Philadelphia Soul The Philadelphia Soul are an Arena Football League team based in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania . They began play in as an expansion team . The team plays in the Eastern Division of the American Conference . They won their first ArenaBowl in 2008 , defeating the San Jose SaberCats 59 – 56 in ArenaBowl XXII . The Soul won 13 games and lost 3 in the 2008 regular season , as well as winning three playoff games , including ArenaBowl XXII . After two season of inactivity in 2009 and 2010 , they returned in 2011 under new Head Coach Mike Hohensee . History . The team was owned by co - majority owners Jon Bon Jovi and Craig Spencer along with minority owners Richie Sambora , Ron " Jaws " Jaworski ( former QB of the NFL ' s Philadelphia Eagles ) and Leo Carlin , Jr . The Soul began play in February of 2004 , and played its home games at the Wells Fargo Center ( then known as the Wachovia Center ) , home of the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League and the Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association . When there was a scheduling conflict with the NBA or NHL , games were played at the now - closed Wachovia Spectrum — the former home of the Flyers , 76ers , Philadelphia Phantoms AHL hockey team and the Philadelphia KiXX MISL soccer franchise . The Soul played in the Eastern Division of the National Conference of the AFL . The name " Soul " referred to the Philadelphia soul music genre , as the team was owned in part by musician Jon Bon Jovi . The official mascot of the Soul was the Blues Brother - like " Soul Man " . In 2005 , the Soul began the season by beating the Austin Wranglers 66 – 35 . However , after five games , the Soul had two wins and three losses , which led to the firing of head coach Michael Trigg . Critics say that the Soul erred that off - season when they made Tony Graziani the highest - paid player in Arena League history . The move left them with little money under the salary cap to improve their defense , and as a result , they were not in competition for the playoffs . The elimination came even after NBC scheduled 14 games of the Soul to be shown on national or regional television . In 2006 , the Soul began 2 – 0 . They went 2 – 0 against division rival Dallas Desperados ( who finished a league best 13 – 3 ) , and finished the season at 9 – 7 and earned their first playoff berth through the wild card . In their wild card playoff game , the Soul defeated the Austin Wranglers in Austin , 52 – 35 . The score was 21 – 21 at halftime , but the # 5 seed Soul outscored the # 4 Wranglers 21 – 7 in the third quarter and ran away with the game . The Soul lost their Divisional Round Playoff game 31 – 27 to the Orlando Predators in the infamous " round of golf " , so - called because viewers missed much of the 1st quarter of that game and another AFL game being broadcasted simultaneously due to a PGA Golf tournament that was televised on NBC . The Soul started 4 – 0 in 2007 before losing to the Georgia Force , 57 – 49 . Afterwards , they lost on a Monday night contest to their division rival , the Dallas Desperados , 51 – 41 . In the game , Tony Graziani left the game early with a separated left shoulder from a sack by OL / DL Rickie Simpkins . He would miss the next four weeks , all losses , dropping the team to 4 – 6 . Graziani returned in week 12 against the New Orleans VooDoo and led the team to its highest scoring output in its short franchise history , winning 78 – 34 . In a Week 16 " win - and - in " matchup with the Columbus Destroyers , Graziani led the Soul down the field and threw a touchdown pass to Charles Pauley with seven seconds left , giving the Soul a 56 – 53 win and their second trip to the playoffs in their four - year history . In the playoffs , they defeated the Orlando Predators 41 – 26 , then traveled to Atlanta to take on the Georgia Force in the Divisional Round , but lost 65 – 39 . In 2008 , the Soul signed WR Chris Jackson in the off - season . He was united with a former teammate in Tony Graziani . In the offseason the Soul were picked by many as the favorite to win the championship . However after another good start , once again Graziani was injured . He was replaced by Matt D ' Orazio . Unlike previous years , in 2008 the Soul backup was able to keep the team going . He played well enough that when Graziani was healthy once more , the coaching staff decided to allow D ' Orazio to keep the starting job . The Soul finished the 2008 season with a 13 – 3 record and earned a first - round bye . In the divisional round the Soul defeated the New York Dragons . In the conference finals the Soul were able to defeat the Cleveland Gladiators to earn their first berth to the Arena Bowl . They then won their first ArenaBowl on Sunday , July 27 , 2008 in a 59 – 56 win over the San Jose SaberCats in ArenaBowl XXII . The team suspended operations along with the rest of the Arena Football League in 2009 . On February 17 , 2010 , the Arena Football League extended an offer to the Soul to make a return to arena football . That offer was accepted , as the Soul returned in 2011 playing all their home games at the then - recently renamed Wells Fargo Center . Jaworski and Spencer will return from the prior ownership group , and Pete Ciarrocchi ( owner of local sports bar Chickie ' s and Pete ' s ) and Cosmo DeNicola ( who was the owner of the now - defunct defunct af2 team the Wilkes - Barre / Scranton Pioneers ) join the new Soul ' s ownership . Notably absent is Jon Bon Jovi , who cites his focus on the group ' s current tour as a reason for declining ownership , but still maintains his support for the Soul and their new ownership . Logo and uniforms . The Soul logo is a music note with a white football inside . Their AFL home jersey was a dark grey , and the road jersey was white . After experimenting with white and silver helmets during the 2004 Preseason , they adopted a dark grey helmet . In 2008 , they introduced a blue alternate jersey PHL on the chest and grey pants . The blue jersey became the home jersey for the 2008 playoffs . With their move to rejoin the AFL , the Soul will return to their original black jerseys , and use the blue as alternate uniforms .