The 76ers, are they moving on or not?

By: Charlie Lai

As it was recently announced, the 76ers arena will not be built in center city, but it will now be built in south philly. This sudden announcement was a shock to everyone, but why did it happen? 

As of January 12th, the 76ers basketball team made a shocking announcement that they would stop pursuing building the arena in center city, even though they had been pursuing it since 2022. 

When the Arena was initially proposed, many people were outraged and against the building of the arena, while some people were excited for a center city stadium. The Asian American community was particularly against the arena, as they claimed it would destroy Chinatown, an ethnic enclave that has been there since the 1800's. They quickly formed a large coalition under the organisation Asian Americans United and protested.

Many people other than the asian community were against the building of the arena as studies show that 70% of philadelphia population was against the arena. This was for multiple reasons such as the potential grid lock, money it could cost the city, its impact on ambulances, and other reasons. 

So when the team announced they would drop their plans, the public was shocked. They are now planning to build a new arena in the stadium area of Philadelphia with the Flyers. They did this by reaching an agreement with Comcast, who also owns the Wells Fargo Center and in the stadium district. 

There were talks of a new deal between the Sixers and Comcast while legislation was in council, and after the council members heard of this new deal, many of them feel that they were taken advantage of or played. 

With the new announcements of the 76ers arena, much of Philadelphia is happy they are staying in South Philly!