Excited to announce that the Philadelphia 76ers and Comcast Spectacor are partnering in a 50-50 joint venture to build a world-class arena in South Philadelphia and to help revitalize Market East in Center City. Though plans have changed, the one thing that has not is our commitment to do something beneficial for the team, our fans, and most importantly, our city. I am also thrilled to announce that Comcast will join the 76ers bid to bring a WNBA team to Philadelphia.
Thank you to my partners, Josh Harris and David Blitzer, for their dedication and commitment to this transformative project; Brian Roberts, Dan Hilferty, and the team at Comcast Spectacor, for their partnership; and thank you to the National Basketball Association (NBA) Commissioner Adam Silver for bringing our groups together.
Special thanks to Mayor Cherelle Parker for her leadership; Council President Kenyatta Johnson, Councilmember Mark Squilla, and all members of City Council who supported our proposal. Their dedication to Philadelphia has been inspiring. We are also grateful to Governor Josh Shapiro for his steadfast support of the 76ers.
We deeply appreciate the hard work of our labor unions and community stakeholders, including SEIU-32BJ led by Gabe Morgan, Philadelphia Building Trades led by Ryan Boyer Jr., Eastern Region Council of Carpenters led by William Sproule, African American Chamber of Commerce led by Regina A. Hairston, Black Clergy of Philadelphia and Vicinity led by Bishop Felton, NAACP-Philadelphia Chapter led by Catherine Hicks, Culture Changing Christians led by Pastor Carl Day, and a special thank you to Mark Lynch and TJ LaPera at IBEW LOCAL UNION 98 who led the charge with incredible devotion.
I could not have asked for a better team than David Gould, Dave Sholler, Tad Brown, Alex Kafenbaum, and countless others, all who have worked tirelessly, and will continue to do so to build the best arena in the world for our team and our fans.
Our goal is clear: to create 2 large-scale projects, generate jobs, and restore Market East as a thriving hub. Together, we will make Philadelphia proud.