How does the Flyers' franchise-worst winless start compare to some of the city's other pro sports teams?
As the Flyers struggle for that first victory, they are hardly the first Philadelphia pro team to stumble out of the gate.
The Flyers are off to a historically bad start.
On Sunday, the Flyers fell 4-1 to the defending Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes. The Orange and Black have now lost seven consecutive games to start the season — a new franchise low.
How does the Flyers’ losing streak stack up against some of the other poor starts in Philadelphia sports history? Did those teams turn things around?
» READ MORE: The winless Flyers are in complete disarray, and the clock is quickly ticking for them to turn it around
1968 Eagles (0-11 start)
The 1968 Eagles started their season with 11 consecutive losses, and they probably should have kept losing.
At that point, the Eagles had sole possession of the first overall pick in the 1969 draft, and the consensus for that pick was Heisman winner O.J. Simpson, the star running back from Southern Cal.
However, the Eagles won two of their final three outings to finish 2-12, so the lowly Buffalo Bills received the first overall pick. Simpson went on to have a Hall of Fame career in Buffalo. The Eagles did not log a winning season until 1978.
The Eagles’ 1968 campaign was also the same season Birds fans pelted Santa Clause with snowballs. Let’s hope Flyers fans have not reached that breaking point yet.
“Poor St. Nick,” Inquirer columnist Frank Dolson wrote following the game. “He made his tour of the stadium waving cheerfully in the best holiday tradition. The fans responded, pelting him with snowballs in the worst Philadelphia tradition.”
» READ MORE: Remembering when the 1968 Eagles frittered away a chance to draft O.J. Simpson
1883 Phillies (0-8 start)
You have to go back 143 years to the Phillies’ first season to find the club’s worst start. The 1883 Phillies had to pay for their own uniforms and started the season 0-8.
The Phillies didn’t get much better throughout the 1883 season either, finishing 17-81-1. The team’s best player, according to Baseball-Reference, was Emil Gross. In 57 games, Gross finished with 71 hits, 25 RBIs, and one home run.
2015-16 Sixers (0-18 start)
What else did you expect? The Process Sixers take the cake for the worst start in franchise history, losing their first 18 games to start the 2015-16 season. It did not get much better for coach Brett Brown’s band of misfits, who finished 10—72.
The 10-win season was the worst of The Process era, which saw the Sixers go 75-253 over a four-season stretch from 2013 to 2017 in an effort to garner higher draft picks. Did The Process work out in the long-run? Kind of.
The Sixers have made the playoffs in eight of the last nine seasons, but the team has failed to advance past the second round. This season, following the arrival of LeBron James and Jaylen Brown, expectations may be higher than they have ever been.
2017 Philadelphia Union (0-4-4 start)
The worst start in Philadelphia Union history came in 2017, when the club played eight games without a win. After a 0-4-4 start, the Union finished with 11 wins in 34 matches, missing the playoffs.
However, this year’s Union team should give Flyers fans some hope.
» READ MORE: Sielski: The Eagles, Flyers, and Phillies have crushed people’s spirits. Worse, they’ve bored us to death.
The Union started their 2026 season 0-6 and logged just one win in their first 15 matches. Manager Bradley Carnell was fired after the 1-10-4 start. Ryan Richter, the Union reserve team coach, became the team’s interim coach.
Since returning from the World Cup break, Richter has led the Union to an unbeaten streak of 13 games. They are now squarely in playoff position, in sixth place of the Eastern Conference.
Maybe the Flyers should take a ride over to Chester to figure out what prompted the Union’s unprecedented turnaround.
