The news arrived out of nowhere, on a quiet Sunday in January when the biggest thing happening was that afternoon’s Eagles game (which we won, hallelujah!). Then, just after noon, phones across the city lit up with another Philly sports announcement: The Sixers would stay in South Philly after all, as team owners abandoned plans to move to Center City after reaching a deal with Comcast Spectacor.
The team’s announcement came less than a month after its owners and 76DevCorp developers secured a 12-5 City Council vote to approve their proposal after over two years of heated protests and two months of debate.
It also came days after Governor Josh Shapiro said there would be no state funding allocated towards an arena, as developers’ plan would have entailed asking for state funds to support changes to SEPTA’s Jefferson Station.
For longtime activists in Chinatown and across the city, the news brought both joy and skepticism.
“I was watching a K-drama and my reaction was initial skepticism, dazed elation, then cautious optimism,” said grad student Will Chan, who volunteers with the youth-led Ginger Arts Center and the Save Chinatown Coalition. “Things are good? I can’t quite celebrate just yet.”
Clay Willoughby is the co-owner of Philadelphia Eddie’s Tattoo in Chinatown which sits not too far from where the Philadelphia 76ers proposed building an 18,000 seat basketball arena on Market Street. (Heather Chin/Billy Penn)
Eddie’s Chinatown Tattoo co-owner Clay Willoughby said he was relieved to hear the news, but was still hesitant to believe everything’s resolved.
“[I’m] still a skeptic, like this is sort of a trick of the hand,” Willoughby said. “It’s just very sudden after they have gotten all of the votes. They don’t fact-check on Facebook anymore, so I wondered, is this a hoax? Was it an elaborate plan to get a better deal [with Comcast]? Are they avoiding lawsuits? I hope everything is [above] board. So, I’m just like a typical Philadelphian and I’m very skeptical of what is actually gonna happen.”
Claire So, a volunteer with the No Arena in Chinatown Solidarity Group (NACS), was at a cat cafe in South Philly when she heard the news. “I had just been talking about the arena with the cat cafe owners, so I was already fired up,” she said. “I was shocked and at a loss for words. I was definitely skeptical and suspicious. There are a lot of questions still unanswered. But mostly, I’m overjoyed. I was crying, but laughing, hysterical in the street with disbelief. There was so much solidarity, so much emotions, and everybody texting.”
Claire So of NACS and Sam Sam of Little Saigon Cafe celebrated the news that the Sixers arena would not come to Center City. (Heather Chin/Billy Penn)
For Sam Sam of Little Saigon Cafe on 10th Street, the news came as “a big relief.”
“I’m printing a big poster of the news articles for my window,” he said. “I can’t describe how I’m feeling. I feel like I won the lottery, really.”
Sam was among scores of people who testified against the arena plans during heated City Council hearings and town halls that left activists arrested, in tears, and outraged.
“They messed up our life for two years. We made a lot of noise, but somehow Comcast said something behind the scenes,” Sam said. “We never gave up, since day one.”
Who swayed the decision?
According to media reports, the heads of other sports leagues leaned on the Sixers to remain in South Philly.
The NBA and the NFL reportedly helped broker the agreement, which ended the franchise’s second attempt to have a home of its own.
The Wells Fargo Center is owned by Comcast Spectator, which owns the Flyers but not the 76ers
Over the next decade, Comcast hopes to transform the sports complex into a year-round destination. The $2.5 billion proposal calls for new retail and restaurants, a music venue and a hotel.
For now, the plan doesn’t specifically call for a new arena, but does leave room for one.
Reactions beyond Chinatown
On Sunday, Asian Americans United (AAU), one of the coalition’s most vocal organizations, celebrated the Comcast agreement, declaring the team’s decision to stay in South Philly as a victory of the “multiracial, multilingual, intergenerational movement.”
“The people of Philadelphia deserve a city that serves ALL communities. Our work continues and remains cautious to protect precious neighborhoods from exploitative development, but for now let’s celebrate together,” said the group in a statement posted online.
Health care workers from across the region spoke at a press conference with No Arena Philly Med outside Jefferson Hospital’s 10th Street ER and Trauma Center. (Heather Chin/Billy Penn)
Medical professionals who decried the proposed arena as a potentially deadly addition to Center City are “still a little bit in disbelief,” said a spokesperson with No Arena Philly Med.
“That was the primary reaction in the ER today: ‘Is this real?’ while hustling past each other in hallways, carrying on during another busy day at the ER,” they said in a statement to Billy Penn.
Sharon Chen, a family nurse practitioner in Philly’s Chinatown, said she “cried tears of joy today knowing that at least for now, Chinatown as a community will not be disrupted, and that anyone who needs to be rushed to Jefferson Hospital by ambulance will not be killed by gridlock traffic.”
