About 120,000 fans descend on South Philly sports complex for Phillies, Flyers, and Mexico-Germany soccer game

With three sporting events converging in South Philadelphia Tuesday night, experts advised spectators to pack their patience — and take public transportation, if possible — to Game 2 of the National League Championship Series, Flyers-Canucks game or Mexico-Germany soccer game.

About 120,000 fans were expected Tuesday between Lincoln Financial Field, Citizens Bank Park, and the Wells Fargo Center for the Flyers’ home opener — and that’s not including staff at the three venues, or people who showed up just to tailgate.

More than 55,000 tickets were sold for Mexico-Germany as of Monday. The Phillies’ attendance for Game 1 was 45,936, and the Flyers’ listed capacity at the Wells Fargo Center is 19,600.

The vast sprawl of parking lots across the sports complex was already filling up at 5 p.m., about an hour before the Flyers’ game was set to begin. The Broad Street Line, where SEPTA offered free rides, was also jumping, and the scene coming out of NRG Station was a vibrant mix of fans and colors: Flyers orange, Phillies red, and a whole lot of Mexico green.

But some fans couldn’t avoid driving. So they made a party of it.

Take Rachel and Kara Burkett of Cherry Hill. Rachel cashed in on Christmas and birthday gifts from her mom to present her sports-fanatic wife with Phillies playoff tickets. And then she realized it would be traffic city at the sports complex.

“As an event planner, someone wasn’t thinking this through,” said Burkett, who said she was anxious — about both the traffic and the outcome of the Phils game. “I’d pay $600 to see a musical, but I know I’m going to leave happy but sports? It could be a bad night.”

The Burketts left their house at 4:30 p.m., and packed sandwiches and drinks to tailgate for an hour before heading into Citizens Bank Park. It took them 45 minutes to reach a parking lot adjacent to the stadium.

With no traffic, Tammie Bieler can usually get from her home in Royersford to Citizens Bank Park in under an hour.

But it took her nearly two hours to get there Tuesday — and that was with Beiler, her dad, son and son’s girlfriend leaving mid-afternoon.

Bieler brought the basics to her tailgate: beer, an energy shot, and her phone.

Her friends, Erin and Ryan Wood, needed a lot more: hoagies, peanut butter sandwiches, chips, pretzels, beer, juice boxes, Goldfish crackers, lollipops and Jolly Ranchers, plus parkas, Phanatic dangler hats, and coloring pages to keep their kids Delaney, 3, and Ryan Anthony, 6, occupied before the game.

“My bag weighs 75 pounds,” Erin Wood joked.

The Woods, who live in Garnet Valley, pulled the kids from school early to minimize time spent in traffic. On a good day, they can get to the stadium in 25 minutes. On Tuesday, it took 45.

”We crawled over the Platt Bridge,” said Erin Wood.

Still, spirits were high in Citizens Bank Lot U, where a parking attendant said fans started arriving at 1 p.m. to tailgate and beat traffic.

And throughout the sports complex, the fans all seemed to be getting along well, likely helped by the many well-stocked grills along the way.

Across 11th Street, a Mexico soccer fan fest in the Linc’s northern lots started at 5, three hours before kickoff. Well, three hours and 15 minutes. The game was delayed from 8 p.m. to 8:15 because the teams got stuck in traffic, announcers said.

Inside Citizens Bank Park, Jennifer and Ed Long were pacing themselves, even an hour before Aaron Nola threw his first pitch.

The Longs had left their home in Easton, Pa. around 1 p.m. to make sure they arrived at the stadium in plenty of time. It took them two hours to make the drive, longer than usual.

“Broad Street was bumper to bumper,” even at 3 p.m., Ed Long said. “The GPS kept adding time.”

But the pair was in high spirits: they said they had a good feeling about the game. And the South Philadelphia traffic jam gave them a chance to relish the wait outside the ballpark for Game 2, engaging in pre-game fun they wouldn’t normally have time for.

“We played cornhole,” Jennifer Long said. “We listened to a band; they were awesome.”