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TABLE TALK: Analyzing The Sixers New Arena Proposal · The Philadelphia Sports Table | Philly Sports News & Views

0:00
Speaker 1: What's up, everybody, It's Jeff here. I wanted to let
0:02
Speaker 1: you know we've recorded this podcast episode on Monday, December
0:05
Speaker 1: twenty third, twenty twenty four. By the time you hear this,
0:08
Speaker 1: some things may have changed here or there, but we
0:10
Speaker 1: hope you enjoy the show. Welcome to Table Talk here
0:34
Speaker 1: at the Philadelphia Sports Table podcast show, the longest running
0:36
Speaker 1: weekly Philly sports podcast show in the world that's right
0:39
Speaker 1: over eleven and a half years strong.
0:40
Speaker 2: We got a great discussion coming your way.
0:42
Speaker 1: As we always do on our Table Talk interview show
0:46
Speaker 1: here on this Monday. Look, folks, the Philadelphia seventy six
0:50
Speaker 1: ers as we are following their season. It's been a
0:52
Speaker 1: very disappointing season. We're also following another story with this
0:56
Speaker 1: team with regard to the potential new arena Rate and
1:00
Speaker 1: Center City Philadelphia and the various and ongoing issues with that.
1:04
Speaker 2: You know that. Eric Lennon myself, we've already kind of
1:06
Speaker 2: dove into.
1:07
Speaker 1: This storyline a few times here and there on our
1:10
Speaker 1: regular show, but we've really wanted to hone in on.
1:12
Speaker 2: This with our guests this week.
1:14
Speaker 1: Our guest who we absolutely love, have it on this
1:16
Speaker 1: show and he is able and Willing. Let's get to
1:19
Speaker 1: the discussion right now about the Sixers arena and what
1:23
Speaker 1: may possibly be coming with regard to this issue for
1:26
Speaker 1: the seventy six ers.
1:27
Speaker 2: Let's get right to it.
1:28
Speaker 1: Joining us this week, he is an award winning columnist
1:31
Speaker 1: and writer over at the Philadelphia Tribune.
1:34
Speaker 2: Love having him on. You can find him.
1:37
Speaker 1: On just about all social media sites at OJ Spivey,
1:40
Speaker 1: We've got the one and only OJ Spivey.
1:42
Speaker 3: How you doing, Buddy, I'm doing great, Jeff. Happy holidays
1:45
Speaker 3: to you and your family.
1:46
Speaker 1: Yes, you two, and to everyone listening, hope you all
1:49
Speaker 1: have a happy, healthy and safe holiday season. And we
1:53
Speaker 1: wanted to get into this Philadelphia seventy six Ers Arena storyline,
1:58
Speaker 1: and I even hate to call it a story line,
2:00
Speaker 1: but it's because it's more than that.
2:01
Speaker 2: It really is.
2:02
Speaker 1: It's about what's gonna happen to a section of the
2:05
Speaker 1: city perhaps in the future. We don't necessarily know what's
2:07
Speaker 1: going to be happening yet with regard to this arena.
2:10
Speaker 1: But before we before we get into the arena proposal here, OJ,
2:15
Speaker 1: you know, I've been giving a lot of thought as
2:17
Speaker 1: to what the South Philadelphia Sports Complex has really meant
2:23
Speaker 1: to us, and I wanted to get your thoughts on
2:26
Speaker 1: the current sports complex that we always go to that
2:29
Speaker 1: we know also well, I mean whether whether you know,
2:32
Speaker 1: years ago it was the VET or the Spectrum Franklin Field.
2:36
Speaker 1: We've all been going to South Philly for decades to
2:39
Speaker 1: watch our teams, concerts, different entertainment events. The sports complex
2:45
Speaker 1: has a very real and special place in all of
2:47
Speaker 1: our hearts and minds. So when you think about the
2:50
Speaker 1: overall sports complex, the actual location of it, you know,
2:54
Speaker 1: whether it was the older venues like Veterans Stadium, the
2:56
Speaker 1: Spectrum or even currently with the Wells Fargo Center or
2:59
Speaker 1: Lincoln Fiinancial Field. Oh J, I'm wondering what has it
3:03
Speaker 1: meant to you as a Philly sports fan, also being
3:06
Speaker 1: a reporter and and and also your your sports fandom overall.
3:10
Speaker 1: What are your thoughts here?
