Goodbye 76 Place: Details About the Sixers and Comcast’s Partnership to Build a New South Philly Arena

Cherelle Parker announces the arena partnership between Comcast and the 76ers, scrapping the 76 Place arena plan in Market East. / Photograph courtesy of 6ABC

Well … that was a fun ride. After years of posturing, planning, and protests, the Sixers are staying in South Philly after all.

Philly Mag political writer at large Ernest Owens broke the news on social media yesterday morning that 76 Place was not going to happen, despite City Council voting to approve the Sixers arena in Market East. And indeed, the Sixers had struck a deal with Comcast Spectacor – owner of their current home in Wells Fargo Center – to stay put rather than build their own arena in Center City.

Comcast Spectacor and Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment will form a 50-50 partnership on a brand-new South Philly arena to house both the 76ers and the Flyers. The arena is planned to open in 2031, though Comcast and HBSE teased that the timeline could move up. Comcast will get naming rights of the new arena, and will take a minority stake in the 76ers.

“This new arena will complement other exciting developments in the area, including Comcast Spectacor’s and the Philadelphia Phillies’ plans to create the country’s top sports and entertainment district.” Comcast Spectacor chairman and CEO Dan Hilferty said in a statement. “We will all work closely together to create an unmatched experience for the fans while developing a vibrant mixed-use district that serves our community.”

But what about David Adelman’s desire to revitalize Market East with a downtown arena? What about the community benefits agreement that would help residents? Well, Comcast and the Sixers are making that part of their partnership, too. The second part of their plan, they say, is “a 50-50 venture to invest in the revitalization of Market East.” (The specifics on that have yet to come out, Mayor Cherelle Parker said in today’s press conference.) Parker also affirmed the continued commitment to helping Chinatown.

Also: the WNBA! Maybe? Thanks to this new partnership between Comcast and the 76ers, “I don’t think our odds could be any more favorable,” Wanda Sykes, who has been working for years to help get Philly a WNBA team, said during the press conference. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver also seemed to hint at this, praising what will be “a world-class arena for 76ers and Flyers fans, with opportunities for more teams to come.” (And it certainly can’t hurt that the NBA and WNBA broadcast rights have just come back to Comcast networks.)

Okay, so, to recap … The Sixers stay in South Philly and stay roomies with Comcast. They’re getting a new house, building fun stuff near it, and also helping out Center City in ways to be named later. And all that fighting and voting is in the past.

“I want to applaud all parties involved — from Mayor Parker and City Council, to Comcast and the Sixers — for working collaboratively and staying focused on delivering for the people of Philadelphia,” said Governor Josh Shapiro, praising them for putting “their differences aside and work together for the betterment of Philadelphia.”

Meanwhile, not all of City Council is as thrilled as the mayor appears to be. “I wish y’all would have got the deal done before we actually started the process,” City Council President Kenyatta Johnson joked in today’s press conference. In a less jovial statement, Councilmember Jamie Gauthier told the Inquirer “It is clear that we should have never trusted the process in the first place. This development proves that the project was half baked.” Jimmy Harrity, councilmember at-large, was less measured: “I’m so livid right now I don’t even know what to do. I feel as though I was used as a pawn,” he told the Inquirer yesterday.

So, were they?

The announcement scrapping 76 Place and keeping the Sixers in South Philly came as a shock to those who thought it was all but a done deal following Parker’s public support of the project and City Council’s approval. But, as someone who has been following the ins and outs of this controversy for years, it didn’t seem that farfetched. Back in summer of 2023, when reporting on the state of play and the different factions, I wrote:

“And if you tilt your head just right, there’s a way of looking at this whole arena proposal as posturing by the Sixers to gain leverage in such a deal [with Comcast Spectacor]. It wouldn’t be the first time a team has threatened to move to win a more favorable bargaining position.”

Now, can I say with absolute certainty that this was always just posturing? Of course not. But, speaking to key players in this feud, and examining the market forces at play, let’s just say this was always a non-zero possibility.

And Comcast really never gave up hope. Hilferty always maintained that he would like nothing more than a partnership with the 76ers, even a 50-50 partnership in a new venue, perhaps at the end of Wells Fargo Center’s lifespan. Despite their $400 million renovations of Wells Fargo Center, Hilferty reiterated that commitment to me in October of 2023 while showing me around the shiny new event level. He even expressed willingness to move up the timeline if it would help — Comcast wasn’t going to let sunk cost get in the way of a much bigger potential benefit.

And then, early last year, the Phillies joined Comcast Spectacor in a multibillion-dollar plan to develop the South Philly sports complex even more: entertainment, retail, dining, a music venue. So South Philly was looking pretty good, while Chinatown advocates were keeping the Market East plan problematic. But just last month, City Council voted to approve 76 Place, because of support from Parker (and the ever-important trade unions).

“Anybody following this issue closely could clearly see this was a power struggle between billionaires and corporations,” councilmembers Kendra Brooks and Nicolas O’Rourke said in a statement, calling the whole ordeal a waste of City Council’s resources and time.

Parker doesn’t see it that way, at least not in today’s press conference. Acknowledging that the change of plans was quite the “curveball,” she took a pragmatic stance. “I don’t have the luxury of wallowing in this 180,” Parker explained, hinting at the economic hit that Philly would have taken if the 76ers had left the city for New Jersey, as they had threatened. “I don’t have the luxury as the mayor to allow my pride, my ego, or my emotions to drive my decision-making. I am driven by that revenue.”