PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Philadelphia City Council pressed the 76ers for more money, in the second day of hearings on the Center City arena the team is seeking.
A lot of Council’s questions focused on the amount of money the 76ers plan to pay the city for the right to build the arena and the team’s economic opportunity plan which lays out goals for hiring, and contracting with, women, minority, disabled and local workers and businesses.
The Sixers have agreed to a $50 million community benefits agreement and $6 million a year in payments. But Councilmember Rue Landau summed up Council’s line of questioning: “We mostly agree we want more money for the CBA. We think it’s not enough. We want more money for SEPTA.”
David Gould, the Sixers’ chief diversity and impact officer, agreed in theory to renegotiating parts of the arena deal but did not commit to any more money. He turned down some requests — such as moving the owners’ company from New Jersey to Philadelphia, and subsidizing SEPTA operations to accommodate an expected increase in ridership because of the arena.
“When we asked them what was the assumption that went into those numbers, and was the impact going to be as big as they were anticipating, we do not believe that it will be, because we don’t think they had all the information from us to make those estimates,” Gould said.
Councilmember Mike Driscoll was also concerned about how construction — which would start in 2026, if the legislation passes — would impact major events scheduled that year.
“We have the 250th anniversary celebration of democracy. All our hard work is going into this and the last thing we need is business interruption in Center City.”
Sixers Senior Vice President Alex Kafenbaum said the team would minimize disruptions, keeping streets and sidewalks open, but stressed there is a deadline looming — 2031, when their lease at Wells Fargo Center ends. He said that’s also the reason the team needs the legislation passed by the end of the year.
“In all honesty, we’re already behind in terms of starting that, but that’s kind of our drop dead date," Kafenbaum said. "We need a place for the team to play in 2031.”
On Tuesday, City Council heard from the Cherelle Parker administration. The first two days of hearings were unexpectedly quiet, but six more are scheduled, including several nights of public testimony.