3:11
Speaker 3: Man? Well, I take it back to a kid growing
3:15
Speaker 3: up in the seventies and the eighties and going to
3:18
Speaker 3: the VET and the Spectrum with my father, lots of
3:21
Speaker 3: Phillies games, even went to a Phillippio Stars game, you know,
3:25
Speaker 3: back in the old ushl D. Yeah, and you know,
3:27
Speaker 3: it's a lot of lasting memories for me. So I
3:30
Speaker 3: get the nostalgia of it all, even going to the
3:34
Speaker 3: Spectrum and going to see Six's playoff games. And I
3:38
Speaker 3: can't recall it a year actually, but in the early eighties,
3:41
Speaker 3: Sixers used to have these these these brutal playoff series
3:45
Speaker 3: against the Milwaukee Bucks, he said, Julia serving Moses Malone
3:49
Speaker 3: one against Sydney Mainkri bib Lanier. You know, all Hall
3:53
Speaker 3: of famers and everything, and you know, it's just a
3:55
Speaker 3: different brand of basketball. And being in a in a
3:57
Speaker 3: place like the Spectrum, where you know, people talking about
4:01
Speaker 3: the vet being a dump. The Spectrum was kind of
4:02
Speaker 3: a dump too, but it.
4:04
Speaker 1: Was completely a dump being in there. I got the
4:07
Speaker 1: concourse was awful, right.
4:09
Speaker 3: And the concourse is probably is as wide as our
4:12
Speaker 3: living rooms, right.
4:13
Speaker 2: So yeah, absolutely.
4:16
Speaker 3: But anyway, I just think back to those games where
4:19
Speaker 3: you know, even if you sat up in the nosebleeds
4:21
Speaker 3: and everything, you would you would actually be in contact
4:24
Speaker 3: with the panels and I would just hear fans just
4:27
Speaker 3: banging on the panels and everything, and you know, those
4:30
Speaker 3: brutal Sixers Bucks, Sixers Celtics rivalries and everything. That's what
4:36
Speaker 3: you remember as a fan and everything. You know, everything
4:38
Speaker 3: we wasn't in the in the time of glamour and
4:41
Speaker 3: glitch has we see now with these new stadiums and
4:43
Speaker 3: arenas and everything. So I absolutely get the nostalgia part
4:47
Speaker 3: of it when I but when I look back, it's like, oh, wow,
4:50
Speaker 3: you know, everybody seemed to be sad when the vet
4:54
Speaker 3: was torn down? What was that three or something like that.
4:58
Speaker 3: I was happy I could in the stand of that.
5:01
Speaker 3: It sucked, it did I knew it was a great
5:04
Speaker 3: home field advantage for especially for opponents of the Eagle.
5:08
Speaker 1: Yes, but but but the stadium itself, the way it
5:14
Speaker 1: was designed again, you're talking about the concourse, it was terrible.
5:18
Speaker 1: It was actually a terrible venue itself. Our memories are
5:21
Speaker 1: fantastic memories that we had there. I went to my
5:24
Speaker 1: very first Eagles Giants game there growing up as a kid.
5:27
Speaker 1: The things that I saw in the stands you don't
5:30
Speaker 1: always see actually at the link quite frankly, things that
5:33
Speaker 1: I saw.
5:34
Speaker 2: You know, you have those.
5:35
Speaker 1: Memories, and while we love those memories, the actual facility
5:38
Speaker 1: itself really stunk.
5:40
Speaker 3: Yeah. You just think back to when you were an
5:43
Speaker 3: eight year old and yeah, your dad is taking you
5:46
Speaker 3: to that and everything. It took forever to get in
5:48
Speaker 3: out of the Yes, did it was like the yep,
5:53
Speaker 3: so to speak. If you're you know, if you're a
5:55
Speaker 3: eight year old, Yeah.
5:56
Speaker 1: People complain about getting out of Citizens Bank Park in
5:58
Speaker 1: the link and it's like, dude, remember.
6:00
Speaker 3: It's a it's a it's a breeze now, I mean
6:04
Speaker 3: getting out of the lane, getting out Assistants Bank Wells
6:06
Speaker 3: Fargo Center. It's a breeze. Man. I mean, we've come
6:09
Speaker 3: a long way. But you know, as I'm sure we'll
6:12
Speaker 3: talk about and everything, things evolved, and I'm actually glad
6:15
Speaker 3: that we avow from the bed. I remember all the
6:17
Speaker 3: memories and then you know, you talk about the the
6:21
Speaker 3: concrete turf and everything which gave opposing players nightmares and
6:27
Speaker 3: lasting injuries unfortunately. But you know, we we we we
6:31
Speaker 3: hold that, uh, we hold that close to our hearts
6:34
Speaker 3: and everything because that gave us the grit and toughness
6:37
Speaker 3: that Philadelphia in this region, you know, it is long
6:40
Speaker 3: known for it. But you know, let's think about it.
