the most common sport being played by youths? I would say basketball which probably has to do with the abundance of public court, simplicity of equipment (a ball) and availability of pick-up games. In my neighborhood (northeast), a lot of kids will play street hockey during the winter and wiffle or stick ball in the summer; but they pretty much all play basketball.

A lot of soccer in South Philly though. Some of the fields are big enough for a soccer pitch. In West Philly too. It comes with the immigrant populations. The latinos and west africans mainly, because that's the most popular sport over there.

[soug]

Overall, I do think soccer is catching on these days. During this whole Euro Cup phenomenon these past few weeks, I've seen tons of posts on my FB newsfeed of people talking about "sides" and saying this or that team "are" rather than "is" doing really good/bad/whatever. And all of these posts are from people I would've never suspected of being into soccer. Then again, there's always the bandwagon factor.


PS: it drives me crazy that people who grew up here are talking about "sides" and using the British plural for proper nouns!

[rotodome]

Originally Posted by BajanYankee

I would probably rate MLS popularity slightly above the WNBA. To be honest, I haven't even thought about the WNBA since those "We Got Next!" commercials. MLS seems to be the same way. I'm sure I've seen commercials for New York's team, but by and large, nobody really cares. DC United is a bit more popular, but they still take a major backseat to the Skins, Wizards, Nats and even the Caps.

Although people in NY just don't really care about local sports the way people in Philly do. Probably in no small part becuase so many people in NY just aren't originally from here. Hell, the Mets don't even sell out games, even with the size of the city. Or like when the Giants won the Superbowl recently, it was just another day, and lots of people didn't even know it happened. But if the Eagles had won the Superbowl (I know - lol!), or like when the Phillies won the WS, it was like a mega-holiday in Philly that practically shut the whole city down.

[Trip33]

Originally Posted by Marius Pontmercy

A lot of soccer in South Philly though. Some of the fields are big enough for a soccer pitch. In West Philly too. It comes with the immigrant populations. The latinos and west africans mainly, because that's the most popular sport over there.

I don't doubt this all; makes perfect sense to me. Ironically, I would guess that the least played sport (informally) would be football which by ratings is the 1st or 2nd most popular sport for TV and attendance. So, what does that tell you about TV ratings vs what people actually play themselves?

[Mr Yuk]

Despite attendance or popularity, the Soul are the best football team in Philly, though.

And the Sixers sudden popularity is pure bandwagon, because nobody cared about the Sixers before this year. I think they were right below Temple football on the popularity list. Maybe Jimmy Rollins was right when he said Philly fans can be frontrunners...

[Mr Yuk]

The Union have nice unis, but I think the sponsor would kill my desire to ever own one...

[gwillyfromphilly]

Originally Posted by Mr Yuk

Despite attendance or popularity, the Soul are the best football team in Philly, though.

And the Sixers sudden popularity is pure bandwagon, because nobody cared about the Sixers before this year. I think they were right below Temple football on the popularity list. Maybe Jimmy Rollins was right when he said Philly fans can be frontrunners...

What are you talking about. Of course there will always be people who jump on the bandwagon but there are many loyal 76ers fans in the Philly area. 76ers fans are far from being fair weather unlike some other NBA teams that I am not going to name. (hint:The team that just won the Championship)