People online are asking questions about the Philadelphia Eagles’ political stance after transit ads were spotted in the city, claiming Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris is the official candidate of the Eagles.
An X user tagged the Eagles and asked who is responsible for the ad at a local bus stop. That post has more than a million views. Google Trends data also shows people online have been searching “Philadelphia Eagles Harris.”
THE QUESTION
Did the Philadelphia Eagles place ads endorsing Kamala Harris?
THE SOURCES
- X post from the Philadelphia Eagles
- Statement from a City of Philadelphia spokesperson
- Statement from Intersection, the advertising media company which manages the bus shelter ad space
THE ANSWER
No, the Philadelphia Eagles didn’t place ads endorsing Kamala Harris.
WHAT WE FOUND
The Philadelphia Eagles have not endorsed either Vice President Kamala Harris or former president Donald Trump for president. Both the Eagles and the city of Philadelphia have confirmed the posters are not legitimate.
“We are aware counterfeit political ads are being circulated and are working with our advertising partner to have them removed,” the Philadelphia Eagles online post says.
The City of Philadelphia said it will be removing the posters from transit advertising spaces.
In an email to VERIFY, a City of Philadelphia spokesperson confirmed the posters were “illegally placed” and they were not ads placed by the Harris campaign, the Philadelphia Eagles, the Southern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) or the media agency, Intersection, that manages the transit ad space.
Intersection told VERIFY that the company is aware that “several of our bus shelters located in Philadelphia have been vandalized.”
“The paid advertising copy in each of those shelters has been replaced with unauthorized copy. While our bus shelters have locks that typically prevent the installation of unauthorized copy by non-Intersection staff, occasionally people find a way to unlock the ad box and insert unauthorized copy … We note that the Eagles and Intersection had nothing to do with the creation or posting of this unauthorized copy and Intersection staff will be removing the ads as soon as possible,” the Intersection statement said.
The poster of the fake endorsement does include a real link to the official website of the Philadelphia Eagles that encourages fans to vote. The link doesn’t include an endorsement of any candidate, but does share key voting dates and resources for local voters.
VERIFY reached out to the Harris campaign for comment but did not hear back at the time of publication.
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