It Takes A Staggering Amount Of Incompetence For A Pro Sports Team To Not Survive In Philadelphia
NurPhoto. Getty Images.The city of Philadelphia has an unhealthy obsession with our sports teams. We turn fandom into our entire personalities. It's not that we always love our teams. In fact, that's rarely the case. There are plenty of times when we hate the shit out of our own teams. But the fact of the matter is that, one way or another, we care. We care deeply. Almost too deeply, some would say.
If there is a team that represents the city of Philadelphia, then Philly is going to put all their passion into that team. That's not to say every team is going to get the same level of passion as the Eagles or Phillies or Sixers or even Flyers. But you'd really have to try to put out a product that is such utter dog shit that Philly sports fans are totally apathetic to your team.
Which is exactly what Comcast-Spectacor managed to do with the 2nd iteration of the Philadelphia Wings.
Listen. I get it. Not only is it professional lacrosse, but it's professional box lacrosse. We're not talking about the hottest ticket in the city. But still. Philly is home to some of the best lacrosse being played on the planet. It is currently home to the #1 high school lacrosse team in the country, and multiple teams in the top 25 nationally. Philly, Baltimore, Long Island. Those are the top tier lacrosse hot beds in America. So it's not like Philly doesn't care about lacrosse. It's just that Comcast made it impossible to care about this Wings team.
We've seen this with the Flyers for a decade now ever since Ed Snider passed and Comcast-Spectacor took over. Comcast treats their sports teams like assets. They do not give a shit about anything besides selling tickets and merch. Does winning help that? Absolutely. But they'll never prioritize winning over ticket sales. It's why they'll never let the Flyers actually tank. And it's why they never actually tried to put together a winning team for the Wings.
Comcast was banking on drafting college and local field players to attract enough kids to want to go to the games. Which worked at first. But after 6 straight years of being trash, nobody cared anymore. Why spend your money to go watch a team that doesn't have a chicken dick's chance at ever winning any significant game? Ownership has already proven to the fans that they don't care, so neither should the fans.
Maybe it was always destined to fail. Especially considering Comcast is building a new arena with the Sixers for 2030, and there's a WNBA team on the way. They need to drop some dead weight in the budget to pay for that new arena, and scheduling is also going to be tight in the new arena. You'll have 3 teams already taking up a bunch of dates, and then you need to keep enough dates open for events like concerts.
But at the end of the day, this is just Comcast-Spectacor proving that they are a drain on Philly sports. They aren't necessarily cheap owners, but they are soulless owners. They are corporate owners. They are owners who care more about margins and spreadsheets than they do about hanging banners. It would be great if they would sell the Flyers, too, and get someone in there who actually has a pulse. But the Wings are at least a nice blemish on their record now.