Philadelphia Kixx

National Professional Soccer League (1996-2001)
Major Indoor Soccer League (2001-2008)
National Indoor Soccer League (2008-2009)
Major Indoor Soccer League (2009-2010)

Tombstone

Born: November 14, 1995 – NPSL expansion franchise¹
Folded: Postseason 2010

First Game: October 19, 1996 (W 17-12 vs. Detroit Rockers)
Last Game: March 21, 2010 (W 19-12 vs. Baltimore Blast)

NPSL Championships: None
MISL Champions: 2002 & 2007

Arenas

1996-2009: The Spectrum (14,500)²
Opened: 1967
Demolished: 2010-2011

2009-2010: Liacouras Center
Opened: 1997

Marketing

Team Colors: Teal, Red & Black³

Dance Team: The SideKixx

Mascot: Socceroo (the Kangaroo)

Ownership

Owners:

1996-2002: Ed Tepper
2002-2010: Jeffrey Rotwitt

Background

The Philadelphia Kixx were a long-running indoor soccer team that enjoyed strong popularity in the City of Brotherly Love for a few years during the late 1990’s. The club was originally founded as a National Professional Soccer League (NPSL) expansion franchise in 1996 by local businessman Ed Tepper.

Tepper was one of the pioneers of the sport of indoor soccer. He more or less stumbled across the sport during a brief stint as owner of the old Philadelphia Wings box lacrosse team that played at the Spectrum in 1974 and 1975. Captivated by the potential of the indoor game, Tepper quickly sold off the Wings to focus on soccer. He was a co-founder of the first pro indoor league, the Major Indoor Soccer League, in 1978. But Tepper had been away from the sport for more than a decade when came back to form the Kixx in 1995. Tepper kept the team until 2002, when he turned over primary ownership to local attorney Jeffrey Rotwitt. Rotwitt would support the club until its demise in 2010.

Slow Decline

The Kixx were the top box office draw in the NPSL for three straight years from 1998 to 2000, averaging over 8,000 fans per game. But the team’s fortunes dipped in the 2000’s as Major League Soccer and the rapid growth of the outdoor game relegated the indoor game to irrelevance and disarray. The Kixx were further marginalized when the Spectrum, their home of 13 years, closed its doors in 2009. The team moved to the Liacouras Center on the campus of Temple University. The club went on a hiatus at the end of the 2009-10 season, which turned out to be just a euphemism for going out of business.

The Kixx won two league championships during their fourteen-year run, capturing Major Indoor Soccer League titles in 2002 and 2007.