6:43
Speaker 3: That turf was like you know, driving on Broad Street.
6:46
Speaker 1: It was.
6:47
Speaker 2: It was really what I'll never forget.
6:49
Speaker 1: And and I know some of our listeners, longtime listeners
6:52
Speaker 1: have probably heard me tell this story. When I was
6:54
Speaker 1: in high school, I was in our marching band, and
6:56
Speaker 1: our marching band was invited to play at one of
7:00
Speaker 1: the Phillies playoff games. And it was something where I
7:04
Speaker 1: was walking through the tunnel and we're playing. I was
7:06
Speaker 1: a drummer and we're playing. Our cadence is holy loud,
7:09
Speaker 1: amazing it was. I was getting real pumped up. We
7:12
Speaker 1: get out onto the field and I feel the vet
7:15
Speaker 1: turf for the first time underneath my feet OJ and
7:19
Speaker 1: it was that concrete feeling, and I thought to myself,
7:22
Speaker 1: Holy cow, these players are playing on that Randall Cunningham
7:27
Speaker 1: played on this nonsense that I am standing on right now.
7:30
Speaker 1: Did what he did in terms of his played on
7:35
Speaker 1: that concrete awfulness. It was basically just concrete painted green.
7:40
Speaker 1: At the end of the day, it really was terrible.
7:42
Speaker 3: It kind of reminds you, you know, you know, if
7:45
Speaker 3: you ever grew and grew up in any type of
7:48
Speaker 3: inner city or town, and you know you have the
7:51
Speaker 3: outside porch and then your parents and grandparents who put
7:54
Speaker 3: that little green car.
7:56
Speaker 2: We had that on our back cork.
7:58
Speaker 3: We had it.
7:59
Speaker 1: Yes, Oh my gosh. A lot of great memories. Of course,
8:03
Speaker 1: you know, we have a lot of great memories from
8:04
Speaker 1: the spectrum from the VET as terrible as those actual
8:07
Speaker 1: facilities were themselves. But you know, you talk about the
8:11
Speaker 1: need to progress. So I mean, let's kind of get
8:14
Speaker 1: into this new arena proposal here, because, like I said,
8:17
Speaker 1: we've talked about it on this podcast, I really wanted
8:19
Speaker 1: to first get into how the City of Philadelphia government
8:23
Speaker 1: has actually handled this. So first, as an elected official myself,
8:27
Speaker 1: I can see why some elected officials would want to
8:30
Speaker 1: have the Fashion District redeveloped it. And let's be clear,
8:34
Speaker 1: this arena proposal is not directly in Chinatown like some
8:39
Speaker 1: people are saying. It's not directly like in the middle
8:42
Speaker 1: of it. It's a block away. Yet we do know
8:44
Speaker 1: it's going to have impacts on Chinatown the surrounding areas.
8:47
Speaker 1: So I can also see why Oj that, you know,
8:50
Speaker 1: Josh Harris's corporation called Apollo Global Management Group, would want
8:56
Speaker 1: to make this investment as he looks to his and
8:59
Speaker 1: his company's financial future. I mean, this is a business
9:02
Speaker 1: decision for himself and his corporation, But at the end
9:05
Speaker 1: of the day, city government needs to do what's best
9:09
Speaker 1: for its residents and weigh that with making good economic
9:12
Speaker 1: development decisions. There is a balance. There is a public
9:14
Speaker 1: official and someone who's been in public office on the
9:17
Speaker 1: local level for some time. I certainly understand this, and
9:21
Speaker 1: it's very hard and difficult to come to good decisions
9:25
Speaker 1: and to keep that balance. How do you think are
9:29
Speaker 1: I should say, how do you think the Philadelphia City
9:31
Speaker 1: government has really handled this situation from both a governance
9:35
Speaker 1: and a community standpoint?
