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TABLE TALK: Lehigh Valley IronPigs Continue To Grow! · The Philadelphia Sports Table | Philly Sports News & Views

• 0:29
  Speaker 1: Welcome to Table Talk here at the Philadelphia Sports Table
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: podcast show, the longest running weekly Philly sports podcast show
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: in the world, twelve years strong. We've got a great
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: discussion coming your way this week on Table Talk, coming
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: to us from Coca Cola Park the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs,
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: the Triple A affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies. We've got
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: their CEO and president, Kurt Landis Kurt, Buddy, How you doing, man?
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: Good Jeff happy as a pig in mud?
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: How's that fantastic? You know? I gotta tell you right now, Buddy.
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: I was just recently at an event in which we're
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: going to get to at Coca Cola Park. There was
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: some exciting news that was unveiled, and I just got
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: to tell you, man, the Iron Pigs are such an
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: incredible part of our Lehigh Valley community. For folks who
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: may be new to listening to the podcast, I do
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: live in the Lehigh Valley, which is about an hour
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: and a half north of Philadelphia, and going to the
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: Iron Pigs games, going to Coca Cola Park, it is
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: an amazing experience which we're certainly going to be getting
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: into on this podcast show, and also a reflection of
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: this twenty twenty five season as things wrap up for
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: the Pigs. But Kurt, you know, before we really start
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: getting into like what this season was about for the
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: Iron Pigs, I really wanted to just kind of dive
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: into who you all have been here in this community.
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: I mean, you're a staple here in the Lehigh Valley.
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: So for those who may be new to listening to
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: the podcast here, how have the Iron Pigs the Triple
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: A affiliate for the Philadelphia Phillies. How did you guys
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: come to be and what's your overall impact been here
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: in the Lehigh Valley.
• 2:03
  Speaker 3: That's a short question. There's a long answer. I'll try
• 2:06
  Speaker 3: to keep it brief. You know, we've been here for
• 2:09
  Speaker 3: eighteen years now, Jeff. Originally we were a franchise in Ottawa, Canada,
• 2:16
  Speaker 3: purchased a franchise with the intent to move to the
• 2:19
  Speaker 3: Lehigh Valley. We were able to switch the affiliation from Scranton,
• 2:26
  Speaker 3: which had the Phillies affiliation to the Lehigh Valley. So
• 2:29
  Speaker 3: we've been to Phillies it since day one, since our
• 2:32
  Speaker 3: move to Allentown, PA. And quite simply, it's just been
• 2:37
  Speaker 3: a love affair between the team and the community. We've
• 2:41
  Speaker 3: had tremendous partnerships that start with Lehigh County, which is
• 2:45
  Speaker 3: our landlord, of course, but through all the municipalities and
• 2:48
  Speaker 3: the entire community. Of course, the Philadelphia Phillies have been
• 2:51
  Speaker 3: a tremendous partner. Business community has supported us significantly, and
• 2:58
  Speaker 3: that's allowed us to keep our ticket price is low,
• 3:00
  Speaker 3: our food and beverage price is low. When you have
• 3:04
  Speaker 3: that environment, fans come out, and fans come out, the
• 3:09
  Speaker 3: businesses continue to support.
• 3:10
  Speaker 2: So it's kind of a nice cycle.
• 3:11
  Speaker 3: And you know, over the time, you've developed a reputation
• 3:14
  Speaker 3: for being edgy and unique and fun and goofy with
• 3:19
  Speaker 3: our promotions.
• 3:19
  Speaker 2: So I always I always.
• 3:21
  Speaker 3: Tell fans I think we are a triple A team
• 3:24
  Speaker 3: with a single A mentality.
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: Yeah. Absolutely absolutely look like we like you were talking about,
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: and like I mentioned earlier, you've been such a staple
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: in the community that you know sometimes and it never
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: ceases to amaze me as somebody who follows what the
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: Iron Pigs do on an annual basis, and just the
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: community partnerships that that are really quite incredible. Like you said,
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: you know, to keep this this this baseball team and
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: what you all do so very relevant to our our
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: Lea Valley community general, and I recently had the privilege
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: of being at a press conference where the Iron Pigs
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: unveiled along with another important community partner in arts Quest
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  Speaker 1: up here in our area, the Festers Night jerseys and
• 4:13
  Speaker 1: hats that are going to be commemorating America's two hundred
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  Speaker 1: and fiftieth anniversary next year in twenty twenty six, and
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: just all the celebrations and commemorations that are going to
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: be happening next year in Pennsylvania and within our Leah
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: Valley community with regard to America two fifty. So first off,
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: I kind of a two part question for you. But
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: first off, how did this entire initiative really come to be?
