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| Philadelphia Bell | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||
| General information | |||||
| Founded | 1974 | ||||
| Folded | October 1975 | ||||
| Stadium | JFK Stadium (1974) Franklin Field (1975) | ||||
| Headquartered | Philadelphia,Pennsylvania, U.S. | ||||
| Colors | Blue & Gold | ||||
| Personnel | |||||
| Owners | John B. Kelly Jr. John Bosacco | ||||
| Head coach | Ron Waller (1974) Willie Wood (1975) | ||||
| League / conference affiliations | |||||
| World Football League Eastern Division | |||||
ThePhiladelphia Bell was a franchise in theWorld Football League, which operated in 1974 and a portion of a season in 1975. The Bell played their home games in 1974 atJFK Stadium in SouthPhiladelphia. The teamlogo was a representation of theLiberty Bell. In 1975 the team decided to stop playing at JFK and moved its games toFranklin Field.[1]
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The Bell was one of just two WFL teams that maintained the same ownership in both 1974 and 1975 (the other being Canadian millionaire John Bassett'sMemphis Southmen). The group was headed byJohn B. Kelly Jr., a respected business and sportsman in Philadelphia and part of the well-known Kelly family, which included his sisterGrace Kelly, movie star-turned-Princess ofMonaco. The major money contributor behind the ownership group was John Bosacco, who came forward during the first season and took over the operations of the franchise. Bosacco believed that the WFL could survive and was instrumental in the removal ofGary Davidson as commissioner following the 1974 season.
Led by head coachRon Waller, the Bell appeared to be the most popular team in the fledgling league, announcing crowds of 55,534 for the home opener and 64,719 for the second home game (which was nationally televised as syndicated programming by TVS). These figures meant that, at least on the surface, the Bell were outdrawing the NFL'sEagles, who averaged 59,206 fans for their seven home games the previous autumn.[2]
However, two weeks later, Frank Dolson ofThe Philadelphia Inquirer revealed that the Bell had inflated the gate on a scale previously unprecedented in professional sports. In his August 4, 1974 column, Dolson revealed that the Bell had sold block tickets to several area businesses at a discount. In turn, many of these businesses had given away the tickets for free or at reduced prices. Bell executive vice president Harry Leib admitted doing this in hopes of piquing interest. However, when the Bell paid city taxes on the gates for the first two games, it emerged that theactual paid attendance for the home opener was only 13,855 (less than a quarter of the announced 55,534); the second game's paid attendance was an even smaller 6,200 (less than10% of the announced 64,719).[3] According to Leib, roughly 20,000 people got into the season opener for free, while another 10,000 received block tickets. The proportion was similar for the second game. Even worse, WFL administrative vice president Ted Palmquist admitted to thePhiladelphia Daily News that the league was aware of the inflating of attendance, and that league commissionerGary Davidson had approved it. Palmquist said that team and league officials feared the opening day crowd would be swallowed up in the cavernous environment of 100,000-seat JFK Stadium. The Bell had only planned to do it once, but were forced to inflate the gate again for the second game when they learned it would be nationally televised. In both cases, no one expected that most of the people who received the giveaways would actually show up. Palmquist said that he had told the Bell it would be "ill-advised" to repeat the scheme again.[4] However, nominal team president Kelly claimed that he was unaware of the plan, and was outraged both when he heard about it and about Leib's cavalier attitude. Nevertheless, the damage was done. "Papergate" (as it was dubbed by the press)[5] made both the Bell and the WFL look foolish, and proved to be a debacle from which neither recovered.
After the scandal broke, the Bell lost what goodwill they had. They drew a total of only 62,126 fans for their last seven home gamescombined, or 2,000 fewer fans than the supposed crowd for their second home game. If only paid attendance for their first two games is counted, the Bell drew a paltry average of 9,131 fans per game for the season. The nadir came on October 16, 1974, when only 750 fans found their way to JFK for a Wednesday night game played in a torrential downpour.[6]
On the field, the Bell were mediocre: they were led by flashy quarterbackKing Corcoran, who had spent most of his career in the minor leagues due to his refusal to accept a backup QB slot (Corcoran had even played under Coach Waller with thePottstown Firebirds of the recently closedAtlantic Coast Football League). Philadelphia managed only a 9–11 mark in 1974, one game behind theCharlotte Hornets for the final playoff spot - the Bell were actually 8–11 on the field, but were awarded a win by forfeit when theChicago Fire dissolved before they could travel to Philadelphia for the season finale.
However, at the request of WFL officials, they advanced to the playoffs anyway. The Hornets were originally slated to play theFlorida Blazers, but the Blazers could sell only 1,000 advance tickets for the first round matchup inOrlando, nowhere near enough for the financially troubled Hornets (who had moved fromNew York City in mid-season) to justify the trip. The Hornets would have been unable to cover their hotel and travel expenses, and the players would have been lucky to get $100 each for the game. The Bell, in contrast, were somewhat better financed, and could cover these expenses. They traveled to Orlando, where they lost to the Blazers, 18-3, in front of less than 10,000 fans.
