July 15, 2026
Brad Penner/IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
The MLB-All Star Game, as an event, was everything Philadelphia could've wanted.
The smiles canceled out the sweltering twilight heat.
A cluster of Ecuador fans had gathered at the top of the Art Museum steps, posing for pictures in front of the Rocky statue as they held up their nation's flag.
Then down below within Eakins Oval, street soccer pitches were set up for a run of organized tournaments that weekend. But until then, a group of kids and amateur footballers were marathoning pickup games, welcoming anyone on for the next first-to-2 that walked by.
This was a couple of days before Philly's opening World Cup match that weekend, between Ecuador and Ivory Coast, and while you couldn't tell how exactly it would turn out, something about the scene that Friday evening down the Parkway sold the point home: The city was about to live up to its biggest summer ever.
And now we do have the full picture, after the World Cup's stay and then a long-awaited MLB All-Star Game this week: It was beautiful.
Philadelphia was given two grand stages, and shined in the spotlight of both of them.
For a month and change, this city made itself the place to be. It embraced a different game of the same name, and all the new faces it brought with it, then put on an absolute spectacle for the pastime it always has.
For a month and change, Philly felt like the center of the sports universe, and it felt natural. It felt perfect.
The World Cup was the first leg of it.
The city knew it was coming to them for years, and was readying up for it for months, but that did come with a trepidation that Philly isn't quite used to when it comes to sports.
Would the city (and SEPTA) stick the landing on all its planning? Plus, the Union are in Chester, the U.S. team was seeded to come nowhere near the Sports Complex (despite a handful of local ties), and above all, Philadelphia has always been for the Eagles and American football before anything else, would they even care?
If you give them a chance to, it turns out.
Lincoln Financial Field, which went by an amusing alias of "Philadelphia Stadium" for a few weeks, was packed for every match, while the FIFA Fan Fest in Lemon Hill quickly made itself its own must-see attraction.
Kylian Mbappé closed out Philadelphia's part in the World Cup on a high note.
On the field, Philly got to see one of the world's best soccer players in Kylian Mbappé put on a show right in front of them, then in Center City, visiting fans from all over the competing nations rallied up at the Art Museum steps, at Love Park, and by the fountains in front of city hall, uniting in chants so in sync and so charismatic that they would've fit right in with any Eagles Sunday.
It's tough to say what the ultimate ripple effect is going to be, because soccer interest – not just here, but across the U.S. – always seems to come and go in waves.
But this much was clear once the city's end of the World Cup wrapped, of course, with Mbappé rising to the moment to score the winner against Paraguay: You put good soccer in front of Philadelphia, and it will get behind it.
You just need to give fans a reason, and a chance to show the rest of the world how great it is here.
Speaking of...
The MLB All-Star Game, and the whole week leading up, was everything – well, maybe except the actual baseball game itself.
This had been on the horizon since 2019, and once the time finally arrived, it felt like there was seven years of weight behind it all.
The Home Run Derby was an instant classic. Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper were celebrated, and every turn, everyone else not in a Phillies uniform was relentlessly booed and taunted by a packed and euphoric Citizens Bank Park.
The Boston Red Sox's Willson Contreras, leaning into everything and the idea of being the night's villain, staged a pitch high and in, which sent the ballpark erupting in cheers.
It was all signature Philly, and it was beautiful.
Philly made the Home Run Derby something to remember.
Then there was the grand finale on Tuesday night.
Every Phillies All-Star got their moment, along with PA announcer Dan Baker to have a hand in officially his third All-Star Game. Every starter ran out to sign their name on a Declaration of Independence-themed lineup card as one of the many nods to America's 250th, and then there was the Ray Charles-scored Sandlot tribute midgame, where kids rode their bikes out to stand with these larger-than-life figures on the field.
That's going to get talked about and remembered for a long time.
Trading cards
— MLB (@MLB) July 15, 2026
Playing catch
Meeting your idols
This is so much more than a game. This is baseball ❤️ pic.twitter.com/HsoXKBRQtL
This city has a notorious sports reputation to the rest of the world: We're mean, we're vulgar, we threw snowballs at Santa 70-something years ago (even though that's way down the list of egregious things that have been tossed at someone in this town).
And it gets tossed around often, frankly pretty lazily, by fans from other cities and across various sports.
But it always misses the point.
Philadelphia cares.
Philadelphia celebrates effort and excellence. They don't want to ever see you phone it in.
And if you give this city a reason, and the floor, it will never fail to stage a party you'll remember forever. It'll make itself the place to be, and you'll know it.
Philly was given the grand stage this summer, two of them even, for what was always set to be the biggest summer in the city's history.
And it was natural. It was perfect.
It was the center of the sports universe. As it should be.
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