9:38
Speaker 3: Well, I don't think they handled it in the best way,
9:43
Speaker 3: especially publicly, especially from pr standpoint. They have public hearings,
9:48
Speaker 3: as I know you're familiar with YEP and everything. But
9:52
Speaker 3: that said, they were also under a lot of tremendous
9:54
Speaker 3: pressure from the Sixers because you know, they just came in.
9:59
Speaker 3: I want to say they just came men, but you know,
10:02
Speaker 3: they gave a proposal. And they've tried to get an
10:05
Speaker 3: arena in other parts of the city too, you know,
10:08
Speaker 3: on the waterfront Pennsilandan area, but that was turned down.
10:12
Speaker 3: But then again it was caveat because that would have
10:15
Speaker 3: required taxpayer dollars. So when they decided that, well, first
10:20
Speaker 3: of all, you had to go back to the Fashion district,
10:23
Speaker 3: which is the former Gallery mall, and you know those
10:26
Speaker 3: of us at a certain age. You know, everybody has
10:29
Speaker 3: a mall in their town, on their city and everything.
10:32
Speaker 3: And as a lifelong Philadelphia and the Gallery was really
10:35
Speaker 3: an urban oasis for me, especially you know, going through
10:38
Speaker 3: high school and everything. You know, it was the place
10:41
Speaker 3: to go, It was a place to hang out. It
10:43
Speaker 3: was kind of a fortress for you know, urban teenagers.
10:46
Speaker 3: But you know, malls are not what they used to be,
10:49
Speaker 3: and it fell on hard times and then they decided
10:52
Speaker 3: to new owners came in and they decided to reimagine
10:57
Speaker 3: or reshift. And if you're you know in the city,
11:00
Speaker 3: in the city, we call gentrifying, right So, and there
11:04
Speaker 3: was also a lot of other new development, new condos,
11:07
Speaker 3: new apartments in center city Philadelphia. So their thought was, okay,
11:12
Speaker 3: we'll have these people shop here. But also too, another
11:16
Speaker 3: important thing is the site of them all, which will
11:19
Speaker 3: be the site of the arena. There's a big thoroughfare,
11:23
Speaker 3: Jefferson Station, where the regional rail trains which run out
11:27
Speaker 3: to in and out of the Philadelphia suburbs, is right
11:31
Speaker 3: under the arena. But also the Markt Frankfurt L which
11:34
Speaker 3: is our main train in Philadelphia, which goes through Market
11:39
Speaker 3: Street and then through Northeast Philly and a lot of
11:42
Speaker 3: urban people take those trains. Also the trolleys as well,
11:46
Speaker 3: which is a block or two away. So there's a
11:48
Speaker 3: lot going on there and those are the main people
11:51
Speaker 3: who shop there, not the new people who came into
11:55
Speaker 3: the city who never came in. And that's where we
11:58
Speaker 3: are now. Okay, the all ailing, it's changed hands a
12:01
Speaker 3: couple of times, and now the Sixers come in. But
12:04
Speaker 3: back to answer your question with the city, Uh, you know,
12:08
Speaker 3: I listened to council President Kenyatta Johnson the other day
12:13
Speaker 3: and he pretty much summed it up and said, Okay,
12:15
Speaker 3: the Sixers are financing this privately one point three hundred
12:20
Speaker 3: one point five billion dollars and he pretty much said,
12:22
Speaker 3: we're full. We would be fools if we not take
12:25
Speaker 3: this deal because there is no taxpayer money that's going
12:31
Speaker 3: to come out from building this arena. But then if
12:34
Speaker 3: you talk about the infrastructure.
12:36
Speaker 1: I was just gonna infrastructure intructure will be some taxpayer
12:40
Speaker 1: money being spent with regard.
12:41
Speaker 3: To probably from the from from the Feds, but from
12:45
Speaker 3: the city standpoint, I thought, Uh, Mayor Cheryl Parker, City Council,
12:50
Speaker 3: I think they did their job for economics. They did
12:54
Speaker 3: have a couple of promises in there. We all know
12:56
Speaker 3: how promises can go. And know I'm very sensitive to
13:01
Speaker 3: Chinatown and again that's that's part of our urban culture
13:04
Speaker 3: too as well, whether you decide to eat there, whether
13:09
Speaker 3: you decide to you know, just shop and all that.
13:13
Speaker 3: That's a big part of our last two here in Philadelphia.
