June 09, 2025
Kate Frese/For PhillyVoice
Architecture firms Populous and Moody Nolan will lead the conceptual development of the new arena planned for the 76ers and Flyers at the Sports Complex in South Philadelphia. The teams hope to move on from the Wells Fargo Center (above) in 2031. The venue will be renamed Xfinity Mobile Arena in September.
The 76ers and Comcast Spectacor have selected a pair of architecture firms to lead the development of the new arena that will be built in South Philadelphia in the coming years.
Renowned stadium developer Populous and Philadelphia-based Moody Nolan will oversee the conceptual design of the future project at the Sports Complex, Sixers minority owner David Adelman said Monday. Design plans for the building are expected to be revealed in the coming months, the Sports Business Journal reported.
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Adelman spearheaded the Sixers' contentious push to build a new arena on East Market Street, a plan that was abandoned in January when the team instead struck a deal with Comcast Spectacor to remain in South Philly. The new arena will be the shared home of the 76ers and Flyers, replacing the soon-to-be-renamed Xfinity Mobile Arena once the project is finished. The target is to construct the new building by 2031, the same timeline the Sixers had sought for the project in Center City.
The two architecture firms had been slated to manage the design of the scrapped arena plan, which would have replaced a portion of the Fashion District Philadelphia mall. The site where the new arena will be built at the Sports Complex has not been revealed.
Populous has designed dozens of marquee stadiums and arenas worldwide, including Pittsburgh's Acrisure Stadium and London's Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. The firm's six NBA arenas include Milwaukee's Fiserv Forum and Houston's Toyota Center.
“With our background and history with arena design throughout the US, a deep bench in terms of experience in that area of the industry but also thinking about experience driven design, I think that really connected with the Sixers and the Flyers,” Jonathan Mallie, Populous managing director of the Americas, told the Sports Business Journal.
Populous and Moody Nolan were both awarded the contract for the abandoned 76 Place project after renderings of the building had been designed by Gensler. The proposed arena faced intense opposition from residents in nearby Chinatown and also drew criticism from urban planners who questioned how well it would fit into the city and region's transportation network.
The Sixers, who have long been a tenant of Comcast Spectacor in South Philly, originally sought their own arena to have full control of a venue in Philadelphia under the umbrella of team owner Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment. The deal between Comcast Spectacor and HBSE will make the new arena in South Philly a 50-50 joint venture.
Details about how the new project will be financed have not been shared. The Sixers previously had pledged to privately finance their 76 Place project in Center City.
The new arena is expected to be the centerpiece of a long-term plan that to bring restaurants, retail, public plazas and potentially residential projects to the Sports Complex over the coming decade.
