The City of Brotherly Love lives up to its name — when the Eagles win the big game
Reported crime in Philadelphia was at its lowest level of the year when the Eagles won the Super Bowl.
When the Philadelphia Eagles won the Super Bowl on Feb. 9, thousands erupted on Broad Street in raucous celebration. But while the party was marked by fireworks and pole climbing, data show the rest of the city was fairly quiet.
Crime on the day of the Super Bowl was the lowest of any 24-hour period in 2025 so far as of Feb. 15, with 249 incidents between 5 a.m. Sunday and 5 a.m. Monday.
Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel said the celebration was not the only reason crime was down, but it didn’t hurt.
“First and foremost, Sundays are one of our least violent days,” Bethel said in an interview Thursday. “When you have an event with a magnitude like the parade and you have so much goodwill and so much positive energy, that has a significant impact on the city.”
The Inquirer analyzed Philadelphia police crime incident data going back to 2018, when the Eagles won their first Super Bowl, looking at the time, place, and type of crime that occurred on Super Bowl game days and the day that followed. While crime still occurred on Super Bowl Sundays in Philadelphia, the kind of incidents and where they happened varied if the Eagles played in the Super Bowl — and if they won or lost.
The total amount of crime reported on game day and the day after across the city was lower when the Eagles were in the Super Bowl than when the Birds did not play. That doesn’t mean some crime did not occur, but it was concentrated — there were more reports than usual around City Hall, where thousands of Eagles fans gathered during and after the game.
Along with Sunday being one of the quieter days in terms of crime in the city, Bethel said, crime generally peaks around 8 p.m. on weekends. Outside of Center City, the big game kept most people captive and indoors, he said. ”It really keeps people inside,” he said. “And that obviously is extremely helpful. There’s a combination of factors.”
When the Eagles were defeated, crime appeared to shift the other way. Over the last seven years, crime on Super Bowl Sunday and Monday was highest in 2023, when the Eagles lost.
Vandalism and criminal mischief rose when the Eagles won the championship game, spiking along Broad and Market Streets, where fans were celebrating, data show.
This year, 85 vandalism incidents occurred, and 115 in 2018, while 76 were reported last year, when the Eagles were not in the championship.
Many crimes were down, however, when the Eagles won.
Theft was lower — 261 cases were reported this year and 169 cases were reported in 2018. By comparison, 346 incidents were reported last year on game day and the day after when the Eagles did not play.
The geography of criminal behavior around the city also changed depending on the teams and the game’s outcome.
With the Eagles' victory this month, there was a higher concentration of crime around Center City, which encapsulates Police Service Area 94, where fans were out celebrating.
Last year, there were almost half as many incidents in the same police service area, and the higher levels of crime were far more widely dispersed around the city.
The police department’s experience managing large-scale events in the past, such as the Phillies winning the World Series in 2008 and Pope Francis’ visit in 2015, prepared the department for the Super Bowl revelry and some of the mayhem that comes with it, Bethel said.
Bethel also credited the department’s officers for the diminished crime on Super Bowl Sunday, arguing the Super Bowl drop in crime is part of a broader representation of the police force’s work in the city.
Many categories of crime, in particular gun violence, dropped precipitously in 2024.
“Hopefully this is an indication of another good year,” he said.