13:16
Speaker 3: But I do think through all the noise, I thought
13:21
Speaker 3: Chinatown wasn't necessarily best represented and they probably should have
13:26
Speaker 3: asked for more or demanded more besides money. I think
13:30
Speaker 3: it should have probably been more promises as far as
13:34
Speaker 3: the upkeep and the the the upkeep and also the
13:40
Speaker 3: development of Chinatown for for their best interest.
13:45
Speaker 2: It really surprised me really quick with that.
13:47
Speaker 1: It really surprised me, oh j And I'm forgetting off
13:49
Speaker 1: the top of my head the name of the Chinatown
13:52
Speaker 1: Community group that's really been at the forefront. I'm figuring
13:54
Speaker 1: it right on C like a CDC exactly. But it
13:58
Speaker 1: really surprised me that they didn't have a little more
14:00
Speaker 1: pool in terms of not having necessarily a city based
14:05
Speaker 1: spokesperson for them to really and I'm not talking about
14:08
Speaker 1: City of Philadelphia government, but whether it's a well known
14:12
Speaker 1: attorney or a well known community activist within the city
14:15
Speaker 1: of Philadelphia. There are many and many that probably would
14:18
Speaker 1: have taken up the cause. It kind of surprised me
14:20
Speaker 1: that they didn't have the pr mechanisms behind the scenes
14:24
Speaker 1: applied with regard to this.
14:26
Speaker 2: Yeah.
14:26
Speaker 3: Yeah, And they could have came to the table with
14:28
Speaker 3: the mayor, you know, even with the Sixers themselves, and
14:32
Speaker 3: have meetings, one on one meetings with them and say hey,
14:36
Speaker 3: this is what we need yep. And there was just
14:39
Speaker 3: so much of just no, no, no, And for me,
14:43
Speaker 3: I thought the Sixers arena was decided when Sharyl Parker
14:47
Speaker 3: became mayor because there were I actually covered the mayor's
14:51
Speaker 3: race for the Tribune and there were a dozen candidates
14:54
Speaker 3: who are running for mayor and a couple of them
14:55
Speaker 3: were against the arena. And you know, sharel Parker, she's
14:58
Speaker 3: pro union, she's pro jabs and again getting back into
15:02
Speaker 3: the political spectrum, the building Trades Union, which is very
15:05
Speaker 3: being in Philadelphia just like other cities. You know, they
15:08
Speaker 3: helped get her elected. So you know how those promises
15:11
Speaker 3: go back out scratch yours. So we knew that. But
15:16
Speaker 3: just from that standpoint too, again, I think the city
15:20
Speaker 3: did what they had to do to get this arena build.
15:24
Speaker 3: But on the other side, I thought Chinatown may have
15:28
Speaker 3: missed out as far as you know, like you said,
15:32
Speaker 3: having a bigger advocate for them that really knows how
15:36
Speaker 3: the city works and really knows how the politics work
15:39
Speaker 3: and all. And also that part that stretched that stretch
15:43
Speaker 3: of market eese in Philadelphia. It really needs some upkeep
15:46
Speaker 3: because if the arena wasn't going to be built, what
15:50
Speaker 3: was the alternative? And from a city standpoint, I don't
15:54
Speaker 3: think anybody came up with a better alternative than what
15:58
Speaker 3: their arena would be. And also so too from a
16:01
Speaker 3: you know, we can google all sports business and everything
16:04
Speaker 3: with other cities and whatnot. Uh, as far as the
16:09
Speaker 3: Abrena is concerned, you never want to be that politician.
16:14
Speaker 3: You never want to be that mayor that loses a
16:16
Speaker 3: team to another municipality exactly exactly.
16:21
Speaker 1: Look, and while this proposal I don't think is going
16:24
Speaker 1: to be exactly like like Capital One Arena down in Washington,
16:28
Speaker 1: like that's that is in Chinatown, like that is in
16:31
Speaker 1: Chinatown down in Washington, And that.
16:33
Speaker 3: Was a worry, But it's a little different dynamic.
