Clipped Wings: the (potential) end of the National Lacrosse League in Philadelphia
Photo courtesy of Bobak Ha’Eri/Wikimedia Commons
A few weeks ago, The Lamron published its April Fools’ edition of the newspaper, which featured a satirical article detailing a fictional trade of wide receiver A.J. Brown of the National Football League’s (NFL) Philadelphia Eagles to the National Lacrosse League (NLL) team in Philadelphia, the Wings. The article noted that the Wings were experiencing a difficult season and stood at the bottom of the NLL standings (a position that they currently still hold).
Three days after the publication of that article, on Mar. 30, the Philadelphia Wings announced that they were to cease operations following the conclusion of the 2025-2026 season. This begs the question: why?
In a statement released by the team announcing the end of operations, the Wings stated that they were ending operations “under the Comcast Spectacor portfolio.” According to their website, Comcast Spectacor is a subsidiary of Comcast NBCUniversal based in South Philadelphia. Under the Comcast Spectacor umbrella is the National Hockey League (NHL) team, the Philadelphia Flyers, the global e-sports company T1 Entertainment and Sports, and the Xfinity Mobile Arena entertainment center. According to CBS Philadelphia, Comcast Spectacor responded to the shutdown by stating that “as part of our ongoing evaluation of long-term business priorities, the Wings franchise no longer aligns with our strategic direction.”
As previously mentioned, the Philadelphia Wings have not had a successful final season. As of Apr. 6, the team stands with a 4-12 record and are formally eliminated from the NLL playoffs. The Wings have had diminishing returns ever since their last playoff run in the 2021-2022 season, missing the playoffs every season since.
However, the Philadelphia Wings leave behind an impressive legacy in the sport of lacrosse and the city of Philadelphia. The original Wings team was part of the original four NLL teams, playing from 1987 to 2014. This iteration of the team won six league championships, winning in 1989, 1990, 1994, 1995, 1998, and 2001. The team returned in 2017 as a member of the Eastern Conference before the conferences unified in 2023. In the shutdown statement, the Wings thanked the fans for their support over the years, in particular for “your passion, your commitment, and the community you helped build around Wings Lacrosse.”
Surprisingly, the ending of operations for the Wings does not signal the end of lacrosse in Philadelphia. In a statement made by Brett Frood, commissioner of the NLL, he shared that the league is “actively engaging with prospective ownership groups who share our vision for growth, community impact, and competitive excellence.” This statement appears to indicate that the National Lacrosse League is searching for a new management group to either take over the Wings franchise or establish a new team in the City of Brotherly Love. This statement is also in line with the league’s goals of expansion, who wish to grow the team count to 36 through the “UnBOXed” initiative.
Until then, the ending of the Philadelphia Wings franchise under the Comcast Spectacor threatens to leave the historic city, and its infamous sports fanbase, without representation in the National Lacrosse League—a league which in recent years has become increasingly ambitious in its efforts to grow the sport into one of the big North American spots, potentially on par with the NFL, NHL, and National Basketball Association (NBA).