The Good And The (Mostly) Bad Of The Sixers Center City Arena

I woke up this morning and checked Twitter, because I’m a typical gen-z phone junkie whose first instinct is to check his phone the second his peepers open. With my eyes still blurry and adjusting to the light of my phone (I have a problem), I got my first glimpse of what was going to ruin my morning shortly after my eyes adjusted.

 

 

I’ll type here the same question I’ve had all morning that I likely will never get a good answer to: who the hell asked for this? I know good and god damn well no fans asked for this. Simply put, this is just another situation of billionaires who are so far removed from the society they live in that they’re coddled brains can’t even begin to understand the reality in which 99% of us live in.

 

I’m going to be fair and look at both sides of this coin. Believe it or not, there are good things that will come out of this. However, I’m making myself pretty clear up front in terms of how I feel about this. You can probably tell by the title of this article that you clicked on, and the first two paragraphs above that I’m not happy about this.

 

As someone who’s been to the sports complex in South Philly no less than 100 times, many of those trips being Sixers games, this hurts. I feel betrayed. You all should feel betrayed too. This isn’t exactly breaking news, but Josh Harris and David Blitzer don’t give a rats ass about you, me, or any one of the millions of Sixers fans around the world.

 

They’re not fans of this team. The Sixers are an investment for them. They’re top priority isn’t the success of the team or to keep the fans happy. They’re top priority is the almighty dollar. It doesn’t matter that they’re billionaires who wipe their asses with money that would pay off my college tuition. They’re always looking for more. That, in and of itself, is the real issue here: selfishness.

 

The fact that they dropped this news in a press release at 6 am on a Thursday in July is so shady to me. It should tell you they weren’t expecting a lot of happy responses. They aren’t getting one here.

 

The Logistical Issues

 

The number one issue with this decision is obvious. Choosing to put a basketball arena in Center City Philadelphia that is going to attract 20,000+ individuals in the same time frame is a decision that REEKS of someone who’s never driven in Center City traffic.

 

 

Yes, the specific location of the arena is great for public transportation. Jefferson station is right there, along with a subway stop located right underneath the location of the arena. It’s a brief walk from PATCO trains to south Jersey. It connects to parking garages a short walk from the arena.

 

That’s all great and dandy, but for the people who aren’t coming to the arena via public transportation, this is going to be a nightmare. I-95 and 476 have always been horrendous in terms of traffic during rush hour and always will be. Now, fans driving to the games will have to factor in highway traffic and Center City traffic.

 

For those who say to just take public transportation, I hear you. The issue is that most of the people coming to the games aren’t taking public transit. Public transportation always had a way to get to the sports complex, with there being a subway stop right there and ubers to the complex not being ridiculously priced from the city. Yes, this Center City arena will provide more options in terms of public transportation, but the issue for fans who don’t have that option still remains.

 

Also, are we just going to…ignore the crime rate? I don’t need to spend too much time pointing out that Philadelphia has one of the highest crime rates in the United States, we all are well aware of that. The sports complex always felt secluded from that, I’ve never felt unsafe in that area. In Center City, there’s no avoiding it. That’s never going to be a place you feel safe walking around at night, it doesn’t matter how many cops you hire to work the area for games.

 

Even more maddening to me is the response from David J. Adelman, the apartment developer working on this project, regarding these issues. This is an excerpt from the Philadelphia Inquirer, with Adelman’s response:

 

“Asked about traffic and potential neighborhood concerns, Adelman said the owners have committed to spending millions through a “public benefits agreement” to help the area. They have also promised hiring agreements to ensure that women, Black and other underrepresented contractors make up a large part of the workforce.”

 

That doesn’t answer the fucking question you doofus.

 

Hiring minorities in an effort to promote equity is fantastic. First and foremost, I’d argue that is something that shouldn’t have to be explicitly said if they really gave a shit about equality, right?Using it as a way to avoid a question about transportation and safety od the area is “How To Avoid A Question 101.”