16:36
Speaker 1: Yes, absolutely, it absolutely is, and some folks were trying
16:39
Speaker 1: to make that correlation, which I don't necessarily think that
16:42
Speaker 1: holds up quite frankly, and you know, as moving along
16:45
Speaker 1: with the discussion here, I mean Josh Harris's company, like
16:48
Speaker 1: all companies, they paint a very rosy picture of how
16:51
Speaker 1: great this is going to be for the community and
16:53
Speaker 1: the city. Again, as somebody who's been a public official,
16:56
Speaker 1: I've been part of those hearings, part of those meetings
16:58
Speaker 1: where the rosy picture is painted for you, and sometimes
17:02
Speaker 1: you know, there's some other things at play on the
17:04
Speaker 1: side that may not necessarily deem it as rosy as
17:07
Speaker 1: they are are painting it. I'm wondering, OJ, are there
17:11
Speaker 1: certain aspects of this arena plan that Apollo Global Management
17:15
Speaker 1: has laid out that you really think are complete bs
17:20
Speaker 1: or that you think are valid arguments in favor of
17:23
Speaker 1: the project.
17:25
Speaker 3: Well, again, it's just so much to unpack, right, Yeah,
17:28
Speaker 3: And you know, let's not fool ourselves there. You know,
17:30
Speaker 3: they they want to they want the arena because you know,
17:33
Speaker 3: it is a economic boost for them. It's going to
17:39
Speaker 3: expand the value at a Philolfa seventy six ers by
17:42
Speaker 3: probably twice as much, by the time it gets built
17:46
Speaker 3: and everything. But you know, on the other hand, to
17:50
Speaker 3: they do have a right to want their own place
17:53
Speaker 3: the Wells Fargo Center. They've done a tremendous job of
17:56
Speaker 3: these past two three years and grew the pandemic by
17:59
Speaker 3: the way of renovating the arena because it needed it.
18:04
Speaker 3: It was built in nineteen ninety six, and we see
18:06
Speaker 3: across the NBA we've seen maybe two maybe three arenas
18:10
Speaker 3: been built since the nineteen nineties for NBA teams. Right,
18:13
Speaker 3: but they've done a tremendous job. I have a great
18:16
Speaker 3: relationship with the people who run their arena and the
18:19
Speaker 3: Flyers as Comcast Spectacre and it really looks like night
18:23
Speaker 3: and day when you go there for a Flyers, Flyers game,
18:26
Speaker 3: Sixers game, or even a concert. But you know, the
18:29
Speaker 3: six just quite frankly, the six Ers they did no
18:32
Speaker 3: longer want to be tenants and they're the only, uh,
18:37
Speaker 3: they're the only franchise of the Major four or if
18:40
Speaker 3: even include the Union who play out in Chester who
18:43
Speaker 3: don't have their own arena. And from that standpoint, they
18:47
Speaker 3: have a right to do that. Now, everything else comes
18:50
Speaker 3: to that, you know, comes is subjective and up for criticism.
18:55
Speaker 3: And all, and I think the arena can work in
18:58
Speaker 3: Center City. I'm not as worried about traffic as much
19:01
Speaker 3: as other people are because it's really not that much
19:05
Speaker 3: traffic after six pm, uh in that part is Center City.
19:09
Speaker 1: I heard something like, you know, you know they're per game,
19:12
Speaker 1: it'll probably be about three thousand extra cars, which yes,
19:15
Speaker 1: I mean that does kind of sound a lot. But
19:17
Speaker 1: when you're talking about parking garages, in terms of the
19:20
Speaker 1: research I've done on this too, only about half the
19:23
Speaker 1: parking garages within that area there are full at any
19:26
Speaker 1: given time.
19:27
Speaker 3: So then well, again, most of the market eset is desolate,
19:31
Speaker 3: and you know, there's not a lot of shops there.
19:35
Speaker 3: A lot of retailers have moved out. You see that
19:37
Speaker 3: everything is really going from to direct to consumer from
19:42
Speaker 3: a retail standpoint, and it's hard to keep tennis and malls.
19:45
Speaker 3: You know, rent rent is high too, so there's a
19:48
Speaker 3: lot of factors there. I do think the Sixers should,
19:53
Speaker 3: you know, consider still having things in the arena. There's
19:58
Speaker 3: a movie theater currently there. There's that does well. There's
20:02
Speaker 3: a bowling alley and entertainment facilityator that does well. City Winery.
20:07
Speaker 3: Those things that do well, so that's one of the
20:10
Speaker 3: promises that we should over the Sixers too. But going
20:13
Speaker 3: back to my original point, the infrastructure is what worries
20:18
Speaker 3: me because uh Governor Jos Shapiro just had to bail
20:22
Speaker 3: out accept the South Eastern Transportation Authority. Uh to you know,
20:28
Speaker 3: try to, you know, till that feel that deficit, that
20:32
Speaker 3: that gap that I know a lot of transit companies
20:34
Speaker 3: across the country you have to deal with. So I
20:38
Speaker 3: think that a man that can work, but you know
20:40
Speaker 3: it's not gonna be without without his challenges. And again,
20:44
Speaker 3: you know, they have a right to want their own place.
