Philly Radio: Sports WIP-FM Drops The Curtain On Wing Bowl

After 26 years of wings, wingettes, and wildly intoxicated Eagles fans, WIP 94.1 FM is officially ending Wing Bowl.

According to philly.com, WIP morning hosts Angelo Cataldi and Al Morganti, who founded the annual wing-eating contest in 1993, announced the end of Wing Bowl on the air Tuesday morning.

"I can't believe how emotional I feel about it being over," Cataldi told listeners.

Morganti originally came up with the idea for Wing Bowl to replace the void left by the Eagles' inability to make it to the Super Bowl. He compared the situation to Sisyphus, who according to Greek mythology was condemned to an eternity of rolling a boulder up a hill and watching it roll back down.

"It's like that Greek god who put the rock up the hill. It went over," Morganti said. "They won the Super Bowl!"

The raucous event drew upwards of 20,000 people to the Wells Fargo Center every year in the early-morning hours on the Friday before the Super Bowl. Celebrities who have attended Wing Bowl over the years include wrestlers Ric Flair and Mick Foley, actor Chazz Palminteri, former NBA star Dennis Rodman, and musician Coolio.

In the 2018 event, Molly Schuyler set a new record by downing 501 wings on the way to her third Wing Bowl championship.

"We had a lot of conversations, and a little bit of frustration on all sides, but I think we've come to a place where this is the right thing to do for the fans of Philadelphia," said David Yadgaroff, the Philadelphia market manager for WIP's parent company, Entercom.

Wing Bowl also drew its fair share of critics thanks to the mix of intoxicated Philadelphia sports fans waking up early to ogle at strippers and scantily clad wingettes competing for prizes.