• 4:39
  Speaker 3: You know, Cassie Hilgert, who is the CEO for arts
• 4:43
  Speaker 3: Quest and I served together on a committee called Lehigh
• 4:46
  Speaker 3: Valley two fifty And now Cassie with the Steel Stacks
• 4:50
  Speaker 3: and Arts Quest and Music Fest and the Iron Pigs
• 4:53
  Speaker 3: here at cook Clok Park, I think we recognize we're
• 4:55
  Speaker 3: probably two of the larger foundational landmark facil across The
• 5:01
  Speaker 3: value be neique for us to tie together and work together.
• 5:04
  Speaker 3: So we came up with a really nice branding campaign
• 5:07
  Speaker 3: to recognize ten years of collaboration with Fester's Night, in
• 5:12
  Speaker 3: addition to really a Lehigh Value two fifty theme that
• 5:17
  Speaker 3: both our organizations will adapt and showcase throughout the entirety
• 5:21
  Speaker 3: of the twenty twenty six seasons. So I think inherently
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  Speaker 3: that theme will be something not just our organizations adapt,
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  Speaker 3: but something I believe the entire Lehigh Value will adapt
• 5:30
  Speaker 3: in terms of a branded artwork that we can be
• 5:33
  Speaker 3: proud of and showcase throughout the entire season. So it's
• 5:36
  Speaker 3: been amazing. We announced that on September seventeenth, and already
• 5:41
  Speaker 3: people have been going nuts for perhats.
• 5:45
  Speaker 2: You know, it's such a.
• 5:45
  Speaker 3: Unique monumental anniversary that people want to be a part
• 5:49
  Speaker 3: of it, and people want to have a souvenir already
• 5:54
  Speaker 3: or to wear a souvenir to have that throughout the
• 5:56
  Speaker 3: twenty twenty six seasons. So it's going to be a fun,
• 5:59
  Speaker 3: unique year and it's great to party with another, you know,
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  Speaker 3: community based nonprofit organization that cares a lot about the community.
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: Absolutely, And I think the one thing the Iron Pigs
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: have been so good about doing, whether it's you know,
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: you know your front office is there in terms of
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: the outreach and not just in the Lehigh Valley but
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: even beyond as well. And I think that's what that's
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: what the you know, whether Leehigh Valley two fifty, PA
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: two fifty, America two fifty, you know, all these initiatives
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: kind of wrap are wrapped around each other to really gauge, uh,
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: you know, what is happening in our local communities. So
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: I guess to follow up to you know, what what
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: is this What does this initiative really mean for you
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: and for the Iron Pigs as we commemorate America's two
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: hundred and fiftieth anniversary next year in terms of just
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: not just folks here in the Lehigh Valley, but really
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: gathering people from outside the community to say, come here,
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: you know, attend a baseball game, feel the togetherness of
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: what America two fifty really is. What are your thoughts here?
• 6:58
  Speaker 3: Well, I think we have a responsibility as the baseball
• 7:02
  Speaker 3: team it's Americana, you know, responsibility as a large community
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  Speaker 3: stalwart to.
• 7:09
  Speaker 2: Take the lead on the initiative.
• 7:10
  Speaker 3: But you know, it's not just about selling caps and
• 7:13
  Speaker 3: merchandise and having some game themes, you know, I think
• 7:16
  Speaker 3: we take leadership and trying to showcase this region and
• 7:20
  Speaker 3: the unity that comes from celebrating such a unique patriotic event.
• 7:24
  Speaker 2: Like the turn fiftieth anniversary.
• 7:26
  Speaker 3: So it's a chance for a country to kind of
• 7:29
  Speaker 3: come together and take a look at where we've been,
• 7:31
  Speaker 3: but take a look at where we're going. And you know,
• 7:36
  Speaker 3: there's a lot going on.
• 7:37
  Speaker 2: We have a series of events next year, so it's
• 7:40
  Speaker 2: not just.
• 7:41
  Speaker 3: Wearing the uniforms, but we're going to host a drone
• 7:44
  Speaker 3: show and our largest fireworks show in the history.
• 7:49
  Speaker 2: Of cook Co Park.
