As Philadephia gears up to host the world series for the second consecutive year, the city is trying to prepare itself to rise above its neighbor to the north, New York in more ways than one. The Phillies have helped to put Philadephia back on the map, but this weekend could turn out to be more of PR nightmare than something than something the city wants to be remembered for.
The Yankees and Phillies will play the first of three games in Philadephia and it’s possible the city will be without public transportation. SEPTA Transport Workers Union Local 234, the union that represents approximately 5,000 operators and mechanics, could walk off the job by 12:01 a.m. on Saturday if an agreement isn’t reached. The union is seeking to boost wages that average $52,000 and to keep health care contributions to about $10 a week. Gov. Rendell is urging the union to avoid their strike this weekend if it is still making progress with SEPTA in negotiations for a new contract as it would be “a little bit of black eye” for the city.
About 800,000 people use SEPTA daily in the Philadelphia region and thousands of fans are planning on taking several forms of transportation including the Broad Street Line and buses to reach the game. Sunday, the South Philadelphia sports complexes not only play host to the Phillies and Yankees but, there will also be a Flyers game tomorrow afternoon, a Pearl Jam concert tomorrow night as the Spectrum finale, and an Eagles game Sunday afternoon. Without public transportation, it will be very difficult to compete for parking amongst all the events going on and the riots that might ensure are not something anyone can plan for.
Despite the potential strike, hotels, restaurants and bars will fare very well this weekend. The Philadelphia Sports Congress, a division of the Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau, is estimating a total of $20 million to $25 million in visitor spending from up to three World Series games between the Phillies and the Yankees that will be played here. Even Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation (GPTMC) is trying to spread the Philly love in Manhattan by buying cheesteaks for New Yorkers at Shorty’s, a popular Philadelphia sports bar in Manhattan and then inviting them to try a Pat’s or Geno’s back in Philly.
Philadelphia will also become the media spotlight over the weekend and the city has the opportunity to prove to the world how great this city is…..that is if we don’t strike or have riots between Giants-Eagles and Yankees-Phillies fans. There is definitely a tremendous kickback for the city with the amount of TV airtime that goes to showing it off. We may not know how much revenue or ad dollars the city saves by having the Phillies in the World Series, but all the media attention is something money can’t buy.
Philadelphians are constantly trying to prove their worth to New Yorkers, who say they have better food, shopping, attractions and sports. The mayors are even dueling in a fun loving bet, where the losing mayor will have to come paint a mural in the winning teams city wearing the opposite teams uniform. At least their bet does something good for both city’s images.
While I won’t argue in favor of either city (hey I’m from Cleveland originally), I will say that no matter the outcome of the series, it will be exciting and hopefully we all make it out of this wacky Halloween sports crazy weekend alive.