Mayor Cherelle Parker hosted a press conference at City Hall on Monday to discuss the new deal between Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment (Sixers owners) and Comcast Spectacor (Flyers, Wells Fargo Center owners) to build a new joint arena in South Philadelphia.
Well, it’s been a fun year or so talking about 76 Place in Market East, hasn’t it?
It turns out, the Philadelphia 76ers will be staying in South Philadelphia after all following a complete change of plans officially announced by Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment (who owns the Sixers) and Comcast Spectacor (who own the Wells Fargo Center and the Philadelphia Flyers) on Monday morning.
“Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment (HBSE) and Comcast today announced that HBSE and Comcast Spectacor have entered into a binding agreement to form a 50-50 joint venture to build a world-class, state-of-the-art arena in the South Philadelphia Sports Complex that will be the new home of the Philadelphia 76ers and Philadelphia Flyers.”
And just like that, the plan to erect a new, Sixers-owned arena in the Market East section of the city and all the controversy that came with the billion dollar proposal seemingly evaporated. The agreement between HBSE and Comcast will see one new arena built in South Philadelphia for both teams, with the Wells Fargo Center to be demolished once the new facility is ready. Each will own 50 percent stakes in the project. Comcast will also buy a stake in the Sixers and its parent company, Harris Blitzer Sports and Entertainment, and work with them to bring a WNBA team to Philadelphia. They have also agreed to invest in the Market East area, where the Sixers’ previously intended to build their arena.
It was an unexpected turn in the saga after the city council voted in favor of a series of bills related to the proposed Market East arena construction just a few weeks ago in December.
Just about an hour after the announcement by HSBE and Comcast, Mayor Cherelle Parker hosted a press conference at City Hall. City Council President Kenyatta Johnson, Sixers’ owner Josh Harris, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver and Comcast Chairman and CEO Brian Roberts were also a part of the conference.
If for some reason you want to listen to all 60+ minutes of the presser, NBC Philadelphia has that here. I personally wouldn’t recommend it for an entertaining or even informative watch, but you do you.
Instead, we’re just going to look at a few things that were said in this initial public explanation of the change of plans. Actual new information or substance throughout the conference was few and far between. Questions about what the arena will cost, whether any taxpayer funds will go towards it, any predicted construction start dates, etc. all remain unanswered after Monday’s conference.
“This is about a win, win, win, win for Philadelphia,” mayor Parker said of the new deal. “This is a curveball none of us saw coming. Nevertheless, we are here.”
Yes. We are certainly here.
One of the bigger specific focuses mentioned in the conference was the partnership between HBSE and Comcast forwarding the idea of trying to bring a WNBA franchise to Philly.
Comedian Wanda Sykes, who lives part-time in Media and has long been a vocal proponent of bringing a women’s team to Philadelphia, also spoke at the press conference. She also ended her comments with a “Go Birds” before throwing a quick apology to Harris, who owns the Washington Commanders.
“I don’t think our odds could be anymore favorable than they are today,” Sykes said of the potential of the WNBA coming to Philly now.
She might be right about that. Another attendee that was excited about that WNBA potential was NBA Commissioner Silver, who joined the conference via video.
“Last July, [mayor Parker] came to New York and met with me at the NBA offices and you made your goals crystal clear,” Silver said. “You told me in addition to ensuring that the 76ers continue to play in a world-class arena in Philadelphia, you expressed a strong desire to bring a WNBA team to the city … You also told me that you wanted to ensure that the economic benefits of a new arena were far greater than basketball and hockey games.
“Madam Mayor, I believe today’s news hits on all of those objectives.”
It’s clear through the statement and the conference that Silver was involved in this ultimate change of plans for the Sixers, but we may never know how exactly the path ahead was changed. Harris was asked by a member of the press at the conference point-blankly what changed their minds, but the answer leaves a lot to be desired.
“We didn’t really change our mind,” Sixers’ co-owner Harris said. “We were committed to Market East, but our north star was doing right by Philly. Deals don’t come together when you want them. When Adam Silver said, ‘Guys you’re fighting, let’s try to come together.’ We felt that we could build a better arena and we could also revitalized Market East. We felt it was a one plus one equals three situation, so we pivoted.”
Something tells me that’s probably not the whole story, but I digress.
“When we began meeting with Comcast in earnest, and obviously, we were going in a different direction than Comcast, but when we began meeting with Comcast in earnest over the last two weeks, we both saw an opportunity at something even bigger than we planned,” Harris said. “HSBE’s new partnership with Comcast ensures that Philadelphia will benefit from two developments instead of one,” referring to the arena in South Philly and verbal commitments to aid the revitalization of the Market East neighborhood.
“The journey to the best solution doesn’t always go in a straight line,” Harris said. “But, I am certain that today we have found an incredibly positive solution for Philly.”
The thing that gets me about comments like this, as a resident of Philadelphia, is that it kind of gives the game away. Harris implies that all of the money, conversation, protests, town halls, votes, etc. that enveloped the Market East plan was all in service of the journey to “the best solution” for Philadelphia. I thought Market East was the best solution for the people of Philadelphia? Well, now it’s remaining in South Philly, back sharing an arena with the Flyers, that is the best solution, apparently. So where does that leave Market East?
Well, in continuance with the vague nature surrounding this major turnabout, we aren’t exactly sure where it leaves that community. HBSE’s and Comcast’s partnership announcement on Monday morning promised a “50-50 venture to invest in the revitalization of Market East in Center City” and mayor Parker stressed the importance of developing that area in her comments, but absolutely nothing concrete or specific has been spoken of.
The whole situation feels simultaneously like a huge news drop but also somewhat hollow. Sure, we know the plans for the Sixers, the Flyers and the city have drastically changed. And we know what the parties involved are claiming will come next.
Now, we just have to see what actually comes next.