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- From Romans cheering on gladiators in the dusty Coliseum to Americans hollering from the bleachers overlooking a grassy baseball diamond, sports have always drawn a crowd, and drawing a crowd, it turns out, has an economic impact.

In this episode, we'll look at two professional sports teams and the venues they call home right here in the Lehigh Valley.

We'll also sit down with two former professional athletes who took the fight off the field and into the worlds of business and community building.

First up, a former Parkland High School graduate, turned NFL running back, turned fashion entrepreneur.

In his search for a pair of better fitting jeans, he found himself trading yards on the field for yards of selvedge denim, spearheading his own brand in the process, and selling his high quality jeans right here in the Lehigh Valley.

- I'm Andre Williams, and we are at All Weather Selvedge Denim Co. Denim is Americana.

This is probably one of maybe three or four places in the state where you're going to find selvedge denim.

To make selvedge denim, you need a shuttle loom.

Selvedge denim is higher quality denim fabric.

It's the original denim fabric that Levi Strauss patented back in 1873.

All Weather is just something that...

It doesn't matter what season it is, really, it doesn't matter what the situation is.

This is for me.

I couldn't wear jeans because nobody...

I ripped my pants too many times.

Nobody's really making a fit for me.

I got a normal sized waist, but I got these above average thighs.

But I don't want some big pants, boot cut pants.

I want something that is sexy.

Nobody was doing it.

So that is my niche.

Signature of the brand of the main line AW, it's designed for somebody that has a normal sized waist between 28 and 40 inches.

Two places to get good fabric... Japan and Italy.

If you talk about denim, though... ..Japan.

We have three fabrics from three different selvedge mills in Japan.

You just want something that just looks like something you can wear every day - Tom.

if you really just looking for comfortable jeans - George.

If you want something that is different - Brad.

Finished high school out here at Parkland High School and ended up getting an athletic scholarship to play football at Boston College.

Even was fourth in the Heisman that year.

That was 2013.

But that last year things came together and I had an awesome year and ended up making it into the NFL.

I had a good rookie season.

That was my best year in the league by far.

But in the off season I was trying to figure out what I was going to do.

February 2016, I met my brand developer and we had a conversation over the shoe that I'd created over the course of six to eight months.

This is the Running Man Red Herring Classic.

This was actually my first creative project.

Even though it looks like a lace up, it's a slip on shoe, it's a loafer.

It wasn't a...immediate success.

I had a great product, but that balance that you have to find is marketing.

How do you market your product, how do you let people know what you have?

And that's what I had to figure out.

That was my journey from 2016 to 2022.

I got into the promenade, and the promenade around here is supposed to be Lehigh Valley's Beacon Shopping Center.

I do plan to be here for a long time and to grow.

How is it?

How is it compared to what you had on?

- Oh, it definitely feels more comfortable.

- There's opportunities all the time, and it might not be apparent to you now, but you're going to feel it.

You're not going to know it, and it's not going to be 100%, but you're going to feel it.

That is the thing that is going to push you towards your destiny.

And you shouldn't ask questions about it.

You should chase it.

- The construction of the PPL Center played a major part in the Neighborhood Improvement Zone project in downtown Allentown.

It has played host to star studded concerts, monster truck shows and other family friendly events.

Originally built for hockey and as a home to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, the PPL Center now serves up so much more.

- It really gives the community that hometown team, you know, feel.

They have something that they're invested in and can cheer on on a daily basis.

- My name is Billy Price.

I am the new business specialist in ticket sales with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.

- Hi, my name is Matthew Larochelle, and I am the game presentation coordinator here for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.

- You have the show on the ice for 20 minutes.

But you also have the show during the intermissions, pre- games, post-game activities.

- Getting you hyped up for the game at hand with getting you on the video board for five seconds.

Getting you hyped up during the intermission with people throwing Peeps across the ice, trying to win a prize.

- And you see the Peeps Zamboni going around and the kids loved it.

- Then solo artists.

The Easton Marching Band was here back in the fall.

- There's things that we could do within that to help promote or partner with people outside, or businesses outside of the venue - sponsor bobbleheads... JustBorn is a big sponsor that do the Peeps and the peanut chews.

So recently they gave away Peeps on the way out.

Those little elements help enhance the overall experience of coming to a game here at the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.

- We're really geared toward families.

Our ticket prices are, you know, very family friendly.

The food at the arena is fantastic, but it's just really a great night out for a family, and there happens to be a hockey game going on at the same time.

