Sixers

Flyers and Sixers Joint Survey Asks Fans for Input on New Arena Design and Reimagined Sports Complex

By Kevin Kinkead

Published: Jul 10th, 2025 · 10:00 AM EDT

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There hasn’t been much news regarding the planned Flyers and Sixers combo arena in South Philadelphia, but it looks like Comcast-Spectacor and HBSE are now getting the ball rolling.

An email went out to season ticket holders and other fans of both teams on Thursday morning, with a survey asking for input on what the arena needs and what’s required to create the best gameday experience.

Here’s the introductory blurb from the Sixers’ version of the email:

We want YOUR input to help design a new arena for the 76ers!

Plans are underway for our new arena in South Philadelphia with our partners at Comcast-Spectacor. As part of our development process, we are seeking your input on arena amenities, seating, and experiences you’d like to see at our new home court to provide a world-class fan experience.

You’re invited to take a short survey to share your thoughts. Your voice matters, and your responses will help us build a new arena that our fans and the city of Philadelphia can be proud of.

The survey itself takes about 15 minutes to complete and amounts to almost 150 questions divided up into multiple sections. The first portion is straightforward, just some demographic queries on age, income, and whatnot. There’s a background section asking participants to describe the level of their fandom and share some information about how they take in a typical game. Do they come straight from work? Where do they typically sit? Do they tailgate or go to Xfinity or none of the above?

From there, it segues into fan experience. There are conceptual renderings of a plaza outside the arena, which they say would be a “one-stop-shop experience for all fans, potentially featuring things like family-friendly activities, play areas, food trucks, drink stands, sponsor activations, live entertainment, and large TV screens. This plaza, with both indoor and outdoor spaces, would feature year-round activities both on game days and on non-game days.”

These aren’t blueprints, but illustrative examples of what might be possible:

(Quick aside/personal opinion – it seems like a fan plaza would be central to a mixed-use arena development inspired by Atlanta’s Battery, which Mayor Parker toured with Comcast executives and John Middleton as well. The Battery was mentioned several times in the January press conference announcing that 76 Place was dead and that Spectacor and HBSE would instead work together.)

There are also a bunch of questions about parking. Would you, for instance, be willing to pay $55 to $60 for a standard parking pass? $45? What about premium parking and valet service? On a scale of 1 to 10, how likely are you to strangle the driver in front of you while stuck in sports complex traffic? Just kidding. That’s not in there, but maybe it should be.

Another point of interest is this concept of a “social patio,” which looks like the spiritual successor to the mixed-use “Assembly Room” added to the highest level of the Wells Fargo Center during the recent $400 million renovation:

The survey asks if this is something you’d like, how you would use it, and where it should go in the new arena. It talks about a standing-room only experience with access to drink rails, bars, food, and concession vouchers.

Similarly, they ask this set of questions about other several other arrangements, including:

• club seating
• loge seating
• courtside (basketball)
• up against the glass (hockey)
• luxury bars and suites
• bunker suite (basically a luxury box below the lower bowl that comes with unattached premium seats)

It’s pretty detailed, this portion of the survey. They even ask if you prefer half-moon tables, ledge tables, couches, theater boxes, loungers, stuff like that. Good questions for the interior designers among the fan base. Get Martha Stewart on line one.

Finally, the survey concludes with a series of questions that put two seat and ticket options against each other, and ask for your preference. In one example, there’s a club seat selection on two different arena levels, with differing food and beverage choices at two different price points:

The survey is heavily focused on seating, and asking what fans are willing to pay for. It would make no sense to just go ahead and build 400 loge boxes if people don’t want loge boxes, right? But if the results overwhelmingly favor patio seating, now you have a defined direction in how you’re designing this thing, and how to price it out.

And maybe Flyers and Sixers fans say they don’t want any of the fancy stuff at all and just like the affordable and basic seats they have in the Wells Fargo Center right now. That’s something else to think about as South Philly welcomes its first new stadium in more than 20 years. It’s interesting to consider the blue collar nature of Philly fans who don’t want fine dining and luxury boxes. They like to tailgate and eat hot dogs, watch the game and then drive home. Essentially it’s about finding the right balance here while putting in some cool and modern shit that you’re starting to find at arenas like SoFi and the Intuit Dome.

The survey is not currently available to the general public, but maybe it will be at some point. In a joint quote, the Sixers and Flyers told Crossing Broad the following:

“As we build a world-class arena in South Philadelphia, creating the best fan experience is a top priority. This fan survey is an attempt to gather as much feedback as possible to ensure we consider and incorporate a full range of perspectives and viewpoints into our design efforts.”