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  Speaker 3: Another opportunity to bring people together besides baseball. And I
• 7:55
  Speaker 3: think when you're sitting next to someone and you're celebrating
• 7:58
  Speaker 3: two hundred and fifty years, it's hard not to have
• 8:01
  Speaker 3: these great feelings of patriotism. And regardless of who's sitting
• 8:04
  Speaker 3: beside you and where we come from and what our
• 8:07
  Speaker 3: background is, hopefully you kind of take a big picture
• 8:10
  Speaker 3: of you take a deep breath and go, we made
• 8:12
  Speaker 3: it through two fifty and there's a lot of.
• 8:15
  Speaker 2: Things wrong in the world. There's a lot of things
• 8:17
  Speaker 2: right though as well. Yeah, and we can focus on
• 8:19
  Speaker 2: the right more than the wrong.
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: Hopefully, absolutely absolutely all right, Well, before we get to
• 8:24
  Speaker 1: our first break. I did want to ask you, Kurt,
• 8:28
  Speaker 1: just about what this season really has meant, not just
• 8:32
  Speaker 1: to the Pigs, but with regard to minor league baseball
• 8:35
  Speaker 1: as well, because I, if I'm correct here, I don't
• 8:40
  Speaker 1: believe any other minor league affiliate has had as much
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: attendance as the Iron Pigs have had in twenty twenty
• 8:47
  Speaker 1: five and during also the first eighteen years of existence.
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: Am I correct in that? And what are some of
• 8:54
  Speaker 1: those numbers? If I am? And can you I don't know,
• 8:57
  Speaker 1: can you top it next year as well?
• 9:00
  Speaker 2: Well?
• 9:01
  Speaker 3: The season just sending yesterday and you're already asking me
• 9:04
  Speaker 3: the top that there's a pressure. There's a pressure that
• 9:07
  Speaker 3: we welcome because we've been fortunate in our In our
• 9:10
  Speaker 3: seventeen years of baseball, we had eighteen because of COVID,
• 9:14
  Speaker 3: they're only seventeen seasons.
• 9:16
  Speaker 2: Yeah, seventeen seasons.
• 9:17
  Speaker 3: We finished first nine times, including the last three in
• 9:21
  Speaker 3: a row. So, and just what you were living to
• 9:25
  Speaker 3: was a couple of weeks ago we hosted our ten
• 9:27
  Speaker 3: million fan and no other mar League baseball team has
• 9:33
  Speaker 3: been to ten million as fast as our organizations incredible,
• 9:38
  Speaker 3: you know, so we averaged Jeff you know, more than
• 9:40
  Speaker 3: eighty five hundred people here per game, which is amazing
• 9:43
  Speaker 3: because we only have eighty three hundred fixed seats in
• 9:45
  Speaker 3: the ballpark, so on an average night there are two
• 9:48
  Speaker 3: hundred people here on the lawn and the blanket or
• 9:52
  Speaker 3: standing room. The support has just been amazing and there's
• 9:55
  Speaker 3: so many reasons for that. We talked about that briefly before,
• 9:58
  Speaker 3: but the fan base is amazing, and we've focused so
• 10:01
  Speaker 3: much on guest service, entertainment, the fan experience that goes
• 10:06
  Speaker 3: from food to the ballpark to fireworks and community initiatives
• 10:11
  Speaker 3: like the two point fifty.
• 10:13
  Speaker 2: There's so much that goes into it. But we're very blessed.
• 10:16
  Speaker 3: We ended this year at five hundred and eighty five
• 10:19
  Speaker 3: thousand fans man for the year and not easily outpaced.
• 10:23
  Speaker 2: The number two teams.
• 10:24
  Speaker 3: So there's teams like Indianapolis, Columbus, Ohio, Buffalo, Sacramento, Charlotte, Jacksonville,
• 10:32
  Speaker 3: NFL size markets that.
• 10:35
  Speaker 2: We are beating handily when it comes.
• 10:38
  Speaker 3: To attendance, and it's this magic carpet ride that we
• 10:41
  Speaker 3: never want to end.
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: Well, I guess, you know, I guess what needs to
• 10:46
  Speaker 1: happen in the future here. Kurt is just you know,
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: building onto the stadium, right, I mean, we need an
• 10:51
  Speaker 1: additional five thousand seats there at Coca Cola Park, right,
• 10:55
  Speaker 1: you know.
• 10:56
  Speaker 3: It's it's funny because I'm not sure about additional capacity,
• 10:59
  Speaker 3: but we have to change all the time to stay relevant.
• 11:03
  Speaker 3: And you can't just sit here and say we've been successful.