You have fights in the American Hockey League.

Something that gets the fans on their feet.

But so do the goals and the goal horn.

And Melvin.

- Melvin is an intriguing, puck nosed pladottle.

- He is a breath of fresh air that brings smiles to everyone that he encounters.

- I'm here to help make memories, whether it be for the entire venue or one five-year-old that is coming to their first hockey game ever - to have something that's going to be a lot of fun for anyone ages five to 95.

You're not just coming to see hockey, you know, it's the overall experience.

- As a Minor League team, we rely on our local fan base coming out here and supporting our pride and joy, the Phantoms.

- PPL Center was built for hockey, but it's more than just a hockey arena.

We like to think that we are something for everyone.

We do a little bit of everything for the community and really focus on having a diverse lineup of events.

- Monster Jam, Disney On Ice, ESPN high school basketball game.

- Elton John has been here a couple of times.

Bon Jovi, Tom Petty.

The Eagles actually was the very first event that we did back in September 2014.

- And we have a lot of great events coming up.

We just announced the I Love the '90s tour.

- We have Greta Van Fleet in the fall.

James Taylor, which just got announced.

- Just in April alone, we had over 16 events.

Takes a lot of manpower to make sure that we're going from monster trucks to Disney On Ice to basketball to back to hockey, you know, sometimes all within, you know, one week.

So we really count on the community of Allentown and getting people here that maybe wouldn't have that opportunity.

- The redevelopment of downtown Allentown was designed as part of the Neighborhood Improvement Zone.

Neighborhood Improvement Zone is a 128 acre zone within downtown Allentown that allows developers to use taxes that they generate in order to pay for the debt that they incur for construction of building a building.

PPL Center really acts as the catalyst for the revitalization of downtown Allentown.

- Everything that is downtown revolves around this arena.

Tim Hortons, Chickie's & Pete's... We have the downtown Allentown market right next door, which has seen huge success.

- These venues are such a big pedestal for the city.

The longer that this venue is here, you're going to see more businesses, I believe, gravitate to this area.

- You know, it's definitely one of the fastest growing regions in the country, and a lot of that is due to the Neighborhood Improvement Zone legislation that allowed the arena to be built and for all this development to take place.

- The more people that come support the building, the more you're able to put on, the more revenue's generated for the community, you know, for the municipality.

And so it touches all the businesses, you know.

Economic growth is such a big part of what we do.

- And we anticipate that to continue to grow and we're proud to continue to play a role in that.

- When you see the guests come in, and this is here in Allentown, I think it's a lot of pride for the community.

- Being able to provide that outlet for the people of the Lehigh Valley to kind of just escape their daily lives for a little bit, whether they're coming to a hockey game or a concert or family show or coming to watch their child graduate at the end of the school year, it's really just seeing the smiles on people's faces is really what's what keeps us going and what drives us to make it the perfect experience for them.

- Born into a large family and the son of a Georgia sharecropper, Larry Holmes rose from humble beginnings to become the boxing heavyweight champion of the world.

We got the chance to sit down with Larry and some of his long-time friends to learn about his early life as a boxer and the impact of his stardom on our community.

- Larry Holmes.

There's no air about Larry Holmes.

- I've known him for a long time.

- He always stepped up and was there to support me, no matter what.

- He was a hard worker and dedicated.

- He's one of those guys that always wanted to be the best.

So he worked at.

- Hi, I'm Larry Holmes, former heavyweight boxing champion of the world.

I was born in Georgia - Cuthbert, Georgia.

My dad brought us up here and dropped us off, See you at home.

Bye.

I remember Larry when he was just a little kid growing up in the neighborhoods.

Boys' club... Police Athletic League... School.

- I always was athletic inclined.

I played football, basketball, whatever I can do.

- Mr Jones and I worked at the Police Athletic League.

We called it the Pal.

P-A-L. That was like a boys' club where the kids would come after school and hang there till maybe eight or nine o'clock at night.

- Larry came in and he was interested in boxing.

- They had this ring there.

They had people there.

Larry didn't know how to hit the speed bag.

He didn't know how to skip rope.

He didn't know how to do none of that.

- And they were there to coach me on.

- Each day he would get better and better.

- I was having fun being a boxer.

I was having fun going to the gym, talking with Alfredean Jones and Bill Houston, and I had fun doing that.

- We told him to keep at it, you know, and we had a guy named Ernie Butler, who owned a local shoeshine shop.

