Surprise, the Sixers announced that a new arena would be built in South Philadelphia

It looks like the Philadelphia 76ers won’t be leaving South Philly after all.

After the city formally backed a deal last month for a new arena in the heart of downtown, a proposal that had long drawn vocal opposition, the basketball team’s owners announced Monday that they planned now to build a new arena in the same sports and entertainment. neighborhood where they have been playing for decades.

At a news conference at City Hall, the team’s owners joined executives from entertainment conglomerate Comcast to announce that the Wells Fargo Center, where the team has called home for years, would be replaced by a “world-class arena” in the sports complex. area. Wells Fargo – which is owned by Comcast and which the Sixers share with the National Hockey League’s Flyers – is within walking distance of the stadiums of the National Football League’s Eagles and Major League Baseball’s Phillies.

Mayor Cherelle Parker described the news as “a win-win-win-win situation,” but the announcement was a stunning turnaround — a fact she acknowledged. “This is a curveball that none of us saw coming.”

For months and even as recently as last week, the mayor was a strong advocate for a new downtown arena. It’s a struggling part of downtown, and the structure was seen as a big political victory for the mayor during his first year in office.

In describing the new plan, she highlighted elements beyond building a new arena, including efforts to attract a WNBA team to the city and the new Sixers-Comcast partnership’s commitment to investing in the revitalization of Market Street East, downtown. neighborhood where the place was supposed to be built.

“I don’t have the opportunity to wallow in a 180,” Mayor Parker said. “It’s a celebration for the city.”