Three of the four local sports teams are in some stage of rebuilding and stocking their rosters with young players (you could even make the argument for all four). There are a lot of teams doing this after being bad for years and years, but among cities with at least four teams, Philly’s teams are the youngest.

Using a team’s average age,* I broke down the average age of a team in each of the four-team+ cities. Philly sneaks right in front of Boston for spot number one:

  1. Philadelphia – 26.728
  2. Boston – 26.862
  3. Minneapolis/St.Paul – 27.052
  4. Denver – 27.067
  5. Phoenix – 27.079
  6. Washington, D.C. – 27.767
  7. Miami – 27.804
  8. Detroit – 27.808
  9. Chicago – 27.835
  10. Bay Area – 27.858
  11. New York City/Brooklyn – 27.990
  12. Los Angeles – 28.057
  13. Dallas – 28.130

Because of varying roster sizes, Philly is actually the third-youngest city if you break it down to the average age per player on all of the teams. Here’s that top five:

  1. Phoenix – 26.698
  2. Minneapolis/St. Paul – 26.805
  3. Philadelphia –26.835
  4. Boston – 26.902
  5. Denver – 26.969

So while we may want progress and expect success sooner rather than later, it should come with time. The youngest team in the combined cities is the Sixers (24.4), nearly a full seven years younger than the oldest (Yankees, 31.3).

Youth isn’t a built-in bonus (or detriment). Neither is experience. But when going for it, Philly’s teams are at least going all in.


*Team average ages come from last year’s 53-man roster for the Eagles (26.69), last year’s Sixers roster (24.4), the players who have played for the Phillies this season (27.3), and players currently under contract with the Flyers (28.52).