Follow in Rocky's steps as Philadelphia gears up for a knockout 2026

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a day ago

The William Penn Statue on top of City Hall. Picture: PHLCVB
By David Polkinghorne
This is the tale of two statues. And a curse, in a city that's so sport obsessed officials "grease the poles" to stop the fans from climbing up them during celebrations.
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It's perfectly understandable you'd get a little excited after a win, especially when you've had a curse to deal with - one that's rendered all of your city's sporting teams impotent on the national stage. No Super Bowls. No World Series. No World Championships. No Stanley Cups. Just droughts.
A curse caused by greedy developers breaking an age-old gentleman's handshake involving your founding father.
This is the tale of Philadelphia. The City of Brotherly Love. The birthplace of the USA. And, perhaps more importantly, the home of Rocky - the world's most famous fictional boxer - and his steps. It's a gritty city. A working-class city. And that's probably why they're so sports mad. There's nothing like a victory-induced climb up a greasy pole to help you forget your troubles.
The Rocky statue. Picture: PHLCVB
Philadelphia's old city is beautiful - and filled with history. It's in the south-west corner of Pennsylvania state, a centre of US dairy farming. If you're lucky you'll get a sight of Philly's rural surrounds, with wild deer grazing on the side of the road, as you drive in from the airport.
At the heart of Philadelphia is the statue of William Penn. "Billy" to his mates. The likeness of Philly's founding father stands atop City Hall, surveying the city's expanse between the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers.
And forever in Philly's heart is the statue of Rocky, the character made famous by actor Sylvester Stallone in the 1970s and 1980s - a working-class hero who conquered the world. It sits near the base of the steps that now bear the boxer's name; steps cracked and worn by the thousands of tourists and locals pounding up and down them. You haven't been to Philly if you haven't re-enacted Rocky's famous dash up them.
Back to Billy and his curse, created when developers broke the agreement not to build higher than Penn's statue, building the One Liberty Place skyscraper 121 metres above Penn in 1987.
Eagles cheerleaders at Lincoln Financial Field. Picture: PHLCVB
Misery ensued. The Eagles in the National Football League (NFL). The 76ers in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Phillies in the Major League Basebell (MLB). The Flyers in the National Hockey League (NHL). None of them were spared. For 21 long and lonely years, Philadelphians only had to look to the sky to see the source of their suffering.
Finally, a couple of cheeky construction workers came to the rescue. They affixed a souvenir statuette of Penn to the top of the Comcast Centre when it was finished in 2007, ensuring Billy returned to the top of Philly.
Sixteen months later, the Phillies won the 2008 World Series and pandemonium ensued. Greased poles and all.
It happened again when the Comcast Technology Centre became the new tallest building in 2017. Penn statuette again affixed. This time it only took two months before the Eagles won the Super Bowl - ending a 57-year drought of their own.
The City of Brotherly Love's Love Park.
And there's only one place the party can continue once you slide down from those poles. The Rocky steps.
More than 1 million people attended the Eagles' victory parade following this year's Super Bowl win in February. Naturally it ended in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, where the steps reside. They are so synonymous with success, Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts refused to visit them until he'd won a Super Bowl and this year's parade was the first time he'd been there.
"It was crazy the day of the march and the day they won," Juan, a Dominican Republic expat now living in Philly, told me. "The Eagles are the craziest, but most-loyal fans. The first time the Eagles won [in 2018] people were burning couches on the street, climbing light poles. This time they didn't ... but it was cool."
NCAA men's college basketball tournament at Wells Fargo Centre, March 20 and 22
US PGA Championship at Aronimink Golf Club, May 14-17
FIFA World Cup - six games at Lincoln Financial Field, June and July
MLB (Major League Baseball) All-Star Game at Citizens Bank Park, July 14
US Amateur Golf Championships at Merion Golf Club, August 10-16
It's that passion that makes Philadelphia and its fans what they are. They're known for it around the US. And it's a cool place to watch sport, regardless of what your poison is. Their three stadiums are grouped together in South Philly - about six kilometres from Centre City.
