Philadelphia Union crack down on Sons of Ben protests, confiscate “Sell the Team” banners

Philadelphia Union supporters are fed up with club management after what has been an extremely disappointing season. The frustration came to a head this past weekend, with the Sons of Ben and other fans bringing in banners to protest.

The Union immediately cracked down on behavior they said violated the Fan Code of Conduct:

Big brother @PhilaUnion confiscating numerous dissenting banners in TRE. WE are your customers, not the other way around. Silencing people will only make things worse #doop pic.twitter.com/WVH0Ko6uPt

— Aaron Lerch (@LerchAaron) July 6, 2024

The Philadelphia Union have been horrible this season. They are ranked 14th in the Eastern Conference (4-9-9) and haven’t notched a win since May 18th when they beat New England by a final score of 3-0. 

So it’s definitely warranted to show your frustration with ownership who haven’t done a good job in addressing the issues the team has been facing this year but of course, the Union used the Major League Soccer rule book to justify the removal of the signs.

According to the “Fan Code of Conduct” fans are prohibited from bringing signs, banners, or flags larger than 3’ x 5’ into the stadium unless they are pre-approved before the match. 

The “sell the team sign” has been removed by security now.#Doop https://t.co/oO3vOuFM4C pic.twitter.com/xkSF6lIunV

— Todd Lewis (@ItsAToddLife) July 6, 2024

It’s clear team ownership has completely failed to put forward the resources necessary to construct a winning roster. After coming so close to an MLS Cup recently, owner Jay Sugarman essentially gave up on making a push for ultimate glory.

Meanwhile, he sic’d his VP of Season Ticket Sales and Fan Services on the dissenting supporters, who had security confiscate the banners. Sadly, this suppression of free speech has him looking more like a Stasi officer in East Germany than a team employee.

Sadly, this isn’t his first time leading a crackdown like this either.

Union vice president of season ticket sales and fan services Mark Evans just confiscated this banner.

A decade ago, Evans led the security operation that took the Nick Sakiewicz as Grim Reaper banners out of the River End.#doop https://t.co/9Pq0mK1h44

— Jonathan Tannenwald (@thegoalkeeper) July 6, 2024

.@KeystoneUltras with a “The Sugar Ain’t Sweet No More Sugarman Out” banner.

The banner has been removed by the Union.#Doop pic.twitter.com/MAKXPguiWG

— Todd Lewis (@ItsAToddLife) July 6, 2024

Obviously, signs like these would never have been approved by ownership in the first place and ultimately the rule book served as justification for having them removed but regardless, any professional sports team will always be viewed negatively if they are removing protest signs and the Union are certainly no different. 

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