• 11:06
  Speaker 3: And you know, a couple of years ago we finished
• 11:09
  Speaker 3: on some additions to the ballpark, but they're so focused
• 11:12
  Speaker 3: on the Phillies players because we had to make improvements
• 11:17
  Speaker 3: or to stay relevant, to stay.
• 11:19
  Speaker 2: A miling team.
• 11:20
  Speaker 3: Yep, right to have them, To have the right to
• 11:24
  Speaker 3: host the Phillies, you have to have the right player,
• 11:27
  Speaker 3: I guess, restrooms and locker.
• 11:30
  Speaker 2: Rooms and certain food. Yes, So I'm anxious.
• 11:35
  Speaker 3: I'm hopeful here in the next two or three years
• 11:37
  Speaker 3: that we can really start to add fan amenities because
• 11:41
  Speaker 3: Cokla Park is a tremendous, tremendous ballpark, but we're always
• 11:45
  Speaker 3: looking to make it better.
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: Yeah. Absolutely, all right, Well, folks, we are going to
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: take a break here to pay some bills, but when
• 11:51
  Speaker 1: we get back, we got more iron pigs. Talk with
• 11:54
  Speaker 1: our good buddy Kurt Land as CEO and president of
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs. Stick with us, all right,
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: we are back, folks, and again talking to Kurt Landis
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: from the Lee High Valley Iron Pigs. He is running
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: the show over there, and Kurt, I wanted to dive
• 12:10
  Speaker 1: into something you mentioned right before we went to break
• 12:14
  Speaker 1: and that is the fact that the Iron Pigs had
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: their ten millionth fan in early September. That was celebrated,
• 12:20
  Speaker 1: that was commemorated, It was all over the news here
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: in our Lee High Valley region. Really, what was that
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: celebration like, because, as you mentioned, just monumental in so
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: many different ways, and it meant so much, you know,
• 12:32
  Speaker 1: not just to that particular individual, but to the community
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: as a whole. I mean, what was that celebration like?
• 12:40
  Speaker 3: You know, in the moment, you're so focused on celebrating
• 12:43
  Speaker 3: the woman that won and surprising her and she was
• 12:46
  Speaker 3: just overjoyed. She won season tickets and gift cards to
• 12:50
  Speaker 3: tons of places all over the valley, businesses that helped
• 12:53
  Speaker 3: us celebrate the moment. But as you walked away from
• 12:57
  Speaker 3: it and that night and in the press release that
• 12:59
  Speaker 3: follow it was really kind of emotional. There are so
• 13:03
  Speaker 3: many factors that have played into our success. And we've
• 13:07
  Speaker 3: talked about a few of those already today. But you know,
• 13:09
  Speaker 3: our ownership has given myself and our team the ability
• 13:14
  Speaker 3: to invest in the ballpark.
• 13:16
  Speaker 2: When we've needed to, the ability to be fun and goofy.
• 13:19
  Speaker 3: And and you know that that relevance about being able
• 13:23
  Speaker 3: to laugh at yourself and having a dead form of
• 13:27
  Speaker 3: your mascot, a strip of bacon on your.
• 13:29
  Speaker 2: Hat, right, and how does that look?
• 13:31
  Speaker 3: And you know, to do a funeral giveaway and all
• 13:34
  Speaker 3: these different fun, goofy promotions we've done over the years
• 13:37
  Speaker 3: that that create this sense of if I'm not here
• 13:39
  Speaker 3: at Cokla Park on this and out, and.
• 13:42
  Speaker 2: So that leads to the attendant success.
• 13:44
  Speaker 3: And so our ownership has been tremendous with Joe Finley
• 13:46
  Speaker 3: and Craig Stein. But our staff, you know, our staff,
• 13:50
  Speaker 3: you know, from from day one, we try to create
• 13:52
  Speaker 3: a culture where all ideas are welcome, where guest service
• 13:56
  Speaker 3: is critical, where everyone stops to pick up the t
• 14:00
  Speaker 3: if they see it.
• 14:01
  Speaker 2: You know, you have to take a pride in what
• 14:03
  Speaker 2: we do.
• 14:03
  Speaker 3: And so you walk away from that moment of ten million,
• 14:08
  Speaker 3: it's amazing to think back, truly on the number of
• 14:11
  Speaker 3: people that helped make us successful.
