
Josh Harris Explains Sixers Pivot while Atlanta's Battery Gets Frequent Mentions in Joint Arena Press Conference
Mayor Cherelle Parker teamed up with the Sixers and Comcast for a Monday press conference announcing the new South Philly stadium. Brian Roberts, Josh Harris, David Blitzer, and David Adelman all were there, as were Dan Hilferty, Keith Jones, Danny Briere. Here are some observations:
- For the WNBA side, they brought Wanda Sykes and her wife Alex to the press conference. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver was on a video call and spoke as well. Silver thanked Josh Harris, David Blitzer and Brian Roberts for their “very intense involvement and willingness to partner together.” No mention of David Adelman or Dan Hilferty. That was a line that jumped out to me. Maybe there’s something to it, maybe not. You’re always reading between the lines, looking for clues, and it seems like the final bit of business was hashed out at the highest levels of ownership.
- Adelman was the first to speak after the mayor. He joked about winding up on the same team with Comcast after more than a year of the two sides just totally killing each other both publicly and privately. He then went through and thanked the council members who voted in favor of the Market Street project, as well as the labor unions and Ryan Boyer.
- Mayor Parker said that she spoke with Muriel Bowser, who said nice things about Josh Harris.
- Harris was fighting a cold. He said they began “meeting with Comcast in earnest over the last two weeks.” He talked about the project splitting off into two developments instead of one. Speaking about Brian Roberts, he said they “went different ways and came back together.. I think it’s amazing, I’m so happy to be standing with you and we’re gonna do great things.. the journey to the best solution doesn’t always go in a straight line.”
- I didn’t realize Brian Roberts was like 6’2″ or something. He was towering over everyone.
- Parker basically kissed Roberts’ ass for a bit, then Roberts got up to talk about a situation that he saw was “unraveling.” He talked about keeping the four major sports teams in the same location and having a fortuitous partnership with Adam Silver and the NBA through the league coming back to NBC. He admitted that the timing of building a new arena should have been a little later, which is a response to the $400 million they just sunk into the Wells Fargo Center. He mentioned Atlanta’s Battery as a concept for reimagining the sports complex. They will have a “small minority” stake in the Sixers.
- Alex Sykes says Adelman was very supportive of the WNBA idea. Comcast was on board as well and they think they have an amazing team and blah blah, etc.
- Wanda Sykes hit Harris with a “go Birds” before leaving the podium.
- Kenyatta Johnson was giving off “this shit is so stupid, I can’t believe we got played” vibes. Parker just kind of rolled with the idea that this is going to be better for Philadelphia. Parker reiterated her original support for the Market Street proposal – “We were talking about a $1.3 billion dollar private sector investment that required no taxpayer subsidy.” She basically said they start working on Market quicker now than they would have before, which was originally targeted for 2031. Then she started rambling about filling the Disney Hole and bringing life back to East Market. They will make good on the 20 million dollar commitment to Chinatown.
- Parker also talked about the Battery. She says she went on a tour there with John Middleton and Hilferty and others, who introduced them to Atlanta Braves leadership. They are really basing this mixed-use development idea on what they did in Cobb County a few years ago.
- “Nothing we did is going to be in vain,” said Parker, who rambled through some explanation that she’s not going to allow her ego to be hurt by the way this whole thing turned out. Her answer to the political embarrassment was to basically just do a lot of talking.
- Kenyatta Johnson got up and called the outcome a win/win because the first priority was keeping the Sixers in Philadelphia. He also turned to the Sixers’ ownership and said that if “somebody put $800 million in front of you, you have to take that seriously.” He said that both sides have been fighting back and forth throughout the process, which you already knew. He said Hilferty would “come into my office with my good friend Rob Murray (Comcast Vice President, Development, Community Engagement & Government Affairs), trying to give them an offer they couldn’t refuse.” He says it’s still the same mission with getting jobs for the trades and providing opportunities for black and brown men and women.
- Johnson wishes that they could have gotten the deal done before starting the legislative process. He laughed his way through it but you could tell the guy was annoyed.
- Parker reiterated what Hilferty told us over the summer about exploring sports complex connection to FDR Park and the Bellwether District, which is Passyunk Avenue on the other side of 76, where the refinery used to be.
- I couldn’t hear any of the 4-5 questions asked by the press. In response to one, Parker talked about negotiating a new PILOT and new CBA and stuff like that. She basically said that the last year of negotiations serves a template for which they can replicate the process.
Last, and probably most important, was a question for Josh Harris, from the Inquirer’s Anna Orso, who asked why they changed their mind.
Full quote:
“We didn’t really change our mind, we were committed to Market East, but our north star was doing right by Philly. Deals don’t come together exactly when you want them. When Comcast and Brian, Adam Silver said ‘look, you guys are fighting, let’s try to come together.’ We felt we could build a better arena, we could also revitalize Market East. We felt that it was a one plus one equals three situation and so we pivoted. We pivoted on behalf of – it was a little more complicated for all of us, Comcast was willing, generously, even though they had put a lot of money into the existing arena to make it great, (agreed) to move up their timeline and all of us made compromises to do the right thing by Philly. One thing I can tell you, President Johnson and Mayor Parker are tough and they’re going to represent your interests well. You can depend on them to do the right thing by the city, and garner everything we have to support the city. It wasn’t planned but it happened. First meeting was in early December and we got the mayor involved as soon as we could.“
So there you have it. FOX 29 streamed this press conference if you’ve got some time to watch it yourself: