HAVERTOWN, Pa. — Dan Hilferty is a popular guy these days. Not only is the Philadelphia Flyers’ governor and chairman, and CEO of parent company Comcast-Spectacor, overseeing an NHL team that has seemingly reclaimed its place on the local sports map with an unexpected Stanley Cup playoff run, the FIFA World Cup is underway.Hilferty, who spearheaded Philadelphia’s successful bid to become a host city, was part of the ribbon-cutting ceremony last Thursday for the World Cup fan fest at Lemon Hill in Fairmount Park. But before shuffling off to that early afternoon photo-op under an oppressive mid-summer sun, which also included Philadelphia mayor Cherelle Parker, Hilferty found time to sit down in the morning with The Athletic for approximately 30 minutes at his favorite suburban diner. On three occasions during the conversation, fans recognized Hilferty and were eager to greet him and shake his hand, including one man who had just wrapped up breakfast with his young son and daughter, leading to a quick conversation about the end of the school year.Hilferty has welcomed those kinds of exchanges in his three years of being the figurehead of the Flyers organization. It’s not uncommon to see Hilferty strolling the Xfinity Mobile Arena concourse to chat with the locals, or glad-handing through crowds at the team’s practice facility in Southern New Jersey during events or practices there.“You’re right,” Hilferty said, “I do enjoy the interactions with fans.”And what’s been their collective feedback about the Flyers lately?“I would say it ranges from, ‘Hey, you guys told us this is going to take time, we’re excited about where we are, the future is bright,’ to, ‘There’s some pieces that you need to fill in, and I’m going to hold judgement.’“But,” Hilferty continued, “far less really disgruntled fans than when I first arrived.”Naturally. The Flyers’ rebuild under Hilferty, president of hockey operations Keith Jones and general manager Daniel Briere has started to show tangible results while energizing the fan base. The Flyers’ remarkable turnaround in March and April got them into playoffs for the first time since 2020, with postseason games in front of live fans for the first time since 2018. A first-round victory over Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins further stoked those flames, capped by Cam York’s unforgettable overtime goal and stick-tossing celebration in Game 6.“That late-season surge and the playoffs just brought it to a whole new level of excitement,” Hilferty said.That’s been reflected in some of the numbers provided to The Athletic by the Flyers. The club is currently at a 93 percent season ticket holder renewal rate, while the season ticket base is expected to grow by 34 percent headed into the 2026-27 season. More anecdotally, the jerseys for Flyers forwards Porter Martone and Trevor Zegras were the top two sellers on the NHLShop website during the first week of the playoffs, while five of the seven most viewed Instagram posts during rounds one and two came from the Flyers’ social media team.On television, Game 1 of the Flyers-Carolina Hurricanes series was the most-watched second-round opener on record (2.5 million viewers, ABC). Game 2, on ESPN, was the most-viewed second-round Game 2 in cable television history (2.3 million viewers.)The challenge for Hilferty and the Flyers now is to ensure that the Flyers’ 2025-26 season wasn’t just a mirage and that the organization is in fact building toward something greater.