The 2008 Philadelphia Soul season was the fifth season for the franchise. The Soul started the season by winning their first nine games. Finishing the regular season with a 13–3 record, this was the Soul's best regular season to that point in their then-short history. They won their first Eastern Division title, and went into the playoffs as the top seed in the National Conference. Against the New York Dragons, the Soul won their Divisional round game by a score of 49–48 to advance to the National Conference Championship. They won that game on July 12, 2008 against the Cleveland Gladiators, 70–35. They won ArenaBowl XXII in New Orleans on July 27, 2008 against the defending champion San Jose SaberCats.