The Hotbirds Head North

February 6, 2023
By Johnny Goodtimes

The Philadelphia Phoenix are flying North for summer, playing their home games at the Ramp Athletic Complex, at 3300 Solly Avenue. The facility is operated by Philly Parks and Rec, and is just off of I-95 and right next door to Pennypack Park. It serves as the home field for the Father Judge High School soccer and football teams.

The move comes after an exhaustive search for the ideal venue by GM Matt Shade and team Fun Czar Johnny Goodtimes. Says Shade, "The stadium search was one of our top priorities heading into 2023. An extensive list of requirements [27 to be exact] were used as we evaluated and met with thirteen venues in the Philadelphia region. In the end, Ramp checked the most boxes for us while strengthening our presence with the City of Philadelphia and local schools at the same time."

The most important of those requirements, as far as Goodtimes is concerned, is that it isn't so much a field rental as a partnership. "Over the past year that we’ve been working with Philly Parks and Rec, it’s become obvious that our missions and values align. They have been nothing short of a delight to work with on various camps and projects. So when they told us they had a field that we could rent, we knew it would be a frontrunner for the new venue. And once we found that the stadium was the perfect size, in a great community, with several nearby schools that were eager to partner with us, we knew we had our winner."

Goodtimes is excited to start planning games there this season. "Whereas the field in South Philly was separated from the fans by a large track, here at Ramp they'll be right on top of the action. There's also a hill behind the South end zone that gives an amazing vantage point of the game. I think this field setup is going to be awesome for fans and creates the perfect opportunity for us to create the best home field advantage in the AUDL."

The first home game of the season will be played there on May 20th, as the Hotbirds take on the defending AUDL champion New York Empire. Tickets for that and all other Phoenix games can be found here. And this week only, single game tickets are buy one get one 50% off.