Press Releases

ICYMI: “It’s Mega-F***** That SEPTA Has To Be Bailed Out By A Betting App”

Press Contact: Seth Nelson

A new report from Defector Media highlights how Pennsylvania’s transit funding crisis is disrupting plans for Eagles fans attending tonight's NFL season opener. After State Senate Republicans derailed a funding deal for SEPTA, the agency serving Philadelphia and its suburbs, transit officials were forced to hike fares and cut service—disrupting everything from hospital commutes to school attendance. Now, the fallout has reached sports fans: earlier this week, Lincoln Financial Field issued a travel advisory ahead of the Eagles’ season opener, warning that reduced service would make it harder to get to the game and even urging those without tickets to stay home.

In a surreal twist, sports betting company FanDuel stepped in to sponsor SEPTA service to and from the stadium—for one night only. While Republicans leave Philly’s transit system in crisis, it’s a gambling company ensuring the season opener isn’t a transportation disaster. Which begs the question: what about the hundreds of thousands of students, nurses, and working-class Philadelphians who rely on SEPTA every day and don’t have FanDuel footing the bill?

ICYMI: Defector Media: It’s Mega-Fucked That SEPTA Has To Be Bailed Out By A Betting App

September 4, 2025
By: Kathryn Xu

Key Points:

  • Prior to Philadelphia's Thursday home opener against the Dallas Cowboys, the Eagles' stadium put out a travel advisory for attending fans.

  • The home opener comes 11 days after SEPTA, the Philly metro area's primary public transit system, underwent its first set of service cuts as Pennsylvanian Senate Republicans continue to block the agency from receiving necessary funding. The cuts included reduced bus service, metro frequency and the elimination of special services, like the Sports Express line, which ran extra trains after games.

  • Correspondingly, the stadium's travel advisory mainly focused on the potential for road traffic, and a change of parking lot procedures—fans whose "only option is to take public transportation" were simply reminded of the SEPTA service cuts and effectively told to go pound sand.

  • As it turns out, fans traveling to the Eagles' home opener do not need to worry. On Wednesday, it was announced that FanDuel would be partnering with SEPTA in order to sponsor service for Thursday, including Sports Express trains, and provide free rides for commuters after the game ends.

  • Here is a gross symptom of a fundamentally broken state: a foundering public good saved not by government but by the for-profit interests of a betting app.

  • The FanDuel sponsorship, as it stands, will only restore service to the Broad Street Line for the Eagles' home opener. It does not affect any of SEPTA's myriad other issues.

  • After a court order, SEPTA has placed its planned September fare increase and commuter rail service cuts on hold due to those changes disproportionately affecting marginalized groups. That does not fund those services, nor does it change the cuts that went into place on Aug. 24. An estimated 52,000 students rely on SEPTA to get to school; early data showed that 63 percent of Philly schools saw an increase in late arrivals, and 53 percent had more absent students.

  • So for one week, Philly transit's health will be tied to the continued flourishing of the sports betting industry. But what's next for SEPTA? There are seven more Eagles home games, and potential Phillies playoff games, and a World Cup next summer, and, of course, Temple football.

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