{"id":475132,"date":"2026-02-27T13:47:12","date_gmt":"2026-02-27T13:47:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/475132\/"},"modified":"2026-02-27T13:47:12","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T13:47:12","slug":"sixers-flyers-make-early-food-and-beverage-provider-pick-for-new-arena","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/475132\/","title":{"rendered":"Sixers, Flyers make early food and beverage provider pick for new arena"},"content":{"rendered":"

Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment and Comcast Spectacor have selected Levy as the food and beverage provider for the in-development Philadelphia arena that will be shared by the 76ers and Flyers<\/a>. The venue will replace the current Xfinity Mobile Arena in the Philly Sports Complex; the target is to break ground in 2027 and have it built and operating by 2030 when Philadelphia\u2019s WNBA franchise is supposed to begin play<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis is really early,\u201d to bring in a food and beverage provider, Levy CEO Andy Lansing said, but was done so to ensure the F&B program was embedded in the venue\u2019s design, not shoehorned in afterward. That was a common refrain in HBSE and Comcast Spectacor\u2019s research tour of venues during the last year-plus. <\/p>\n

Levy will work with the teams and Populous and Moody Nolan, which won an architect RFP last year<\/a>, to design the arena. A Turner\/AECOM Hunt joint venture<\/a> will handle construction. <\/p>\n

Terms and length of the deal weren\u2019t shared. Levy beat out most of the usual field of sports venue F&B competitors<\/a>, including longtime incumbent and Philadelphia-headquartered Aramark Sports + Entertainment, which has provided F&B at Xfinity Mobile Arena (through its various identities) since the arena opened in 1996.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe went through this process with a very open mind and we wanted to make sure we gave every provider an opportunity to share what they thought about how to develop the experience and the opportunities going forward,\u201d said HBSE CEO Tad Brown. \u201cWe felt very comfortable with Levy and what they presented and how we believe we\u2019re going to work together in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a great relationship with our friends at Aramark,\u201d said Comcast Spectacor Chairman & CEO Dan Hilferty. \u201cObviously, probably disappointed, but we have, on both sides committed that while (Xfinity Mobile Arena) is still in operation, we\u2019re going to deliver the best possible product for every fan that walks in.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 76ers and HBSE are overseeing the arena project, while Comcast Spectacor is running the mixed-use development effort surrounding the new venue, both of which are in design. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you look at the breadth and different types of arena experiences that HBSE and the Sixers have been involved in, of course, we\u2019re very pleased to be that 50-50 partner where Tad and team guide us, with our significant input, and lead it,\u201d Hilferty said. <\/p>\n

Levy oversees F&B at major multi-tenant venues at Chicago\u2019s United Center, L.A.\u2019s Crypto.com Arena, Dallas\u2019 American Airlines Arena<\/a>, and Salt Lake City\u2019s Delta Center. And it already works with HBSE (and the Devils) at the Prudential Center. <\/p>\n

Levy\u2019s focus on local food culture and small businesses will be a prominent aspect of the venue when it opens. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis is going to be unmistakably Philadelphia, unapologetically Philadelphia,\u201d said Brown. <\/p>\n

Aramark has a collective bargaining agreement with Philly Unite Here! Local 247, the city\u2019s food service workers union, that includes workers at all three Philly Sports Complex venues (Citizens Bank Park and Lincoln Financial Field are Aramark venue clients) and runs until 2029. Levy\u2019s need to negotiate a new deal with the union prior to opening the new arena is a regular aspect of taking over a team\u2019s or teams\u2019 food and beverage business in a union town.<\/p>\n

Besides developing a relationship with Local 247, the early start will help Levy get engrained in a city and food culture that has long been off limits, owing to Aramark\u2019s local dominance.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have four years to get fully entrenched in the community and it\u2019s a runway period that we don\u2019t always have,\u201d said Lansing, smiling. \u201cWe\u2019ll be out there eating, eating, and eating.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment and Comcast Spectacor have selected Levy as the food and beverage provider for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":475133,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5112],"tags":[4624,57295,5207,1468,5206,5,14041,4,1467,56,5205],"class_list":["post-475132","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-philadelphia-flyers","tag-76ers","tag-aramark-sports-and-entertainment","tag-comcast","tag-flyers","tag-harris-blitzer-sports-entertainment","tag-hockey","tag-levy-restaurants","tag-nhl","tag-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia-flyers","tag-philadelphiaflyers"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116142909008252691","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/475132","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=475132"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/475132\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/475133"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=475132"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=475132"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=475132"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}