Phillies

The Phillies Won’t Stop Until Every Square Inch of Citizens Bank Park is Covered with a Corporate Sponsor Logo

By Kevin Kinkead

Published: Mar 20th, 2026 · 11:00 AM EDT

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The Phillies and Aramark sent out a press release on Thursday revealing the new lineup of food and drink items at Citizens Bank Park in 2026.

One of the related shifts is the removal of the Harry the K’s eatery, which is going to be re-branded as the “Ghost Energy Deck,” named after the drink and lifestyle brand:

photo: Phillies/Aramark

Fans aren’t happy about this for obvious reasons. That deck was named after Harry Kalas and remained in place for 22 years. Now it’s being swapped out for a brand that they feel no connection to, so naturally a parochial city that does not like change is annoyed.

For what it’s worth, the Phillies aren’t doing anything with the Kalas statue that currently stands in left field, or messing with anything else that has his name on it. This is the one specific change for 2026.

But the take here is an obvious one, and that’s the unending commodifying of Citizens Bank Park. It’s the “is nothing sacred anymore?” take, this concept of putting a sponsor logo on every square inch of the ballpark, player helmets and uniforms, etc. It feels like the corporate suits at the local teams would pull the figurative iron out of the fire and burn a corporate brand into your forehead if given the chance. Three of the five local teams now have an IBX patch somewhere on their kit. The Sixers have Crypto.com on their uniforms and the Flyers have Chevrolet on their helmets. The Union still have BIMBO or one of its assorted brands written right across the chest. I think it’s an underrated storyline that the local soccer team plays games with an IBX patch on one arm, an Apple TV patch on the other, and a fucking English muffin logo right in the middle. Who is buying that jersey? It’s ridiculous. The only holdout is the Philadelphia Eagles, but maybe they’re next to succumb.

Alas, we know that this is how Capitalism works. The Phillies have one of Major League Baseball’s highest payrolls. Operating costs are extravagant. You have to maximize the money being made to maximize the ability to run a high-level ballclub with a high-level roster. The Dodgers aren’t exactly playing Moneyball out there in LA. But this has largely sucked the soul out of American sporting venues and the viewing experience, too, with logos plastered all along the boards and the sidelines, incessant broadcaster ad reads and too many commercials to count. Every other American stadium is named after a bank and there’s no charm to any of it. Just two years ago the Phillies replaced the old school out-of-town scoreboard with an LED monstrosity that modernized the right field wall while pissing off a lot of fans at the same time. So beyond being resistant to change, supporters feel like this will continue in perpetuity.

The thing about Philadelphia sport is that the product is largely inelastic, which means the demand isn’t going to drop. Certainly there are ebbs and flows, with individual teams being good and bad at various times, but the Phillies and Eagles in particular are recession proof, and we’re largely going to consume what they feed us.

It’s like going to Disney World, right? You look at the ticket prices and think, “$200? what is this total fucking racket?” But it’s Disney. It’s a bucket list thing and pilgrimage type of trip for parents with young children. So you take your medicine and accept the fact that you’ve been completely bent over. It’s the same thing with the Phillies and Eagles and everybody else, who can jack up ticket prices and slap sponsor logos on everything from now until the end of days. We’re going to go regardless, because we’re not going to stop supporting the teams.

It is what it is, but it sucks.