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The Philadelphia Tenants Union issued a statement of “congratulations to the people of Chinatown, the Save Chinatown Coalition and all their allies across the city,” describing the arena plans as “gentrification on such a large scale as this is a terrible form of violence.”
Black Philly 4 Chinatown also weighed in, stating that “this news is glaring evidence of the obscene failure of leadership from Mayor Cherelle Parker and our City Council. The people of Philadelphia will never forget how their so-called leaders fell over themselves to bend to the will of billionaires who don’t care about our communities and ignored the will of the people who make these communities thrive.”
State representative Chris Rabb, whose district includes Mount Airy, spoke at the Black Philly for Chinatown rally Tuesday morning at City Hall. (Celia Bernhardt/Billy Penn)
More broadly, lawyers with the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF) cheered the “historic victory for the Chinatown community and for Philadelphians [as] just one of many threats Chinatowns and other historically Asian neighborhoods around the country are facing.”
Annie Lo, who gave testimony on behalf of AALDEF against the arena plans at Mayor Parker’s first town hall meeting Sept. 11 on the arena, said in a statement that the group “is proud to have supported the Save Chinatown Coalition organizers throughout this fight. We will continue to stand with Chinatown in opposition to predatory development plans that would threaten the community.”
The No Arena coalition said in a statement:
“We’re relieved to hear that the nightmare of a Center City Sixers arena will not haunt our city any more. To every Philadelphian who called, marched, testified, and warned City Hall that this was a raw deal: This win belongs to you, and the lesson for politicians is to trust the people. To the five Councilmembers who stood on the right side of this fight: We will not forget.
Protesters on the floor of City Council chambers prior to a vote on the Sixers arena. (Emma Lee/WHYY)
“Over the past two years, Philly built a movement not only to save Chinatown, but to defend our entire city from predatory billionaires who saw us for a profit playground, and tens of thousands of Philadelphians showed up. When some said it was a done deal, this movement stayed true, committed to a different kind of city.”
“We were clear from day one that it was dangerous to play in the viper pit with billionaires, but City Hall toyed with the snakes, and they got bit. 12 of 17 Councilmembers turned their backs on decades of research on the false promise of stadium developments, common sense, their voters, and the 70% of Philadelphians who opposed this arena …
“This sham of a process laid bare what Philadelphians have long known: Decisions about the future of neighborhoods are not being made by the people of those communities nor with their best interest in mind, but by a select few who represent their own benefits and bank accounts and a City Hall that’s bought and paid for.”
Looking Ahead
One of the No Arena activist T-shirts was a red-on-white callback to previous successful fights against large-scale real estate development in Philly’s Chinatown — a stadium proposal, two casinos, and this most recent arena plan.
Does this win mean all the activism can stop?
The answer is a resounding “no” from community advocates.
Protesters disrupted Philadelphia City Council as Sixers arena legislation was introduced on October 24, 2024. (Kimberly Paynter/WHYY)
Save Chinatown Coalition member Will Chan was in Council chambers when arrests were being made, including moments when protesters were restrained and removed from City Hall. He reflected on the impact those moments will have, not just on the community, but the city as a whole.
“I’m up on one of the balconies, I have a handful of high school kids with me,” Chan said. “And because the police have been so aggressive on the balcony, my kids that I’m with and that I’m looking after and have a duty of care for, they’re crying in their seats and I’m asking, ‘Can I go over to them?’ And I’m being told, ‘No, you’ll be arrested if you do.’”
“We won’t forget what happened in City Hall last month,” Chan said. “Especially when it comes to the next Councilmembers’ elections.”
NACS volunteer Claire So said the opposition’s fight against the arena proposal showed “democratic processes are worthy of being scrutinized.”
“I think it calls into question who do they really stand for,” So said. “Do they represent the constituents that elected them into office and how are they really staying true to their promises as elected officials that they really have the city’s best interests at heart?”
Members of No Arena in Chinatown Solidarity (NACS) toasted to the news that the Sixers arena would not come to Center City at a celebration at Little Saigon Cafe. (Heather Chin/Billy Penn)
Going forward, Black Philly 4 Chinatown noted that “we are waiting for more details of how this new deal will impact our city; in the meantime, our hearts are breathing a sigh of relief and we are still deeply committed to the work of making this city a place where people come before profits.”
Health professionals also remain on alert. “We as Philadelphians have shown undoubtedly that we are the city of Brotherly Love and that when our neighbors are threatened, we can come out in force to protect each other,” they said in a statement. “Billionaires will never save us. We can’t let anyone off the hook. Jefferson leadership never truly engaged their employees about the project or answered their questions in meaningful ways. We can’t forget that.”