Legendary American bald eagle to represent Palace at Premier League event in Florida

Announcement

19 Jan 2023

This Saturday, at a special Premier League and NBC Sports fan event in Orlando, Florida, Crystal Palace Football Club and its supporters will once again be connected to an American bald eagle.

It will be the first time an eagle will be involved with the club since the passing of Kayla in the summer of 2020, following a decade of service at Selhurst Park.

The club is actively involved in the promotion of the special State-side event this weekend, and with the Crystal Palace v Newcastle United match taking prime billing, it is with great pleasure that we have partnered with the American Eagle Foundation on welcoming a new eagle to the club for this special event to delight its American-based supporters.

A 33-year old eagle named ‘Challenger’, who is regarded as the most famous of its kind in America, will be representing the club as part of a collaboration with Tennessee-based charity American Eagle Foundation at this Saturday’s Premier League Mornings Live event at Universal’s CityWalk in Orlando.

Hundreds of Palace fans from a number of our supporters clubs will attend the event, with several thousands of American-based football fans also watching all of the weekend’s games live on the big screens at the iconic location, with live coverage from NBC Sports.

Supporters attending the event will be able to have their picture taken alongside Challenger and his handlers, whilst learning more about the bird of prey and the Foundation who cares for him, in the following time slots: 11:15 - 12:30 EST local time and 14:15 - 15:00 EST. The game kicks off at 12:30 EST local time.

Challenger was born in 1989 and was found in Louisiana having been blown from his nest during a storm. He was rescued and cared for by some well-meaning local residents, but unfortunately, he experienced too much human contact at a very young age and became highly ‘human socialized.’

Despite attempting to release Challenger into the wild on a number of occasions that year, it was determined that he could not survive and hunt on his own in the wild. At that point, he was placed in the care of the American Eagle Foundation in Nashville, TN, where he has remained ever since.

With a commitment to conservation and educational outreach, the American Eagle Foundation is dedicated to inspiring the global community to guard and protect the Bald Eagle and all birds of prey, and is currently finalising the build of the the largest sanctuary in the States.

Challenger went on to became the first bald eagle in U.S. history trained to free-fly into major sports stadiums and flew at hundreds of events between 1995-2017.

Some of his biggest appearances include flights at five MLB World Series, NFL Pro Bowls and even White House appearances and Presidential inaugurations. Challenger’s image is even on a Tennessee specialty license plate and on specialty coins issued by the U.S. Mint, such is his status.

Kayla, the club’s official live mascot between 2010-2020, was born in Canada before spending much of her life at Eagle Heights Wildlife Foundation in Kent, and was a much cherished part of the home matchday experience, with supporters enjoying meet and greet opportunities before every match and her regular flights between the goals whilst the players warmed up.

The club is delighted to begin its relationship with Challenger and the American Eagle Foundation, and we look forward to seeing our fans interact with him on Saturday live on NBC and Peacock.

Registrations for Premier League Morning Live event are now closed, but you can tune into USA Network and Peacock starting 09:30 EST (6:30AM PST) to watch the event, then NBC at 12:30 EST / 09:30 PST to watch the Palace v Newcastle game live.

You can find out more about the American Eagle Foundation on their website or by following on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

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