Thursday saw the sporting world honed in on Philly for the NFL season opener between the Super Bowl champion Eagles and the Dallas Cowboys.

While much of the nation’s attention was directed to the field, the region had been concerned with how the ongoing cuts to SEPTA services would affect the game night experience at the South Philly sports complex.

On Wednesday, though, sports betting site FanDuel came to the rescue, partnering with SEPTA to restore regularly scheduled and express Broad Street Line service before and after the game.

(Nick Kariuki/Billy Penn)

Even though it was like any other game commute for Birds fans taking the Broad Street Line to the game, there were many transit advocates outside NRG station and at tailgates to remind them this was only temporary.

“The game in Harrisburg is not over,” Sydney Ozer said. “The game has been going on for decades where we’re seriously underfunded to support our bones, the mass transit system in Philadelphia.”

Ozer was among a group from Transit Forward Philadelphia handing out flyers to fans as they exited the station, asking them to contact their state-elected official and demand more funding for SEPTA.

Volunteers for (Nick Kariuki/Billy Penn)

With Ozer was Meghan Schulz, who lives in Bristol Borough, Bucks County. She and her husband work in Center City and rely on SEPTA’s Regional Rail service for that commute.

“If that line is cut, I honestly don’t know what we will do,” she said. “I don’t think we can both drive to Center City every day. So, we may have to move or look for different work, but it’s heartbreaking because that’s such a great connection from the suburbs to the city.”

The impasse over the state budget in Harrisburg has led to discontinued routes, longer commute times and increased cases of school absenteeism. 

FanDuel’s intervention was important. A much-anticipated season opener against the Birds’ biggest rival, without the usual transit support in place to get fans and workers to and from the Linc, presented a recipe for chaos, televised on a national level. Earlier in the week, the Eagles advised fans without tickets to the game to not come to the stadium to tailgate.

But FanDuel — an official team partner of the Eagles — came through with $80,000 in support to restore train service for the game.

Jack Inacker, the executive director of FUBAR PAC, was less than impressed by the company’s kind gesture.

“It is unconscionable to think that these gambling aps are going to be there for us. They’re not,” he said. “What we do need is Senate Republicans to come back to the table and deal with Democrats to actually get stuff done.”   

FUBAR PAC Executive Director Jack Inacker. (Nick Kariuki/Billy Penn)

Inacker, whose Philly-based Democratic PAC has smashed a Tesla to protest Musk and DOGE and put up an unflattering mural of Vice President J.D. Vance, said the blame lies with Pa. Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman and those siding with his party in the budget impasse.

Gene Johnson, who was protesting outside the station with a group from North Philadelphia League of Voters, was more appreciative of FanDuel’s charity, but said he’d like to see that generosity directed elsewhere.

“If you want to fund games, yeah, go ahead — and take some of that money and fund people going to school,” he said.

Gene Johnson with the North Philadelphia League of Voters protests outside NRG Station ahead of the Eagles home opener. (Nick Kariuki/Billy Penn)

There were other thoughts, too.

“Getting to the games is one of those big ways where so many Philadelphians come together and use public transit,” North Philly resident and transit advocate Senia Lopez said. “But I’m not getting bailed out when I have to go to work, or my brother’s not getting bailed out when he has to go to school, my grandparents go in to their appointments. We still need something in our everyday lives. This is not just something for big sporting events and concerts.”

On Thursday night, a Philadelphia judge directed SEPTA to immediately reverse all service cuts, while allowing for the planned fare increases to proceed.

Transit Forward Philadelphia coalition manager Stephen Bronskill (left) and Northeast Philadelphia resident Senia Lopez hand out flyers to Birds fans ahead of the season opener. (Nick Kariuki/Billy Penn)