New Home For Philadelphia Passion Creating A Buzz

By Andrew Kramer
With the inaugural LFL Canada season now in the books, the focus shifts to the United States League which gets underway next spring.
LFL enthusiasts all over the country are already excited for what’s sure to be an incredible season in the U.S., especially Philadelphia Passion fans who will get to watch their team try to secure a third straight Eastern Conference title, and maybe more.
This is the time of year, when coaches are building their rosters in hopes of putting the most competitive team possible on the field, the Passion may have already made their biggest offseason move. After playing their first three seasons in Trenton, New Jersey, the Passion are coming to Philadelphia!
During a press conference with the local media, the women in green were officially welcomed to their new home for the 2013 season and beyond…Chester’s PPL Park. “We were very excited to have them here,” PPL Park general manager John Scalon said. “We expect a lot of excitement. It’s almost like a rock concert on the field, [with] a lot of things going on around the game, music and entertainment. I’m very enthusiastic and we expect to get some large crowds for this.”
PPL Park, also the home of the Philadelphia Union MLS team, will be able to hold about twice as many Passion fans as their previous venue. “Our team’s extremely excited to play, finally, in front of our home town fans in Philadelphia,” Passion Head Coach Chandler Brown said. “This facility is first class. It speaks for itself. It’s a great place to play. We’re the two-time defending Eastern Conference Champions. While we’re happy to have that, it’s been a little bittersweet in that we didn’t have that success in the city of Philadelphia, so we’re happy that we can share all the successes on the field moving forward in this city.”
Brown also took the time to thank Sovereign Bank Arena for hosting the Passion home games over the past three seasons. Lots of memories were made in that building, but it was simply time to move on. As the Lingerie Football League continues to grow, so too must the venues.
PPL Park is not only larger, but the atmosphere will be noticeably different. “We expect a very loud, boisterous crowd,” Scalon said. “A lot of excitement. It’ll give [the Passion] a true home field advantage. If you’re here for a Union game, there’s no better place to be on a warm summer night than here on the Delaware River, so we’re glad to welcome the Philadelphia Passion and give them a place to call home.”Scalon had nothing but positive things to say about the LFL and reiterated numerous times how thrilled he is that the Passion are coming to PPL Park.
Brown was equally optimistic, “…We can’t wait to come out here and hopefully sell this place out like other markets have done and put a show on.”
The Passion will play their 2013 home games Saturday, June 15 against Jacksonville and Saturday, July 13 against Atlanta, both starting at 8 p.m.

Philadelphia Passion Announce New Home Stadium

Lingerie Football League, LLC. (LFL) and PPL Park officials announced LFL’s back-to-back Eastern Conference champion Philadelphia Passion will be playing their 2013 home games at PPL Park.
Since premiering in 2009, the LFL has become ‘The Fastest Growing Sports League in the US’ (BusinessWeek) drawing sell-out crowds, acquiring a national television contract, first-ever video game deal in the history of women’s sport, named highest-rated LIVE sports series in the history of MTV Networks’ and incredible growth in the US as well as internationally with formation and launch of LFL Canada (2012), LFL Australia (2013) and LFL Europa (2014).
“LFL Football has become one of the fastest growing sports in the country and its momentum is only getting stronger,” said Global Spectrum’s Mike Scanlon, General Manager of PPL Park. “We welcome one of the LFL’s most successful franchises in the Philadelphia Passion to their new home stadium.”
The Passion have been one of the league’s most successful franchises on-the-field going to the Playoffs in two of its first three seasons of play. Despite their on-field success the franchise has struggled to draw a significant Philadelphia fan base as the past three seasons of home games were played at New Jersey’s Sun National Bank Center.
“We want to thank the great people of Sun National Bank Center for hosting Passion Football for the past three seasons. We are however thrilled to finally bring the Philadelphia Passion where they belong, the great city of Philadelphia. Our move to PPL Park creates the perfect storm of a great franchise, a new home stadium and a fanatical sports city,” said Mitchell Mortaza, Founder & Chairman, Lingerie Football League, LLC.
The move to Philadelphia, as well as a shift in regular season schedule to a Spring through Summer format, will surely draw a fan base to PPL Park. The two 2013 home games will be played on Saturday, June 15, 2013 and Saturday, July 13, 2013.