Just like 2023, the Eagles are headed to a Super Bowl game against the Kansas City Chiefs. And just like that matchup, Google trends data shows locals are fervently trying to figure out when the Eagles Super Bowl parade will take place. There’s just one problem — the big game hasn’t even happened yet.
Across social media groups, fans are trying to configure which day to request off from work so they can attend a hypothetical parade that we don’t know if we’re having yet (listen, we respect your game, but let’s not jinx things).
Based on what happened the last time the Eagles won the Lombardi Trophy, the parade would likely take place midweek. In 2018, the Eagles’ Super Bowl parade happened the Thursday following the game. It was originally scheduled for Wednesday, but weather conditions pushed things back a day. City offices, courts, and schools were closed for the occasion. Beyond weather, city scheduling and team travel are also determinants for setting the parade’s date.
If scheduling follows suit this year, that would place the parade on Wednesday, Feb. 12, hypothetically. But technically anything the week of Feb. 10 could be fair game.
So what do we know about a hypothetical 2025 Eagles Super Bowl parade?
Emphasizing that this is all extremely hypothetical, if the Birds were to win, the parade would take place in the days after the Super Bowl, which is on Feb. 9. In 2018, the route went up Broad Street, through Center City, and along the Benjamin Franklin Parkway.
The formal celebration and parade in 2018 lasted about two hours. Several roads were closed and there was a steady heap of traffic delays — so if you don’t have off from work, plan accordingly.
» READ MORE: What to pack, wear, eat and charge up if you’re going to the Super Bowl parade
You can also expect a lot of people — like a lot, a lot. In 2018, Inquirer archives show thousands of attendees lined the streets. Some began gathering the night before. Some climbed trees to get a good view. Some fans even scattered the ashes of their loved ones along the route.
If we’ve learned anything about hypothetical parades, it’s that we shouldn’t count our chickens too soon. In 2005, then-Patriots Coach Bill Belichick read an Inquirer article describing the planned Eagles victory parade route to his team to fire them up ahead of their Super Bowl matchup.
“The Philadelphia parade after the game … It’s at 11 o’clock if you want to attend,” Belichick read aloud to the locker room, before famously reminding his team to “do their job.” The Patriots would go on to beat the Eagles, 24-21, so you can see why we’re hesitant to talk about parade details just yet. At minimum, we can’t give Chiefs Coach Andy Reid any more motivation.
It’s unclear what a parade would cost this year. The last time we panic-Googled about a hypothetical parade, Mayor Jim Kenney was closing out his final year in office and said the budget was essentially unlimited. We didn’t end up needing one for obvious reasons.
In 2018, the Eagles’ Super Bowl victory celebration cost $2.27 million, with both the team and the state chipping in. City taxpayers paid the remaining $1.5 million. Expenses included police and employee labor, security costs, and repairs to city equipment and property damaged during the celebrations. Those figures were released about two months after the parade took place.
The Inquirer reached out to city officials to see if they’d cough up any additional details, but so far they’ve had nothing to reveal.
“We will publicize those planning efforts as they become available,” a city spokesperson said.
Until then, stay tuned.