This time next year, Philadelphia will have welcomed the arrivals of many top sports events. The city will pilot hosting duties of March Madness games, the PGA Championship in May (just outside the city limits at Aronimink Golf Club in Newtown Square), FIFA Men’s World Cup matches in June and July and, finally, the MLB All-Star Game in July.
Philadelphia International Airport gets to be the greeter to many of those out-of-town sports fans who will visit the city. And those fans might just be surprised by the sports figures they’ll see as they navigate between terminals.
For the last couple years, a fireside chat series called “Sports Talk at PHL” has brought the likes of Eagles greats DeSean Jackson and Brian Westbrook into the airport for miked-up conversations that passersby can enjoy. The series is a passion project for Dana Krawchuk, marketing and guest experience manager for PHL Food & Shops, the airport’s concessionaire.
“The world of travel is so different now than it ever was,” Krawchuk said. “And so when people are coming to the airport, they’re now looking for the experience. They’re not just coming anymore to sit at a gate and wait for that plane to just take off.”
“Sports Talk,” in a way, helped the airport tap into the moment of the rising Eagles. The first edition featured former Eagle-turned-analyst Seth Joyner around Philly’s Super Bowl appearance in 2023. Krawchuk said the events (and attendance for them) have only grown from there.
Along with the surprise-and-delight component for airport customers, “Sports Talk” has played a part in an additional sales boost for the sports-related stores near the stage used in the airport’s B and C terminals. Krawchuk said that those stores saw an estimated 30% to 40% sales increase in January and February, coinciding with the Eagles’ Super Bowl-winning run.
RELATED: Club World Cup finds success in Philadelphia
But “Sports Talk,” which often features a signing and/or picture opportunity with speakers, played a part in that, too, by bringing Jackson in to chat two days ahead of the Eagles’ matchup with the Chiefs. Krawchuk chuckled that Jackson needed a police escort to get out because he generated so much interest. “There were people chasing after him for autographs, which is like, for me, the coolest thing I’ve ever seen,” she added.
To help the program branch out into other sports and sustain traction, Krawchuk tapped OpenSponsorship, a platform that helps brands search for and connect with athletes who fit their marketing budgets. Led by co-founder and newly minted SBJ Game Changer Ishveen Jolly, the company has rostered three activations over the last year-plus with paid athlete appearances.
Last summer, “Sports Talk” featured Olympians Darrell Hill (a Pennsylvania native) and Ajeé Wilson (a Temple grad) around the Paris Games. OpenSponsorship also connected PHL Food & Shop with former 76ers forward Robert Covington and fan favorite Eagles tight end Brent Celek near the end of 2024, as well as the Jackson event. The Savannah Bananas are on deck later this month for some airport fun.
Kelly Stultz, a senior account manager with OpenSponsorship, said the upcoming year will give the startup ample opportunities to provide more athletes and creativity around the soon-to-be busy sports schedule.
“It’s almost like a perfect storm going into 2026, with all of the things coming down the pike for Philly,” Stultz said. “There are just so many opportunities that it’s going to be a no-brainer to integrate people in some capacity in the sports world.”