Ernie was also an ex-boxer.

I think he had something like 45, 50 professional fights, but he was retired, and we told Ernie, could he take Larry under his wing, you know, and teach him, you know, how to box?

- To see how quick he picked up that stuff that Ernie was teaching him.

I mean, it takes you a while to get that coordination, when you can get that bag going and you learn how to skip rope, how to turn your wrist and bob and weave.

Larry picked that stuff up quick.

- We fell into it, and as we fell into it, I got to liking it.

- He never cracked a smile when he trained.

He was that serious.

But he put the work in.

- This guy here.

Larry Holmes.

I was hungry.

Muhammad Ali, he gave me a job as a sparring partner, and he was paying me $499, $500 a week.

I learned how to fight Muhammad Ali working with him in this training camp.

So I was ready to go.

- Ken Norton, June 9th 1978, for the heavyweight championship of the world.

That was it.

That was the door that I had to open and that's what I did.

I opened that door, got in there, beat this man and became the heavyweight champion of the world.

Ken Norton was a tough, rough guy.

I can't say nothing negative about that, because he fought me for 15 rounds, and they were round...

I mean, fighting rounds.

And the referee came to hold my hands, said, And the new heavyweight champion of the world, Larry Holmes!

It was crazy.

It was crazy.

man, for a few years.

- Larry has been good for Easton.

I mean, when he was fighting, everything was, you know, channel...ABC Wide World of Sports would come in and would do a series on Larry and the city.

Giving Easton a worldwide recognition, that was certainly important.

But he came home.

He put his money in city and he kept a lot of people employed, and he probably wasn't making a penny, but he was keeping a lot of people employed.

He still has two iconic buildings along Larry Holmes Drive.

One is a five story building, one is a two story building.

He did a lot of good things for Easton as a businessperson.

- His foundation, Heart of a Legend, has been a tremendous support to the community.

He's been helping a lot of the children and a lot of the young adults get into college and throwing a lot of really fun events on top of it - bringing in local celebrities and celebrities from around the world.

- Putting Larry Holmes' statue on Larry Holmes Drive, I think is just wonderful and people actually go down there.

They love taking their picture.

They put their left arm out like they're boxing, - That statue, that means... ..everything I fought for.

People said I couldn't do it.

That showed that I can do it, that I did do it.

A good example for all the young people.

Don't let nobody tell you that you can't.

You can do whatever you want to do if you put your mind to it, and your time in it.

You can do it.

- And now we turn our attention to America's national pastime and the Lehigh Valley's own professional ball club, the Iron Pigs.

We spoke with some of the heavy hitters who helped bring baseball to the Valley, as well as the man behind the scenes scoring home runs of his own by making every game day a fun and exciting experience for the whole family.

- Hello, fans, and welcome to Coca-Cola Park.

The Iron Pigs take on the Columbus Clippers.

My name is Mike Ventola, and glad to be back with you for another season of Iron Pigs baseball.

Here's the first pitch.

They are officially underway here for opening night here at Coca-Cola Park.

- Go, Iron Pigs!

- The Philadelphia Phillies wanted to have an affiliate closer to home, and then that's how the Iron Pigs were born.

- The idea of having Minor League Baseball in the Lehigh Valley existed for quite some time.

It took until the right forces lined up in terms of the size of the population in the Lehigh Valley, the availability of the team.

And it happened when Governor Rendell was in office, and Governor Rendell was a big sports fan.

He believed that sports could help drive communities and economies and really was willing to put up a significant amount of state funding.

- The official first game ever in this stadium.

- My role when I came in as county executive in 2006 was to work with the team and the team owners to get the stadium financed and to get it constructed.

If the private owners, in this case, Joe Finley and Craig Stein, didn't see a market in the Lehigh Valley and wanted to take a risk to invest their own money, the stadium would never be here.

Private investment and the willingness to fund a team starts the process.

In the case of sports, oftentimes, though, it requires a public-private partnership.

There were some questions and doubts.

You can do all the studies you want to do, but you don't know until you get into the market.

And fast forward all these years later, and it was wildly successful and it looks like a genius move.

You know, it's really critical for a region to have cultural assets that everybody can identify with.

You know, calling the team the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs was critical.

The name Iron Pigs is a nod towards our heritage and legacy.

- In the midst of all that rich steel history, the amount of pig puns that come through, with pigs references and bacon and pork and anything pig related... We get to intertwine it all and it's awesome.

