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By Tom Dougherty
/ CBS Philadelphia
A new shared arena for the 76ers and Flyers is coming to the South Philadelphia Sports Complex as part of a 50/50 partnership between Comcast Spectacor and Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, the Sixers’ ownership group.
The announcement comes after the Sixers’ plans to build a new arena in the city’s Market East neighborhood fell through. The partnership includes a joint commitment between Comcast Spectacor and HBSE to help revitalize Market East.
Sixers owner Josh Harris said HBSE and Comcast met over the past two weeks to establish the partnership. Both sides “saw an opportunity for something bigger than we planned,” Harris said.
“When we began this process, our goal was to do something the city of Philly could be proud of. To do the best thing for our fans and for the citizens, and to have the greatest positive impact,” Harris said Monday. “At the sports complex, we will work together to build the very best arena in the country, a home for the Sixers and the Flyers that will bring the most exciting concerts and events to South Philly all year. And in Center City, HSBE and Comcast can work with the city and community to help revitalize Market East.”
The new arena is planned to open in 2031 but could be moved up to an earlier date.
In a press conference, Comcast CEO Brian Roberts said his team initially thought the timing should be later, but after negotiations with HBSE, the two sides “got to what I think is the right place.”
“We can do bigger, better, faster and this can be done even faster,” Roberts said.
Comcast Spectacor will own the arena’s naming rights and have a minority stake in the Sixers.
“As we saw this situation truly unraveling and I think about my whole life going to South Philly, and the Phillies, the Eagles and, this case, the 76ers and the Flyers, always being in the same building and what that’s meant for our city from the Spectrum to the Wells Fargo, what could be possible,” Roberts said. “We tried again harder.”
“For the past 58 years, in both the Spectrum and Wells Fargo Center, those arenas and Flyers’ fans have consistently produced an atmosphere that is among the best in sports,” NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said in a statement. “This visionary and forward-looking facility will take the fan experience to a whole new level where the great pride and passion of Philadelphia sports fans will continue to be on full display.”
Wanda Sykes is not from Philadelphia — she’s from Portsmouth, Virginia, about 280 miles away — but the Emmy-winning comedian and actress attended the city’s press conference to announce the new arena in South Philadelphia.
Sykes and her wife, Alex Niedbalski-Sykes, represented a group that wants to bring a WNBA franchise to Philadelphia.
A fan of the WNBA since its start in 1997, Sykes said she was a former season ticket holder of the Los Angeles Sparks. She said the idea of bringing a team to Philadelphia began after she would watch basketball games with her wife.
“She would always ask me, ‘Why isn’t there a team in Philadelphia?’ And she asked me so much,” Sykes said. “And I said, ‘Why don’t you make it happen? That’s when I learned, don’t challenge my wife because the next thing I knew, she enlisted our good friends.”
Among the group involved in the WNBA bid was Philadelphia comedian Kevin Hart, Sykes said Monday.
As part of the partnership, Comcast Spectacor agreed to join HBSE and Philadelphia in its bid to bring a WNBA team to the city.
Mayor Cherelle Parker and the Sixers had hoped a new arena in Center City would help attract an expansion WNBA team to Philadelphia. During a public meeting in September, Parker said the city wants a WNBA franchise.
“With this Sixers arena there, there is no one who can tell me that Philadelphia just would not have upped its position in trying, in trying to pursue a WNBA team for our great city,” Parker said in September. “I can dream. I can hope. I can pray.”
On Monday, the mayor said she worked with a group that included Wanda and Alex Sykes on bringing a WNBA team to Philly, as previously reported by Axios Philadelphia.
“What you have heard on today is that with both the Sixers and Comcast vested with the shared desire to see Philadelphia have a WNBA team, I think it just strengthens our position,” Parker said Monday.
Sykes said Parker, then a councilmember, helped connect the group with Pennsylvania state senators and Gov. Tom Wolf in 2021.
“We had the support of the city. We were running with this thing,” Sykes said. “And now, we needed the money. That’s when the businesswoman Alex took over.” this thing. And now we needed the money. That’s when the businesswoman Alex took over. … As the mayor said, I don’t think our odds can be any more favorable than the position we’re in right now.”
“I don’t think we can dream of a better dream together, the city, the mayor, the city of Philadelphia, Comcast, the 76ers to promote a women’s team,” Niedbalski-Sykes said, “and hopefully we will make it.”
Wanda Sykes ended with a “Go Birds.”
Tom Dougherty is a digital content producer for CBS Philadelphia. Before joining CBS Philadelphia, Tom covered sports for NBC Sports Philadelphia. He currently covers breaking news and sports.
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