20:48
Speaker 3: And going back to Wells Fargo Center, as much as
20:50
Speaker 3: I like it and everything, and I've had basketball experts
20:53
Speaker 3: talked to me and said, Okay, Wells Fargo Center was
20:56
Speaker 3: it's really not made for basketball. It's really a hockey
21:00
Speaker 3: leen and it's and it's a great hockey lene, but
21:03
Speaker 3: it's really not made for basketball. But I and I
21:05
Speaker 3: actually see why the Sixers want to want to move
21:08
Speaker 3: out besides the money.
21:10
Speaker 2: Absolutely absolutely.
21:11
Speaker 1: Well look, I mean to kind of piggyback off this
21:14
Speaker 1: last topic here, and something you know I've given a
21:16
Speaker 1: lot of thought to over the years, again, as somebody
21:18
Speaker 1: who's been a public official and you have redevelopment projects
21:20
Speaker 1: that are in front of you, you have to vote
21:22
Speaker 1: on various infrastructure based stuff. You know, you wish that
21:26
Speaker 1: more folks in general would be able to be honed
21:29
Speaker 1: in on on.
21:30
Speaker 2: The actual details of a project. I know that's impossible
21:33
Speaker 2: in this day and age.
21:34
Speaker 3: It was so much information that was a problem.
21:38
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, there really was.
21:40
Speaker 1: And like I was hoping to kind of get into,
21:42
Speaker 1: you know, the pros and cons of this. And again,
21:44
Speaker 1: I'm gonna throw this out real quick because I read
21:47
Speaker 1: in a survey eighty one percent of Sixers fans have
21:50
Speaker 1: said they'd like it if Apollo Global Management Group, Josh
21:53
Speaker 1: Eris's corporation would simply invest the one point five billion
21:56
Speaker 1: dollars at the Wells Fargo Center and or a new
21:58
Speaker 1: arena at the Aren't Sports Complex. Now, I kind of say,
22:03
Speaker 1: I don't know about that necessarily, but that's eighty one
22:06
Speaker 1: percent of people who were surveyed. Now I don't know
22:09
Speaker 1: who was surveyed, and for you know, they didn't go
22:11
Speaker 1: into detail in the article that I read. But again,
22:14
Speaker 1: I generally don't care for these type of surveys since
22:16
Speaker 1: folks again usually don't keep up with the sheer details in.
22:19
Speaker 3: More not necessarily a ten games.
22:21
Speaker 2: Exactly there you go.
22:23
Speaker 1: I mean, so, like this all being said here, how
22:25
Speaker 1: are you looking at the a rental project when it
22:27
Speaker 1: really does come to the pros and cons for this
22:29
Speaker 1: area of the city. I think based on our conversation
22:31
Speaker 1: so far, I seem to think you're maybe going in the.
22:35
Speaker 2: Pro area of this. But you know, what are your
22:39
Speaker 2: thoughts here?
22:40
Speaker 3: Yeah, And as a journalist, of course, I try to
22:42
Speaker 3: stay as mutual as possible for and I'm also still
22:45
Speaker 3: a Philadelphia and you know, a city tax payer as well.
22:48
Speaker 3: So but again I look at the whole overall aspect
22:53
Speaker 3: of it. I think it can work, but it has
22:56
Speaker 3: to be done right. It's kind of what I said,
22:58
Speaker 3: And as far as it's uh, the south of the
23:00
Speaker 3: Piladelphia Sports Complex like for me first of all as
23:05
Speaker 3: a fan and as a journalist. For me, I think
23:08
Speaker 3: the sports complex was a Greek concept when they first
23:12
Speaker 3: thought about it in the late nineteen sixties and into
23:15
Speaker 3: the seventies and everything everything is one place in one place.
