After having previously announced their intent to build a new $1.3 billion arena in Center City, the Sixers have abandoned those plans, according to Jake Blumgart and Sean Collins Walsh, who report that the team has reached a deal with Comcast Spectacor to remain in South Philadelphia.
As the Inquirer’s duo writes, Comcast Spectacor – which owns the NHL’s Philadelphia Flyers and Wells Fargo Center – has been courting the Sixers to stay in the city’s stadium district since the franchise initially announced its plans to leave South Philadelphia for East Market Street in Center City.
Comcast Spectacor, whose pitch included a proposal for a $2.5 billion redevelopment of the area, is expected to work with the 76ers to build a new arena in South Philadelphia.
Ryan Boyer, the head of the Philadelphia Building and Construction Trades Council, confirmed the agreement to the Inquirer, adding that while a new arena will no longer be built on East Market Street, where the 76ers acquired several properties, major developments in the area are still part of the new deal.
“The commissioner of the NBA was involved in it, and the commitment to Market Street redevelopment is still there,” Boyer said. “We think that overall it will be good for the city. It’s just a pivot.”
The Sixers’ initial plan to move to Center City was championed by Mayor Cherelle L. Parker and hotly debated in Philadelphia City Council over the past two years. In a 12-5 vote last month, City Council approved a proposal to move forward on the Market Street arena. According to the Inquirer, some of the Council members who backed the plan feel as if they were used by the 76ers.
“I’m so livid right now I don’t even know what to do,” said at-large City Council member Jimmy Harrity, who was the city’s first lawmaker to endorse a move to East Market Street. “I feel as though I was used as a pawn.”
The East Market Street proposal called for the new arena to open in 2031, when the Sixers’ lease at Wells Fargo Center expired. However, one Council member who has been in touch with the team believes the timeline for a South Philadelphia arena could be moved up, per the Inquirer.