The Philadelphia 76ers are reversing course on their arena plans, opting not to relocate to Center City Philadelphia and instead stay in the Sports Complex in South Philly. After just getting approval for the project that was years in the making, they're staying right where they are. NBA commissioner Adam Silver played a notable part in these developments.
The 76ers will build a brand new arena in partnership with Comcast Spectacor, the owner of the Philadelphia Flyers and the Wells Fargo Center, where the Sixers have played since 1996. The team, under the ownership of Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, sought its own venue and a way to revitalize downtown Philly. With its proposed new home, dubbed 76 Place at Market East, they hoped to accomplish just that.
And then, they pivoted to a partnership with the company they had not been getting along with for a long time.
“We didn't really change our mind, actually,” said 76ers managing partner Josh Harris at a Philadelphia City Hall press conference announcing the new arrangement. “We were really committed to Market East, but…Our North Star was doing the right thing by Philly.”
In a 2023 interview, David Adelman, a 76ers co-owner and architect of the arena project, said that the team had no second option besides its original proposal. In the face of opposition from local activists concerned with the arena's impact on Chinatown and from Comcast about how the team planned to split from the Sports Complex, the project took on a mentality of Market East or bust, making the stark change of plans even more surprising.
Harris explained Silver stepped in to talk to him and Comcast, easing the tensions and leading to new negotiations. Right as 76 Place was headed to a vote in City Hall, the 76ers and Comcast started talking about a new deal that has now officially come to fruition.
“Deals don't come together exactly when you want 'em,” Harris added. “Adam Silver said, ‘Look guys, you're fighting, let's try to come together.’ We felt we could build a better arena. We could also revitalize Market East. And we felt that it was a 1+1=3 situation and so, we pivoted. It's a little more complicated for all of us. Comcast was willing generously — even though they had put a lot of money into the existing arena to make it great — to move up their timeframe. All of us made compromises to do the right thing by Philly.”
76ers, Flyers to build new arena in South Philly
Silver joined the meeting via video chat to discuss his enthusiasm for the new deal.
“To my friends who are there from Harris Blitzer Sports and Entertainment and Comcast — especially Josh Harris, David Blitzer and Brian Roberts — thank you for your very intense involvement and willingness to partner together on this exciting development,” the NBA commissioner said.
Silver mentioned a meeting between him and Mayor Cherelle Parker from this past July where the mayor stated desires to keep the 76ers in Philadelphia in a world-class arena, bring a WNBA team to the city and “ensure that the economic benefits of a new arena were far greater than basketball and hockey games.” He believes the new agreement positively impacts each objective.
“I have no doubt that the team from Harris Blitzer Sports and Comcast are going to build a truly special facility,” Silver said.
Speaking more to the city's desire to bring in a WNBA team were comedian Wanda Sykes and her wife, Alex. The two have long been a part of efforts to bring a W team to Philly and, with the announcement of a new arena, the odds of winning a bid for a team have never been better.
“As the mayor said, I don't think our odds could be any, any more favorable than the position we are in right now,” Sykes said. She closed her time at the podium by taking a jab at Harris, whose company owns the Washington Commanders, and saying “Go Birds.”
The WNBA wants to expand to 16 teams by 2028 and is just one shy of its goal, so either the new arena would have to be completed by then or the team would have to play a few years in the Wells Fargo Center. The Sixers have been hesitant to sign another lease in the building but could look at that option more favorably now that they’re on better terms with their landlord.
The 76ers staying in the Sports Complex and partnering with Comcast would have been seen as an impossibility for most of the 76 Place timeline. Both companies were at odds with each other and the Sixers seemed dead set on moving to a downtown location. In the end, they’ll stay where they are and pledge support for other methods of revitalizing Market East.
“It wasn't planned,” Harris said, “but it happened.”