 

What even is a public benefits agreement? What does that entail in terms of making the area safer? Just because you’re helping the local economy of the area doesn’t mean you’re making it safer.

 

The Financial Issues

 

If you thought the price of going to games sucked this year, just wait for this. Parking outside of Wells Fargo Center cost me $22 this year. Parking in Jetro was $10-$15 with the added thrill of paying a guy with a cigarette hanging from his mouth. Parking in a Center City lot, when they know you’re coming for the game and have to park there? Try $40-$50.

 

In terms of tickets for the game itself, you’re kidding yourself if you think tickets are going to be cheaper. Tickets were already the most expensive they’ve ever been this season. With a privately-funded arena that’s going to cost the aforementioned billionaires $1.3 billion to build, you think they’re not going to try to make that money back as quick as possible?

 

For those who keep bringing up Madison Square Garden, or the Chase Center in San Francisco, or Fenway Park in Boston, or Wrigley Field, or Yankee Stadium as examples of sports venues within a city that “work,” I’m glad you did. Take a look at the two graphics below for ticket prices and see where each of the five venues I just listed are.

 

 

 

Yes, each of those franchises are super successful with loyal and passionate fan bases. But, don’t think for a second that the location of each of those venues doesn’t have an impact on ticket prices. The Sixers were in the middle of the pack this year in terms of average price for a ticket, and have just as strong of a fan base coupled with a successful team (as long as they aren’t playing in the second round of the NBA playoffs). They’ll be much closer to Madison Square Garden ticket prices when they move to Center City.

 

The Good

 

One of the great things about this is that at the very least, the billionaires had the wherewithal to pay for this puppy themselves instead of making the taxpayers or the city pay for it. If this wasn’t privately funded, I imagine there would be a lot more people upset about this than there already are.

 

Another great thing is that the place is going to look really friggin’ cool. Even in the mockups, it looks sick from the outside as part of the skyline within the city. The typical camera pan around the arena when the broadcast starts is going to be very easy on the eyes.

 

Inside the arena, the view from the seats are going to offer better game-viewing sight lines for spectators and enhanced digital services, according to Tad Brown, head of the team owners’ management company, Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment.

 

If you’ve been to a basketball game, you know how important it is to have a good view of the action. Basketball is the main sport, at least in my opinion, where the action is a lot more jaw-dropping the better view you have. If you’re sitting behind one of the baskets, it doesn’t look as good as sitting along the baselines.

 

If this arena can somehow comfortably sit 18,000 people while providing an elite viewing experience from anywhere in the building, then that’s definitely a good thing. I will say I’ve felt at times, especially in the upper levels, that the Wells Fargo Center is built more like a hockey arena than a basketball arena.

 

The arena being placed in Center City comes with the hope that it is going to do wonders for the surrounding area economically. Shops, bars, restaurants, and the city in general will benefit financially from having the arena in Center City. But that was never in question, and that was never my issue with the idea.

 

Final Verdict

 

All in all, I expect Sixers twitter to disagree about this for years to come until the place is actually built. While I have no doubts about the arena itself being a state-of-the-art facility, and the surrounding area being made extremely fan friendly, all my other concerns at this point in time are valid.

 

The traffic is a huge concern. Public transportation, while easily accessible for the new arena, is still a concern because of the all-too-easily-forgotten crime potential that exists at any Philly train station or subway stop. Financially, the fan experience is going to cost way more than it ever has before for a Sixers game.

 

People are hesitant to the idea of change in all walks of life, this is no different. For me, the idea of leaving an arena that isn’t old in an easily accessible and safe sports complex for a new shiny place in Center City is the definition of the grass isn’t always greener on the other side. This isn’t a move made out of necessity, rather one made by selfishness and financial greed at the expense of the fans.

 

A lot can change between now and 2031, when the Sixers lease at the Wells Fargo Center is up. Hopefully by then we’re all much more excited about the Center City arena than we are today.

 

 

By Matt Szczypiorski | July 21, 2022
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,