Pilot Flying J的动态

Transcript

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to Knoxville. I've been. I've played there. That is the loudest place. There's nothing like this stadium. The loudest. Wait a minute. Alright, still. Historic Neyland Stadium, one of the greatest venues in all of sports and one of college football's most revered cathedrals. The iconic home of the Volunteers and the crown jewel of America's college sports city. Those banners waved with renewed energy as Tennessee Athletics and Pilot, launching first of its kind partnership. Preserving Neyland Stadium's name and notoriety for generations to come. Didn't matter. This will always be Neyland Stadium is now, always has been, always will be, but pilot can be a huge part of preserving that and and help us reinvest in our fan experience and make sure that it stays and even stadium for decades to come. We both agreed in the beginning that it had to stay kneeling. And I think that in this day and age, when you think of innovation, I think a lot of times we think it has to be brand new, like it's sort of out with the old and in with the new. And that's not really, you know, true. You can honor the past. You can still you can even elevate the past. In a way, I think that this partnership is actually doing that. It's actually elevating the name Neyland Stadium, even Shield Watkinsville. We didn't wanna touch that. We want Neyland Stadium in this field to have the historical significance, to always have the tradition and the pageantry. People are so proud of the memories in this stadium, but it doesn't have to be as uncomfortable as it was in the past. We can make the concourses a little better and we're in the process of doing that. We can make the fan experience better. We talk about in our meetings all the time. We can't take the best fan base in the country for granted. And so, so much of the. Investments in the stadium that you guys are helping with pours back into that fan experience and make sure that they keep coming, they keep filling the stadium up, and we want to keep it that way. Yeah. And Pilot, you know, Assembly situated 65 years of history, but we have to start to evolve for the guest experience. And so one of our key tenants is exceptional experiences for our customers and our guests, and that aligns perfectly. Demands are changing. Consumers do have different preferences. Look at stadiums around the country, and there's a whole different experience being provided in the stadium and around it. You know the original innovator was General Neely. It was almost 100 years ago when he had the vision for 100, 000 Seat Stadium. He was an engineer. He was designing things and working with folks on on what this whole thing could be. So innovation has been in the Tennessee Orange blood for a long time. I couldn't be more excited about working together and learning from each other. I agree in general. Neyland obviously was a man of great courage. I think it takes great courage, you know, to cast vision and then surround yourself with people and to do the work to see that vision come to pass. And this is a courageous step. I also think it's transformative and unique in that it's really not about naming a stadium, you know, after the sponsor. You don't really see that ever. It's a preservation partnership. We're going to preserve the history of the stadium and not rename it the field or the stadium. And that's that's different. And then to make that commitment, you know, over 1020 years, extremely important to us and important to you. I think it's the right thing to do. It's a no brainer in so many ways. And I was so excited when you first got here and saw the same way. If, if, if Pilot and in Tennessee athletics lock arms and work together, The impact we can have on this community is it's profound. We could do really big things. It's very clear to me that Knoxville is a special place to live and to work and even visit if you're coming from outside of it, because of the University of Tennessee's been here now 3 1/2 years. And I knew about the power of this fan base. We we're proud of the moniker America's College Sports City. We knew the impact the balls have on Knoxville and and our greater East Tennessee community. What I've learned very quickly is the breadth and scope of Pilot. And impact historically and in present day, the pilot has on on the Knoxville community, on the East Tennessee. By and large, people are gonna see the value in this partnership and they're gonna appreciate what it's gonna bring for the experience and for the future. That's university and the athletics program, huge part of how we're going to get done here. Huge part.