Sep 16, 2024; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; ESPN Monday Night Football broadcaster Jason Kelce on the set before game between Philadelphia Eagles and Atlanta Falcons at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-Imagn Images Eric Hartline
Eagles icon Jason Kelce has some strong thoughts on the Sixers building a Center City arena.
A day after Mayor Cherelle Parker announced her support for what the Sixers have dubbed "76 Place," Kelce explained on the SportsRadio 94 WIP Morning Show that while he doesn't doubt the arena will be beautiful, he still has strong reservations about it.
Jason Kelce’s full response to the new agreement to build a Sixers arena in Center City: “At the end of the day people are probably going to love it..But right now I really hate it.”
(@WIPMorningShow)
pic.twitter.com/M1uYBDFWgt https://t.co/FgBOmqkYYq
OK, so there's a few things here worth considering. Let's take them one-by-one.
1) Kelce's point that the arena will probably be very nice when built but that he doesn't appreciate the organization strong arming the city is a valid one.
2) It's interesting for Kelce to mention his personal bias of the Cleveland Browns relocating and becoming the Baltimore Ravens during his childhood, and how that still scars him. At the same time, had the Sixers moved to Camden — or if 76 Place falls through and they still go to Camden — it wouldn't be the same as the Browns altogether leaving Cleveland. Even in Camden, they would still be called the Philadelphia 76ers, and very close to the city.
3) Kelce says that "the ownership group isn't Philadelphian," referring to Josh Harris also owning the New Jersey Devils and Washington Commanders. One rebuttal to that would be that Kelce's long-time employer, Jeff Lurie, wasn't Philadelphian before buying the Eagles, although he's unquestionably shown a commitment to the city since acquiring the team in 1994. Frankly, it shouldn't really matter that Harris owns teams in other sports that aren't from Philly, but in this campaign to get the Center City arena, threats to take the team to Camden have given the impression that Harris and company are more concerned about their own finances than what's best for Philadelphia. That's probably true of 90% of professional sports owners, though.
4) Perhaps the real discussion here is whether one person should be able to be the largest stakeholder in three professional sports teams. Maybe that's another conversation for another time, but there are a lot of people struggling around the area where 76 Place would be going who would benefit if Harris was taxed at a higher rate. Many of them will be displaced to another part of the city for the arena. Granted, Harris isn't asking for taxpayer funding for 76 Place, and they plan to invest "$1.55B in private dollars to revamp the struggling Market East." What that will really do, though, is push the people who are struggling out of the area. Again, maybe this isn't the place for a tax rate conversation, but the optics of a billionaire who owns three sports teams building an arena that won't actually help those who are struggling in the area currently isn't great.
Later in the morning, Kelce responded, at length, to a fan who pointed out some of the issues the Sixers currently have at Wells Fargo Center. We've posted the quote tweet so you can see what Kelce is responding to, but his answer cuts off, so the full transcription is below the tweet.
To be clear, I would absolutely support the Sixers building their own arena in South Philadelphia. The renting thing isn’t fair to them, I just hate the strong arming of the city to force an inevitable move into an area that the local residents, and vast majority of… https://t.co/jJifC1XWip
"To be clear, I would absolutely support the Sixers building their own arena in South Philadelphia. The renting thing isn’t fair to them, I just hate the strong arming of the city to force an inevitable move into an area that the local residents, and vast majority of Philadelphians don’t prefer be in center city.
"Again though, at the end of the day, we will all love it in 5-10 years when we have a beautiful new stadium in the heart of the city. It just pisses me off now, with the way it’s happening, and I’m gonna be pissed for the foreseeable future at how this is being forced currently. The threat of moving the team is bullshit, I hate it. Admittedly I was scarred growing up in Cleveland by Art Modell and the Browns, which the city of Cleveland messed up on, but it doesn’t change that I have a strong disdain for owners making these threats with zero care for what the fans or residents who support the team want."
What it appears is the reality here is there isn't a solution that's going to please everyone. If 76 Place happens, it will be against the will of probably half the people in the city, if not more. If it doesn't happen, though, the Sixers may end up in Camden, and despite that being very close to Philadelphia, it wouldn't sit well with many to have their home in New Jersey. The best solution for the public would probably be for the Sixers to build the arena in the South Philly Sports Complex, although a source indicated to On Pattison's Austin Krell that the team isn't interested in staying in that area. Who knows if that's just posturing, but you wonder if the promise to self fund the arena would still exist from Harris, David Biltzer and company if the new arena was in South Philly.
