‘We’re not ready’: Not even 1976 compares to how special next summer will be in Philly sports, Dan Hilferty says

Dan Hilferty was in his office last month at the Wells Fargo Center when he suddenly heard drums banging and crowds chanting. Hilferty, the CEO of Comcast Spectacor, looked out his window and saw red smoke billowing in the distance. Thousands of fans were marching toward Lincoln Financial Field for one of the FIFA Club World Cup games. And they were impossible to ignore.

“I thought to myself, ‘Wow,’” said Hilferty, who is the chairman of the city’s Host Committee for next summer’s World Cup. “This is what we can expect next year for every match. Every day there will be something going on in this city.”

The eight games earlier this summer at the Linc provided a taste of what the city can expect next year when the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, PGA Championship, FIFA World Cup, and MLB All-Star Game come to the Philly area as part of the nation’s 250th birthday. The World Cup — which will play six games in Philly — is expected to bring more than 500,000 people to town. The games will sell out, hotels will be booked, and the air may be smoky.

“We’re not ready,” Hilferty said when asked if the city understands how neat the atmosphere will be. “Every match is a Super Bowl. To see each of these teams, these national teams with thousands of people marching from different areas of the city in a peaceful but boisterous way, will be something we’ve never experienced. What I saw that day, and was blown away by, pales in comparison to what we’re going to see every match.”

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John Middleton was at the 1976 MLB All Star Game, sitting in his usual perch in the back of Veterans Stadium’s 600 Level. The game was the last of four All-Star Games held in Philadelphia that year, along with the NCAA Final Four, as the city was the center of the sports world for the Bicentennial.

And the Philadelphia fans took over baseball’s showcase, booing the rival Reds players so heavily during introductions that the players complained afterward. Fifty years ago, the fans didn’t need smoke. They brought their own.

“I was cheering for our guys,” said Middleton, now the Phillies CEO and managing partner. “That’s the way my parents taught me to be. Don’t boo. Cheer.”

The excitement of 1976 is the closest comparison for what Philadelphia can expect in 2026. The city hosted an estimated 14-20 million visitors that year, including 1 million on July 4.

“You couldn’t wait every morning to pick up The Inquirer, the Daily News, and then the Bulletin at night,” Hilferty said. “There was excitement. It was a lot of news, constantly. It was just vibrant. There was just a positive vibe around the city.

“It was really fun to be a Philadelphian. From a cultural perspective, a historical perspective, or a sports perspective it was just really neat.”

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There will not be as many events next year in Philly as there were in 1976, but the events are far more grander than 50 years ago. The MLB All-Star Game did not have a Home Run Derby in 1976 as the players simply attended a luncheon on Monday afternoon, played that night, and left town. It’s now an “All-Star Week.”

The city has hosted plenty of big sporting events, but it’s been 100 years — the 1926 heavyweight title match between Gene Tunney and Jack Dempsey — since it hosted something with the worldwide appeal of the World Cup.

“It’s great,” Middleton said. “It’s going to appeal to everyone. Anyone who has any kind of an interest is going to find something special for that interest in Philadelphia in 2026. Arts and culture people will like it. Sports people will like it. History buffs will like it. It’s exciting.”

Hilferty retired in December of 2020 as the CEO of Independence Blue Cross after 10 years. Less than a year later, he had a new gig. David Cohen, who was the chairman of Philly’s World Cup committee, was appointed to be the U.S. ambassador to Canada. He called Hilferty in the summer of 2021 and asked if he could handle his World Cup duties.

“My wife Joan was like, ‘Yes. Get out of the house,’” Hilferty said.

He was not the city’s biggest soccer fan — Hilferty attended games in college at St. Joe’s to support friends, followed the Union, and caught a big match in England — but he loved big events. Hilferty helped bring Pope Francis to Philadelphia in 2015 and was part of two political conventions. This was another chance to do something big.

Hilferty said Philly expects to make $770 million of economic impact during the two weeks when the World Cup is in town. The city will also buzz when the games are at MetLife Stadium, as some fans are expected to stay in Philly and travel to North Jersey.

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He watched from his office as the fans marched toward the Linc and was in the stadium for one of the games, providing an appetizer for what next summer will be like. Everyone knows it’s coming, but Hilferty thinks they still might not be ready for how it will feel.

“To be a part of this has been one of the greatest experiences of my professional life, my life as a true-blue Philadelphian,” Hilferty said. “Fifty years from now, I would hope that Philadelphia is perceived as a true world-class city and as a destination city not just as attracting business but tourism and culture. We’ll be seen as a true world-class city and a place where people want to come to. I hope that soccer is elevated.

“And selfishly I hope people look back 50 years from now and say, ‘Who is that old guy in the picture with the 2030 Stanley Cup?’”