It just might be the most wonderful time of the year for Philly sports fans—when the possibility of a Red October overlaps the start of the Eagles season.
Mike Trout plays professional baseball for a living. It’s a darn good living, to be sure. And despite his team not getting close to the World Series for more than a decade, Trout is a loyalist to the Los Angeles Angels, where he plays the outfield and is almost guaranteed to make the Hall of Fame. But his loyalty goes only so far. When it comes to the National Football League (NFL), Trout’s passion lies with the Philadelphia Eagles, the team he grew up rooting for in Millville, a team which has won two Super Bowl titles.
He’s been known to utter “Fly Eagles Fly,” don a Jalen Hurts jersey, and sign autographs at Superbowl LIX in 2025.
That makes these times an interesting juncture for Trout the baseball player and Trout the Eagles fan. The baseball team from Philadelphia, after several division titles, is in the thick of a fight for a wild card slot in the National League. The Angels? Last in the American League West.
Amid all this, the National Football League kicked off a busy opening to its season on September 9, 10, and 13. The two Super Bowl teams—the victorious Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots—met again to open their 2026 campaign on September 9. Same result; different score. The L.A. Rams and San Francisco 49ers travelled halfway around the world to Melbourne, Australia for the inaugural NFL game down under, marking yet another step towards global unity for American football, not the kind they play with a round ball in the rest of the world and call it football. By the way, the Rams got routed. Some analysts blame it on the travel arrangements because the Rams arrived the day before the game and the 49ers got there almost a week earlier.
Oh yes, the Eagles edged out the Washington Commanders, 24-22 in their opening game September 13.
Hey, a win is a win. So is a wild card slot in the National League playoffs for the Phillies. And that could spell trouble for the renowned home of crab fries, Chickie’s & Pete’s, also the official sports bar of the Eagles.
Chickie’s & Pete’s needs no introduction, but in case you want one the title was granted in 2023. The accolade comes with two edges. If the Phils remain active in the playoffs, they take precedence at Chickie’s & Pete’s locations, says Mike Carrara, GM of the Egg Harbor Township bar. But rest assured that both teams will be featured on the TV screens.
“The Eagles are high energy. Crowds are really into it,” Carrara says.
From his standpoint, he looks forward to additional overseas games, especially if they play at a reasonable time. The Australian game actually began at 1:30 p.m. ET. October features three consecutive games in London, including the Eagles, who play October 11 against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Each game starts 9:30 a.m. our time.
Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie made clear this offseason that the team was willing to make the trip without surrendering a home date at Lincoln Financial Field. “We are openly available to be an away team,” Lurie said at the NFL owners’ meetings per The Sun newspapers.
“We think it’s great for spreading the Eagles and brand. The league is so correctly directed in trying to become more global,” he added.
The question still out there is whether these games are an audition on all sides for a global entrance into the NFL at some point.
The league is the most successful in sports. They earn money from two different streams: national and local. The NFL generated over $23 billion in revenue in 2024, according to Investopedia. In 2025, revenue is projected to be $24.1 billion per businesstats.com. The national side comes from TV and streaming, national licensing and merchandise, online content, and corporate sponsorships. Local revenue, kept by each team, includes tickets and concessions, local sponsorships and franchise specific marketing, and digital rights.
The NFL earns billions mostly from TV and streaming deals, plus sponsorships and licensing, with each team receiving a large share of the national pool and keeping most of its local revenue.
Meanwhile, Trout plays his heart out as the season winds down and he can devote his time to supporting the Eagles. Which may come with a wrinkle down the road. Let’s put it this way. Stan Kroenke purchased the Los Angeles Angels in the summer to go along with the NFL Rams. Trout has a contract with the Angels which runs through 2030.
According to a comment in Clutch Points, Trout may go to a Rams game or two if there is no conflict with the Eagles, but he will not switch support to satisfy the man who writes his extraordinarily large pay checks.
“Mike Trout said he’s too diehard of an Eagles fan to change allegiances and become a Rams fan with Stan Kroenke buying the team,” MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger posted on X. “But said that he would go support the Rams at a home game as long as they weren’t playing the Eagles.”
