Philadelphia, PA - Philadelphia is known as the City of Brotherly Love, but it has always been a solid sports city in the US. It is increasingly becoming a great city for smaller sports teams from more niche sports. The Philadelphia Union is one of those smaller teams who have captured the attention (and hearts) of Philadelphians as they have slowly but surely risen to prominence.
Joining In On The Action
Fans who want to take their appreciation of the team to the next level can join in on the action in a number of different ways. The home stadium for the Philadelphia Union is Subaru Park, formerly known as PPL Park and Talen Energy Stadium, in Chester, Pennsylvania. Subaru Park hosts several different sport event types, including rugby, college football, lacrosse, ultimate frisbee, and drum and bugle corps. It is famous for being a fun and well-managed stadium on game day.
Fans can also get in on the action by using the best MNF sports betting platforms. Now that online sports betting is increasingly becoming legal in more and more US states, there are more opportunities than ever before to place bets on certain outcomes, players, and games. This can give fans a greater sense of participation or investment in the play and lead to a more intense and closely watched viewing experience.
The Philadelphia Union
Launched in 2008, the Philadelphia Union is a soccer club based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. They play in US Major League Soccer tournaments, and in 2021 they placed second in the Eastern Conference and sixth in the Playoffs. The club finished as runners-up in the 2014, 2015, and 2018 US Open Cup tournaments, and in 2020 the Union won the Supporter’s Shield, an award given to the Major League Soccer team with the best regular season record, for the first time ever.
The Union’s primary rivalry is with DC United, the soccer club from Washington DC, although they also have rivalries with the New York Red Bulls and the Seattle Sounders, which is surprising given Seattle’s clear superiority and the huge distance between the two. The team is sponsored by Adidas, Bimbo, and Subaru. They run a number of different youth development teams, including the Philadelphia Union Academy and YSC Academy, to develop talent for the team.
Over the years, some of their top players have been Antoine Hoppenot, Sébastien Le Toux, Andre Blake, Pedro Ribeira, Charlie Davies, and Keegan Rosenberry. The current top players for the team are Matt Freese and Matthew Real, who are both Americans, followed by Jack Elliot, Jakob Glesnes, Dániel Gazdag and Mikael Uhre, who are all from either England or EU countries. The diversity of the team reflects the diversity of the city of Philadelphia and adds a certain dynamism to the team, which is lacking in others.
Over the years, they have been coached by Piotr Nowak, John Hackworth and Jim Curtin. The team has really matured under Curtin, and they are now enjoying their highest ever win rate. The future of the team is looking bright as it continues to grow from strength to strength and develop more of a fan base in Philadelphia and throughout the East Coast. As a sign of the team’s strength, it defeated DC United 7-0 and set a new record this last July.
Soccer in America
Soccer has always been one of the less popular games in America, a country that is obsessed with sports. Americans have been reluctant to pick up soccer in part because they are never ranked particularly highly internationally, and they love games that have really high scores rather than low scores or ties.
On top of that, soccer is not really ideal for marketing in the way that American football is. There are many long breaks in football, but in soccer, there is only halftime, which is often filled with sports commentary rather than advertisements. This means that advertisers are generally less interested in supporting soccer teams.
However, since around 2010, a number of small, regional soccer teams have formed across the United States and have grown in popularity. These are teams such as the Portland Roses, the Seattle Reign, and Philadelphia Union. These teams have developed intense regional fans, and it is possible that we could see a very exciting shift towards mainstream acceptance of soccer in the next 50 years. Only time will tell, but the United States could one day become a titan in the world of international soccer, watch out, FIFA!