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: I don't mean to sound hokey when I say this,
• 14:16
  Speaker 1: but the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs and Coca Cola Park
• 14:18
  Speaker 1: was a place where I was able to come together
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: with not only one of our listeners here at the
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: PSD podcast show, but somebody who's been a contributor here
• 14:27
  Speaker 1: on this podcast as well, having the opportunity to actually
• 14:30
  Speaker 1: meet with him face to face, meet his kids, walk
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: around the ballpark, further connecting our relationship and just further
• 14:39
  Speaker 1: connecting on a level where we're watching baseball, enjoying the
• 14:43
  Speaker 1: atmosphere that happened to me, And yes, my buddy Josh
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: and I and his kids, we were the nine millionth
• 14:49
  Speaker 1: whatever before that moment, but the Iron Pigs allowed us
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: then to come together in that moment for that game,
• 14:57
  Speaker 1: meeting face to face. It was quite a special moment.
• 15:00
  Speaker 1: And yes, you know, could we have gone someplace else
• 15:02
  Speaker 1: to do that, absolutely, but we chose the Lehighvalley Iron
• 15:05
  Speaker 1: Pigs and Coca Cola Park specifically for a reason, and
• 15:09
  Speaker 1: it's because of the amazing atmosphere and just the semblance
• 15:13
  Speaker 1: of community. So as we're moving along here, I just
• 15:16
  Speaker 1: wanted to throw that out there to people but as
• 15:19
  Speaker 1: we're moving along, you know, it's I always ask you
• 15:22
  Speaker 1: every time you come on. You're so great to come
• 15:24
  Speaker 1: on Kurt about the awesome food at Coca Cola Park.
• 15:27
  Speaker 1: Whenever you jump on the show. It's just such a
• 15:29
  Speaker 1: hard a huge part of the experience at the ballpark.
• 15:33
  Speaker 1: What were some of the most popular foods at the
• 15:35
  Speaker 1: ballpark this year? Do you have a list or anything
• 15:38
  Speaker 1: you can run down with us here?
• 15:39
  Speaker 2: Well, I eat way too much of it, more than
• 15:41
  Speaker 2: I should. You know, Jeff, you talked about the attendance
• 15:45
  Speaker 2: and the food.
• 15:45
  Speaker 3: There's so many things that go into the ballpark that
• 15:47
  Speaker 3: make the experience what it is. But you know, we
• 15:50
  Speaker 3: focus on creating memories, and you're right. Food is a
• 15:54
  Speaker 3: part of the memory here. When you come here, it's
• 15:57
  Speaker 3: a nine in invocation. You're ready to kind of of
• 16:01
  Speaker 3: the bulge and the different food items. If it's the
• 16:04
  Speaker 3: the half pound maple candied bacon on a stick, very
• 16:10
  Speaker 3: popular now as Shocks, which is also a music fest novelty.
• 16:16
  Speaker 3: We see people walking around the ballpark with you know,
• 16:18
  Speaker 3: seasoned roasted roasted ears of corn. Inherently, you know, people
• 16:23
  Speaker 3: still just love the ballpark, hot dog, peanuts, popcorn ice
• 16:29
  Speaker 3: cold beer, but you know it's it's neat.
• 16:32
  Speaker 2: You have a jandle turkey, you know, something local or orange.
• 16:38
  Speaker 3: We have a variety of these local micro brews that
• 16:41
  Speaker 3: people really enjoy. So inherently, I think from a food standpoint,
• 16:45
  Speaker 3: there's something for everybody. You know, a friend of mine
• 16:48
  Speaker 3: loves the pork and chips, you know, the barbecue pork
• 16:51
  Speaker 3: with cheese and and there's very few things that that
• 16:55
  Speaker 3: we don't have here along the mindset.
• 16:57
  Speaker 2: Of pork right exactly, the pull pork par fae.
• 17:02
  Speaker 3: But it's I think people forget this is the largest
• 17:06
  Speaker 3: restaurant in the Lehigh Valley. Yeah, we can we do
• 17:10
  Speaker 3: catering for individual groups where it's a very very high
• 17:14
  Speaker 3: level type of menu, and then we can produce five
• 17:17
  Speaker 3: thousand hot dogs and a dollar hot dog on a
• 17:19
  Speaker 3: Tuesday night in July. So it's a very difficult thing
• 17:24
  Speaker 3: to manage to have such a large restaurant and to
• 17:26
  Speaker 3: be able to serve that many items cold or hot
• 17:30
  Speaker 3: and on time. Yeah, that's part of behind the scenes
• 17:34
  Speaker 3: that people don't think about.