| Week[7] | Day | Date | Opponent | Result | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wednesday | July 10, 1974 | Portland Storm | W 33–8 | 55,534 (paid: 13,855) |
| 2 | Wednesday | July 17, 1974 | atHouston Texans | L 0–11 | 26,227 |
| 3 | Thursday | July 25, 1974 | New York Stars | L 15–17 | 64,719 (paid: 6,200) |
| 4 | Wednesday | July 31, 1974 | atPortland Storm | W 25–7 | 13,757 |
| 5 | Wednesday | August 7, 1974 | Memphis Southmen | W 46–15 | 12,396 |
| 6 | Wednesday | August 14, 1974 | atChicago Fire | L 29–32 | 27,607 |
| 7 | Wednesday | August 21, 1974 | Southern California Sun | L 28–31 | 14,600 |
| 8 | Wednesday | August 28, 1974 | Detroit Wheels | W 27–23 | 15,100 |
| 9 | Monday | September 2, 1974 | atNew York Stars | L 16–24 | 6,132 |
| 10 | Thursday | September 5, 1974 | atJacksonville Sharks | L 30–34 | 17,851 |
| 11 | Wednesday | September 11, 1974 | Jacksonville Sharks | W 41–22 (OT) | 7,230 |
| 12 | Wednesday | September 18, 1974 | atFlorida Blazers | L 21–24 | 10,417 |
| 13 | Wednesday | September 25, 1974 | atHawaiians | W 21–16 | 14,497 |
| 14 | Wednesday | October 2, 1974 | Florida Blazers | L 7–30 | 7,150 |
| 15 | Wednesday | October 9, 1974 | Hawaiians | L 22–25 | 4,900 |
| 16 | Wednesday | October 16, 1974 | Shreveport Steamer | L 25–30 | 750 |
| 17 | Wednesday | October 23, 1974 | atSouthern California Sun | W 45–7 | N/A |
| 18 | Wednesday | October 30, 1974 | Chicago Fire | W 37–31 | 12,500 |
| 19 | Wednesday | November 6, 1974 | atBirmingham Americans | L 23–26 | 22,963 |
| 20 | Wednesday | November 13, 1974 | Chicago Fire | W 2–0 (forfeit) | cancelled |
| Game | Day | Date | Opponent | Result | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quarterfinals | Thursday | November 21, 1974 | atFlorida Blazers | L 3–18 | 9,712 |
Despite the Papergate fiasco, the Bell were reckoned as one of the WFL's stronger franchises and at least had the potential to have been successful had the league been better run. Bosacco was one of only three owners, along with theMemphis Southmen'sJohn F. Bassett andThe Hawaiians' Sam Battisone, thought to be capable of fielding a team in 1975; those three teams had been the only ones to meet payroll every week of the 1974 season.[8]
As the 1975 season got underway, Coach Waller was replaced during training camp atGlassboro State University by future NFL Hall of FamerWillie Wood,[9] making him the firstAfrican-American head coach of a modern pro football team.
Even on TV, the Bell couldn't get any respect. On August 29, 1975,WTAF aired a sports doubleheader, featuring aPhiladelphia Wings lacrosse match followed by the Bell's game against theSouthern California Sun in Anaheim. The football game was scheduled for 10:30 pm EDT, but since the Wings game ran long, viewers missed the beginning. Bell fans would miss the end of the contest, too: WTAF abruptly cut the broadcast off with six minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, pleading a "prior commitment". The station then signed off for the night at 1:30 am; the game (won by the Sun, 58-39) didn't end until 2:06 am. (According to aPhiladelphia Daily News story, "keeping the final six minutes of the game on TV could have cost the Bell an estimated $5,000 in telephone line charges," so the broadcast, which the club was evidently paying for, was cut off at the three-hour mark.)[10]
The Bell had a record of 4–7 in 1975 at the time of the league's dissolution. Attendance remained anemic, with the team'sbest-attended game at Franklin Field drawing barely 5,000 fans. After only 1,293 fans attended the Bell's October 18 contest, both the team and the WFL folded for good.
Vince Papale, the inspiration for the 2006 filmInvincible, played wide receiver for the Bell for two seasons prior to his three years with thePhiladelphia Eagles.[11][12] Both Papale and King Corcoran had recently played in theSeaboard Football League, the minor league that was active at the time in the area.
| Week[13] | Day | Date | Opponent | Result | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Saturday | August 2, 1975 | Hawaiians | W 21–15 | 3,266 |
| 2 | Saturday | August 9, 1975 | atBirmingham Vulcans | L 17–23 | 21,000 |
| 3 | Saturday | August 16, 1975 | atShreveport Steamer | L 3–10 | 12,016 |
| 4 | Saturday | August 23, 1975 | Memphis Grizzlies | W 22–18 | 5,051 |
| 5 | Saturday | August 29, 1975 | atSouthern California Sun | L 39–58 | 17,811 |
| 6 | Saturday | September 6, 1975 | atCharlotte Hornets | L 0–10 | 10,564 |
| 7 | Saturday | September 13, 1975 | Portland Thunder | L 10–25 | 4,710 |
| 8 | Saturday | September 20, 1975 | atJacksonville Express | L 10–16 | 10,296 |
| 9 | Saturday | October 4, 1975 | San Antonio Wings | W 42–38 | 2,357 |
| 10 | Saturday | October 11, 1975 | atHawaiians | L 13–14 | 10,789 |
| 11 | Saturday | October 18, 1975 | Charlotte Hornets | W 18–10 | 1,293 |
Washington has its Watergate. Now Philadelphia has its Paper—Gate...
