With the Philadelphia Phillies’ season underway, the Philadelphia 76ers about to embark on a playoff run after another successful season, and the Philadelphia Eagles always generating a buzz within the city, the Philadelphia Flyers have found themselves in a rather peculiar position of not even being in top four of Philadelphia’s sports franchises; with the Philadelphia Union of the MLS having become slightly more popular than the Flyers. The Union went all the way to the Conference Finals of the MLS Cup Playoffs last year before falling to New York City FC, while they are currently unbeaten in six games this season and sitting at the top of their conference. The Flyers, on the other hand, are about to miss the playoffs in back to back seasons for the first time since the early 1990s, on top of playing mediocre hockey for the last 12 years.
For awhile the Flyers were yo-yoing with the Phillies for the 3rd spot as both teams had struggled for the better part of the last decade as the Phillies’ post-season drought has reached 10 years. The best thing for the Phillies is that amongst the top four sports leagues in North America (NFL, NHL, NBA, MLB), they play in the summer without any real distraction or interference from the other sports. The 76ers have recently become a championship contender, so they take a lot of the media attention until May or June, depending on how far they advance. The Eagles are the kings of the city and with their draft coming up, that will take some media attention as well, but for the most part the Phillies are unbothered.
The Union have really catapulted into the hearts of the Philly faithful and it just goes to show that the city really roots for a winner or at the very least, a team that is trying to win. Sadly, that is something the Flyers haven’t done in recent years, and after their failed rebuild during the Ron Hextall era, the patience has completely worn off. The last two seasons have been some of the worst in franchise history and that’s coming from a team that qualified for the playoffs on a regular basis up until 2012. Chuck Fletcher and co. have done too much to re-tool and quick-fix the team that it has fallen completely flat as they sit 28th in the NHL out of 32 teams. Attendance has dropped, fans have stopped watching, and there really isn’t anything to hold onto for, even the most optimistic fans.
The Eagles won the Super Bowl in 2018, went through a quick rebuild and managed to make the playoffs this past season. They missed on several picks in the last few years, none bigger than drafting Jalen Reagor over Justin Jefferson, but selecting DeVonta Smith in 2021 was a step in the right direction. The Eagles were slated to have three first-round picks in the upcoming draft but they ended up swapping picks with the New Orleans Saints, ensuring they have 2 first rounders this year and next year. It might only be the draft but it’s still excitement nonetheless, something the Flyers haven’t been able to generate.
The 76ers went through the grueling “process” but have come out on top with one of the best players in the NBA in Joel Embiid. Ben Simmons didn’t work out but in his stead they brought in another superstar in James Harden, giving them the heavy edge in popularity amongst the teams that play in the Wells Fargo Center. The 76ers were inches away from potentially defeating the Toronto Raptors in 2019, lost in disappointing fashion in the Eastern Conference Semifinals to Atlanta last year, and after finishing with the second-best record in the Eastern Conference (tied with 2 other teams), they are set to tip-off this weekend against the Raptors once more. Unlike the Flyers’ rebuild, the Sixers actually did it the right way and are currently reaping the rewards.
The Phillies went big in 2019 when they signed both Bryce Harper and Zack Wheeler. They were both top free agents at their respected positions and that represented a big push by a generally lackadaisical front-office. The Phillies always come close to making the playoffs, but end up collapsing in September when things truly matter. This off-season represented an even bigger push as the front office dipped in their luxury tax as they signed Kyle Schwarber and Nick Castellanos with Harper pushing for both. The Phillies have an MVP, a Cy Young-calibre pitcher, and several all-stars amidst their group as the 2022 season has a lot of promise and has set the city abuzz. The Flyers’ 2021 off-season was a big one as well but they made too many changes trying to replace certain players, instead of adding to the fold like the Phillies did.
The Union struggled in their first eight seasons as they only qualified for the playoffs twice and only advanced as far as the Quarterfinals just one time. In their last three seasons, things have changed dramatically as they have finished in the top three of their conference, including a first place finish overall in 2020. 2021 was the furthest they ever advanced in the playoffs, falling in the Conference Finals and even though playoff success hasn’t found them just yet, they are currently 5-0-1 (W-L-D) to start their 2022 campaign and are actually setting the city afire with their play and excitement.
Coming from Toronto, I always thought that the Flyers and Maple Leafs were on par within their cities, however I was sadly mistaken. Needing Flyers apparel, memorabilia, or gear wasn’t as easy to find as I thought. Everywhere I went the Eagles had their own section, the Phillies had their own section, the 76ers even had their own section, while the Flyers had tiny corner with the most vague options to choose from. My best bet was to get anything and everything from the Wells Fargo Center fan shops and kiosks. In Toronto, the Maple Leafs will always take the cake, similarly to the Eagles. The media attention for the Leafs is so high that most of the country despises them solely because of their notoriety. No matter how well the Toronto Raptors or the Toronto Blue Jays do, the Maple Leafs will always be at the top even after missing the playoffs in 11 of 12 seasons from 2005-06 to 2015-16, not advancing past the second round since 1998-99, and of course holding the longest Stanley Cup drought in the NHL since 1967. The Blue Jays have finally taken back the Canadian summer with their strong finish last year and then elongating that buzz with their off-season moves. The Raptors have been consistent for awhile, even winning it all in 2019, and even though they are about to embark on another playoff run against the 76ers, all eyes will be fixated on what the Maple Leafs do on the ice after yet another strong regular season campaign.
From 1967-68 to 2011-12, the Flyers missed the playoffs only eight times, with five of those coming in consecutive seasons from 1989-90 to 1993-94. Since 2012-13, they’ve missed the playoffs 6 times and it’s the first time in back-to-back seasons since 1993-94. They became the first team in North American sports history to alternate between missing and making the playoffs in a 10-year span and over that time they really put their fans through a roller coaster of emotions. They went from aggressively re-tooling to barely fulfilling a true rebuild back to aggressively re-tooling; all the while never learning from their past mistakes. The brown paper bag era began this year, the empty seats left the Wells Fargo Center dead quiet during games, and even though COVID had some sort of impact on attendance, it’s not as big as some claim it to be.
The 76ers, who share the arena with the Flyers, have the second best attendance in the NBA in 2021-22, further indicating the point that the Philly faithful will ride behind you as long as you give them something to cheer for. It’s not all about winning, it’s about effort and trying to put together the best team possible with an eye towards the future as well as the present. The Eagles play in one of the worst divisions in the NFL and have a slew of picks to better themselves from last year, the Phillies loaded up as they’re going all in, the 76ers have been championship contenders for quite some time now, and the Union have stolen the show with their improvements over the last few years and the general buzz that soccer has created in the United States.
That’s not to say that the Flyers aren’t a popular team in the city, or that they can’t get back to where they were in the early 2000s and 2010s, but they have a lot of work to do to win back the fan base. Winning will go a long way, which is the case for most sports teams and cities except maybe the Florida Panthers (2nd in the NHL, 24th in attendance), but also solidifying a plan for the future is what the fans are hoping for at the moment. The aggressive re-tool isn’t what is required and the current trajectory of the team screams rebuild, however it seems like we have to patiently wait things out yet again and see if maybe the third time is the charm. Long gone are the days of Eric Lindros, Simon Gagne, and Mike Richards, where you knew the Flyers were going to make the playoffs, you just didn’t know how far they’d advance. Now that Claude Giroux has found himself on a different team, the Flyers plan to forge into a new era of hockey, and hopefully it’s a successful one that brings back the buzz around the city.