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: Absolutely Again, folks, if you have not had an opportunity
• 17:38
  Speaker 1: to get to the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs Coca Cola
• 17:41
  Speaker 1: Park facility. You have to in twenty twenty six for sure,
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: So as we're wrapping up things here, I want to
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: know what we can look forward to from the Iron
• 17:50
  Speaker 1: Pigs in twenty twenty six. Kurt, you mentioned the Drone show,
• 17:53
  Speaker 1: which is going to be great, huge fireworks spectacular as well.
• 17:57
  Speaker 1: What other things do y'all have planned for twenty six.
• 18:01
  Speaker 3: Sure, we're putting together our promotions schedule right now, and
• 18:03
  Speaker 3: there's gonna be some of the great ones that come
• 18:05
  Speaker 3: back from Star Wars Night to Harry Potter Knight of course,
• 18:10
  Speaker 3: probably somewhere between twenty five to thirty fireworks nights that
• 18:14
  Speaker 3: are extremely popular.
• 18:16
  Speaker 2: But the fun ones are the ones that really involve charity.
• 18:21
  Speaker 3: At the same time, there are great promotions that you
• 18:23
  Speaker 3: can put on a different uniform on the team and
• 18:26
  Speaker 3: that's unique and fun. So I can't tip my hand
• 18:29
  Speaker 3: too much to that. But you know, we had a
• 18:32
  Speaker 3: very successful initial Duck Night Jeff at the ball park, YEP,
• 18:37
  Speaker 3: and we had the proceeds from that go to our
• 18:39
  Speaker 3: friends in the Pediatric Cancer Foundation of Lehigh Valley. I
• 18:42
  Speaker 3: think that will grow next year where we really want
• 18:46
  Speaker 3: to support their efforts together with one of our partners
• 18:49
  Speaker 3: at Lehigh Value Health Network SLASH Jefferson. So, you know,
• 18:55
  Speaker 3: for us, this is the fun part of the year
• 18:57
  Speaker 3: where we've been planning already. But you know, we'll probably
• 19:00
  Speaker 3: go to our staff retreat next week brainstorms some of
• 19:04
  Speaker 3: the final ideas for promotion this calendar, and then we're
• 19:07
  Speaker 3: all in and you know, and one thing we haven't
• 19:09
  Speaker 3: talked about, you know, in about a week and a half,
• 19:12
  Speaker 3: we'll start decorating the entirety of the ballpark for our
• 19:16
  Speaker 3: Winter Lights Fest. Well illumination, Yes, and Illumination drew last year,
• 19:21
  Speaker 3: Jeff about seventy thousand people. So even though we talk
• 19:24
  Speaker 3: about the off season, it's the off season from the
• 19:26
  Speaker 3: Iron Pigs, but from our staff perspective and from the ballpark,
• 19:31
  Speaker 3: there's something here literally every month. And so yeah, we'll
• 19:35
  Speaker 3: kick off the Lights Festival on November fourteenth. That'll run
• 19:38
  Speaker 3: through January third, and we'll have now one point five
• 19:43
  Speaker 3: million lights, which is by far the largest holiday lights
• 19:46
  Speaker 3: show in the region, all set.
• 19:48
  Speaker 2: To music, with all these activities and features. So it's
• 19:51
  Speaker 2: an exciting piece of what we do now.
• 19:53
  Speaker 1: It was an amazing event last year, the kickoff for
• 19:56
  Speaker 1: illumination folks at Coca Cola Park. My family and I
• 19:59
  Speaker 1: were the We got some s'mores, roasted them over the
• 20:02
  Speaker 1: fires there and it was it was a great, great time.
• 20:06
  Speaker 1: It was a great, great time to be with family
• 20:07
  Speaker 1: and other folks from the community. So that said, he's
• 20:11
  Speaker 1: Kurtlandis Folks President and CEO of the Lea Valley IronPigs.
• 20:14
  Speaker 1: Kurt Body, it was so great talking to you. Thank
• 20:16
  Speaker 1: you so much for taking the time to jump with
• 20:18
  Speaker 1: the Philadelphia Sports Table podcast show. Come back join us.
• 20:21
  Speaker 1: Love to talk to you in more detail about what
• 20:24
  Speaker 1: you all are doing at the Iron Pigs in the future.
• 20:26
  Speaker 2: Great always my pleasure, Jef, thanks for having me.
• 20:29
  Speaker 1: That's gonna do it for us here on table Talk
• 20:31
  Speaker 1: this week. Please share our podcast with your friends and
• 20:34
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• 20:37
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• 20:41
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• 20:45
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• 20:48
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• 20:51
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• 20:55
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• 21:00
  Speaker 1: I'll take care and we'll catch you next time.