September-October is the sweet spot if you're interested in your American sports. That's when all four seasons overlap - NBA, NFL, NHL and MLB. And you could stay at the Live! Casino, which is just a short walk from them all. There's also plenty of accommodation in Centre City, like Loews Philadelphia Hotel.
A baseball game at Citzens Bank Park. Picture: PHLCVB
Philadelphia will become a hotbed of soccer supporters in June and July next year during the World Cup, with Lincoln Financial Field hosting six games. It's not the only major sporting event descending on the City of Brotherly Love in 2026 - there's the NCAA men's college basketball tournament in March, the US PGA Championship at Aronimink Golf Club in May, the MLB All-Star Game in July and the US Amateur Golf Championships in August.
When I was there they'd ripped up Lincoln Financial Field to get it ready for the FIFA Club World Cup, which wrapped up last month. Tours had been suspended, but the Eagles were kind enough to show me around.
Independence Hall is literally the birthplace of the USA. It's where the constitution was signed and the first congress sat. Across the road is the Liberty Bell, which has become a symbol of human rights, with the crack that ended its use as a bell a symbol of humanity's flaws. visitphilly.com Next stop in Philadelphia's beautiful Old City is the Museum of the American Revolution and the National Constitution Centre, where history buffs can learn as much or as little as they want about the constitution and the Civil War. amrevmuseum.org; constitutioncenter.org When you finish your run up Rocky's Steps, you'll notice a big, old building at the top. The Philadelphia Museum of Art has works from all the greats - Picasso, Cezanne, Monet, Warhol - but also an eclectic mix ranging from medieval armour to an Indian temple. Art buffs should also head to the nearby Barnes Foundation, which is a private collection worth about $47 billion. philamuseum.org; barnesfoundation.org The Reading Terminal Market is a vibrant place to grab some breakfast or lunch, while checking out Philly's local produce - like fresh seafood, 1000 different types of bacon and corndogs (aka dagwood dogs). You can watch pretzels get made before washing one down with a cheeky breakfast beer from the bar. readingterminalmarket.org Infamous gangster Al Capone spent seven months living in Philadelphia - as an inmate of the Eastern State Penitentiary. You can check out his cell in this experimental prison, where inmates originally served their penance in silence and isolation. The jail's punishment gained its own notoriety, with Charles Dickens visiting to witness it first hand. easternstate.org
Aside from the 10,500 solar panels that double as LEDs and can create the image of a flying eagle, the other highlights were the restaurant/bar at the exit of the players race - where you can high-five the Eagles as they run onto the field. There's also one on the other side where the away team runs out, but it's behind closed windows to keep things somewhat polite.
The Phillies showed me around Citizens Bank Park, where you can see Penn's statue from the stands behind home plate. Their tour started with a random painting of the MLB club's greats in the foyer - painted by Aussie artist Jamie Cooper, who turned up with the four-metre painting unannounced.
While the tours were great, they could never compare to the atmosphere of a Flyers game at the Wells Fargo Centre. Un. Be. Lievable. If a sound system that would do an AC/DC concert justice was the cake, the kinetic, 4K scoreboard was the icing. It can change shape and shoot flames at the same time, although luckily not far enough to melt the ice bench tops in the bar.
The Rocky Steps. Picture: PHLCVB
The nearby Philadium provided the perfect pre-game feed and brew: good pub grub, like Philly's famous cheesesteaks, washed down with a good range of beers. The number of taps in Philly bars is mind-blowing; they are packed together like sardines.
Xfinity Live! - a dining and entertainment complex in the stadium precinct - put on some post-game entertainment, involving hours of watching fans test themselves against a mechanical bull, somehow avoiding serious injury in the process.
And outside? A statue of former world heavyweight champion Joe Frazier, one of the boxers credited with being Stallone's inspiration for Rocky. Better make that three statues.
The writer was a guest of the Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau
Words by David Polkinghorne
Covering the Raiders, Cavalry, cycling and racing, plus everything else that involves sport in the ACT, for The Canberra Times. Basically I love sport and watching it is a full-time job. Email: [e-mail]