PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Some consider Major League Baseball’s All-Star Week in July to be the slowest week of every sports year. It brings none of the live sporting events that typically occur during that week, especially from a Philadelphia sports standpoint.
But this year, a large number of Philadelphia Union and other soccer fans pushed back on the notion that it’s a slow sports week.
Even though they also aren't playing during the MLB All-Star break, Union fans' general point was how their first-place team is coming off a three-match winning streak and preparing for their next match at Orlando City on Saturday.
“It makes me happy,” Union head coach Jim Curtin said of their fans pushing back on the premise.
“Nobody knows the fan base better than me. They send me stuff too when I make a bad substitution too. You know how Philly is. They’ll call you out on things.”
The Union’s last four seasons have been the most successful of their 13 years in existence. Fans pack Subaru Park for home games with a growing fan base. This year’s team is drawing the most fans at Union home games since 2014.
The argument captain Alejandro Bedoya often makes is Philadelphia is a “five for five” sports city rather than “four for four,” which signifies the Eagles, Sixers, Phillies and Flyers, but not the Union.
“We’ve been fighting this fight for a while, to try to earn our respect within the Philly mainstream media, especially in the sports media,” says Bedoya, who pointed out some of those other four teams haven’t experienced the type of success the Union have in recent years. The Union made the MLS playoff quarterfinals in 2019 and 2020, and the semifinals in 2021.
Bedoya acknowledged that playing in Chester and not the South Philadelphia Sports Complex may have something to do with the lack of respect, but he added their team represents Philadelphia pretty well with their personality, attitudes and character.
Don Sampson of Eddystone is a partial season ticket holder for the Union, and said he and his young son Anthony have a blast going to games he considers affordable and interactive.
“Just go to a game,” Sampson said. “I’m telling you, just go try it out … being there is completely different of course than watching it on TV, but going down there, you’re part of the game.”
Curtin pointed out – while not wanting to knock the other sports – how his players are more accessible than other professional athletes in town. In fairness, that might speak more volumes for Major League Soccer and how they want to grow the game.
It might be tougher for athletes like the Phillies’ Bryce Harper and Sixers’ Joel Embiid to interact with fans firsthand at games without drawing a huge crowd of people.
Nonetheless, despite the Union’s growing fan base, Kenny Justice disagrees they’re on the same level as the four traditional professional sports teams in town.
Justice, who wasn’t loving the slow week brought on by MLB’s All-Star Game, considers Major League Soccer a second tier of professional sports.
“They’re not packing The Linc,” Justice said. “They’re not on the billion-dollar TV packages and they’re not in Europe.”
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Justice recognizes the team has a following, but thought Union fans were “barking up the wrong tree” when pushing back on my tweet even though they don’t play until Saturday.
“It’s just not a sport that I personally like,” Justice said. “Some people say a 1-0 game is a great game, but I don’t see it that way with soccer. I see it that way in hockey because it’s so fast and so vicious.”
Shirley Dash of North Philadelphia, aka “EagleShirley,” and Monty G of South Philadelphia are both well-known Philadelphia sports fans as well.
Dash, who already had a pre-planned trip to visit family in Alabama this week, agreed it was a slow sports week. But she believes the Union deserves more love and wants to support them.
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“I need to support the Philadelphia Union,” Dash said. “I will support you more often than I am because I haven’t in the past, but I definitely will … Anything Philadelphia. They really bring it and definitely want to support.”
“We’ve got to show love to the Philadelphia Union,” says Monty G, who shared he was spending this week getting ready for Eagles training camp.
“We are happy for them and they do have their fans that love that kind of real futbol … So, they’re loved, but it’s not that highly loved like it could be and should be, but I appreciate them.”
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Monty G also explained what he’s doing this week with one of his latest freestyles.
Since the Union haven’t been around that long, maybe having some younger fans who can help grow the sport and the team’s following could go a long way.
Brothers Arnab and Sarthak Chaudhuri, students at Harriton High School in Bryn Mawr, consider the Union part of their Philadelphia fandom.
“When you talk about Philly sports, a lot of time the Union are left out, even though I’d say like they’re the team that represents Philly the most right now,” Arnab, 16, said. “Like what Philly teams want to be, gritty.”
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The Union are having consistent success at a time when their professional counterparts are not. The Eagles are trying to prove they’re not mediocre. The Sixers keep having second-round playoff exits. The Phillies have missed 10 straight postseasons, and the Flyers are going through one of their worst stretches in franchise history.
“I kind of got into them,” said Sarthak, soon to be 15 years old. “Because I saw that they have something that the other Philly teams do not have, which is a good developmental system.”
Benjamin Goldstein, 14 from Yardley – an aspiring sports reporter – pointed out Union fans can’t say they’re filling in for the slowest sports week of the year because they don’t play until this weekend, but believes the team should get more attention.
“I’ve started to get into the Union ever since the playoff games last year when [Jakob] Glesnes made that insane goal against New York,” said Goldstein, who shared he plays video games, whiffle ball and rewatches old games during MLB’s All-Star Week. “Now we actually have a Union writer on my website … They’re really good.”
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Justice thinks if the Union continue to win, their following will grow, but they won’t win him over.
Tom Madden of Wilmington said his family started watching “Stranger Things,” during MLB’s All-Star Week. He doesn’t consider the Union one of the major four sports either.
It’s certainly a divided topic. What will it take though for the Union to get more respect?
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Anthony Mazziotti of Runnemede, who produces Flyers content for the Philly Sports Network, believes if they win and do well, fans will hop on the bandwagon. Mazziotti said he and his wife did more things she wanted to do this week with no Phillies baseball.
Bedoya said he would welcome any fans who want to join the Union’s fan base.
“I promise you,” he said, “you won’t be disappointed with the atmosphere that we have out here in Chester [at Subaru Park].”