We have two mascots.

We have Ferrous and we have FeFe.

So if you know your elements from chemistry, And from the moment that fans walk through the gates to find their seats to the moment that they're ready to go home each night, we got to make sure that they have the best experience.

It's almost like a nine inning vacation.

- That's a nice park.

My two kids are playing the national anthem.

- I think it's fun.

- Clean, neat.

- And we like Coca-Cola.

- We like Coca-Cola.

- Yeah, we do.

- All the games they do when they get all the kids involved, it's a family environment.

the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs have become.

Our merchandise is one of the top selling merchandise in all of Minor League Baseball.

The Iron Pigs have won multiple Golden Bobbleheads, five to be exact, the most in all of Minor League Baseball, recognized for all the entertainment that has been portrayed here at the ballpark.

- Well, there's certainly been a lot of studies done nationally about the impact of sports stadiums.

I tend to look beyond just, is there a dollar for dollar payback on the economic investment?

And look at what it means to the community as a cultural asset, as a place where people gather, as a place that people identify with and are proud of.

And community cities need to build those type of things.

And the Lehigh Valley has grown tremendously since the stadium has opened, and we built a stadium that was unique across all the country, and the Iron Pigs have led in attendance across the United States Minor League Baseball in the top five for the last decade or more.

- It's family friendly.

There's lots to do with the kids.

- We're affordable here.

We're family, fun entertainment.

Kids of all ages come out and have an absolute great time here.

This is a golden opportunity for Iron Pigs baseball now because after everything that's gone on in the past couple of years, we're all in.

- Since the Iron Pigs arrived in the Valley back in 2008, they've ranked among the highest in attendance of all Minor League Baseball teams.

In addition, the Iron Pigs have won awards for top promotions and campaigns.

A night out at an Iron Pigs game promises lots of fun and frivolity.

The man behind the success of this popular ball club is president and general manager Kurt Landes.

Kurt was in the studio recently and shared some of the secrets behind the club's success.

- Welcome, Kurt.

- Hi, Georgette.

How are you?

- Great, thanks for joining us today.

- My pleasure.

- Well, I got to talk about 2020 because that was a challenging year for all of us and I understand that your 2020 season was canceled.

How do you bounce back from that?

- We are creative in trying to give back to the community.

We wanted to have people, although differently, still have an opportunity to get out of their homes to enjoy life.

So one of the very first things we did in 2020 is we hosted a character parade and we lined up socially distant, different superhero characters, princesses, and it was a vehicle parade.

So all these families could go through a vehicle parade through our parking lots and wave to different mascots.

And it was such a huge success, and that led to more and more ideas about how we can still use the ballpark, albeit socially distanced or masked, to allow fans to have something to do that they didn't have in 2020.

So that's how we got through it.

Financially, it was very difficult, extremely difficult.

- Well, whatever you're doing, it seems to be working because, if I understand it correctly, you have one of the highest attendance records in Minor League Baseball.

So what has been your favorite promotion all these years?

- I get asked about my favorite promotion a lot, and it's great that I do, because I think people feel like we come out with new and unique and fun promotions every year.

And we have.

Our staff's been incredible about coming up with new ideas to make it fun entertainment.

And we've had such success nationally and being recognized for the promotions, it kind of makes it hard each year.

People say, What's next?

And you come up with a new thing.

You know, over the years, there's a few...

I think... We gave away a free funeral to a fan, and... - Wow.

- initially, that was very like, you know, laughing, joking - who's going to win the free funeral?

And when we got to the day, we were giving it to an individual that knew they had about a year or two to live, and he had written in because he didn't want his family to have to pay for his financial losses for the funeral.

And it became from very joking and laughing to very emotional, and there wasn't a dry eye in the crowd when we gave away the funeral to the winner.

- What a sense of community that must have built, because you were part of that experience for them.

- And we saved him and his family thousands upon thousands of dollars.

It was such a financial relief.

So there was a bit of a fun and yet meaningful and powerful impact behind that.

- You know, one thread that has run throughout our entire conversation is community.

So thank you so much for that.

- Well, thank you.

It's important to us.

Georgette, thanks for having us show and a chance to share about what we do.

- It's been great talking with you, Kurt.

- Thank you.

- Thanks, Kurt and Georgette, and thanks to you for watching our look at the business of sports in the Lehigh Valley.

For past episodes and more information, head on over to... From all of us here at Lehigh Valley Rising, this is Grover Silcox.

See you next time.

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