23:18
Speaker 3: But also you have to understand too, you know, people
23:22
Speaker 3: who take public transportation, they all have to rely on
23:25
Speaker 3: the broad Street line. But you have to remember when
23:29
Speaker 3: the Spectrum was built nineteen sixty seven and event was
23:32
Speaker 3: built in nineteen seventy one, the broad Street Subway did
23:36
Speaker 3: not reach the complex until nineteen seventy three. That's two
23:39
Speaker 3: years later. So it's not like you know, everybody you
23:43
Speaker 3: know could just get there. Public transportation that had its
23:46
Speaker 3: own issues too, and they were still building, you know,
23:48
Speaker 3: I ninety five. You know they're still built nine ninety five,
23:51
Speaker 3: you know, fifty years later. Yes, there's always construction and everything, right, So,
23:57
Speaker 3: and you know, people have this misconception and that you know,
24:01
Speaker 3: it's it's a it's a traffic paradise, what's complex, and
24:05
Speaker 3: it's not right. And you know, when I go down
24:07
Speaker 3: there to cover any of the teams, I offer take
24:10
Speaker 3: the subway because I still live in the city and
24:14
Speaker 3: you know it's it's it's a traffic nightmare getting home
24:16
Speaker 3: and everything. But I said, okay, most times, I, you know,
24:19
Speaker 3: on a Sunday afternoon, I'm going to the Eagles game,
24:21
Speaker 3: also just take the subway. You know, being amongst the
24:24
Speaker 3: fans and everything. You know, it's convenient. I get it.
24:28
Speaker 3: You know, you're offering the ninety five. You're also you're
24:31
Speaker 3: also near the South Jersey bridges and and everything. But
24:35
Speaker 3: again it is in the city, so it's very easy
24:38
Speaker 3: for suburban Knights. It's very easy for people who live
24:42
Speaker 3: in South Jersey to say, oh, no, we want it
24:43
Speaker 3: in South Philadelphia. You know, it's great for us. And
24:47
Speaker 3: mind you too, Jeff, A lot of journalists don't want
24:49
Speaker 3: the arena downtown either, because you know, they want to
24:52
Speaker 3: get back on you know, Iron ninety five and get
24:54
Speaker 3: back to Bucks County and everything wherever they live. I
24:57
Speaker 3: get it in all and everything, and just going back
25:00
Speaker 3: from a sixth a standpoint, I mean, if you look
25:02
Speaker 3: at the entire NBA, it makes sense. And I know
25:05
Speaker 3: people don't care about the NBA and Silver what have you,
25:09
Speaker 3: but you know, other than Chicago and then Semi Boston,
25:13
Speaker 3: Sixers are the only team that don't have a downtown arena.
25:16
Speaker 3: So yeah, you know, that's that's another way to look
25:18
Speaker 3: at it as well. And some people say, oh, yeah,
25:20
Speaker 3: you haven't won a championship, you know, win some games
25:24
Speaker 3: and everything, and then we'll talk about in the arena. Right.
25:26
Speaker 3: The only thing I say to that is, look at
25:29
Speaker 3: the Kansas City Chiefs. They won what three of the
25:31
Speaker 3: last five Super Bowls? Yes, what are they asking the
25:34
Speaker 3: city to do, build them a new stadium?
25:36
Speaker 1: Yep, yep, exactly taxpayer funds, exactly exactly.
25:40
Speaker 3: So I mean, you know, so winning really doesn't you know,
25:43
Speaker 3: give you the mulligan of saying, okay, and now we'll
25:46
Speaker 3: build your stadium in the city. They're saying, oh yeah,
25:49
Speaker 3: here's your reward for all your Super Bowls. There is
25:51
Speaker 3: a new arrowhead.
25:53
Speaker 1: And with with some taxpayer money too, you know, with
25:56
Speaker 1: some taxpayer money probably it's usually how it goes with
25:59
Speaker 1: these things.
25:59
Speaker 3: So well, look at Vegas now real quick, Jeff, look
26:03
Speaker 3: at Vegas. You know what taxpayers have had to fit
26:06
Speaker 3: the bill for the Raiders stadium. Yes, and now incoming
26:10
Speaker 3: is the athletics. So we suppose in the next what
26:13
Speaker 3: three or five years, you know, look at how that
26:17
Speaker 3: ballpark is now ballooning, you know, well over you know,
26:20
Speaker 3: a billion dollars. So yeah, you know, it's really a
26:23
Speaker 3: catch twenty two and again the Sixers are paying for this.
26:27
Speaker 3: We look at the infrastructure. But you know, it's like
26:30
Speaker 3: you said, it's important that everybody has the facts before
26:34
Speaker 3: they form their pain.
26:35
Speaker 1: Absolutely, I love that I do. And again, folks, we're
26:38
Speaker 1: talking OJ Spivey from the Philadelphia Tribune. He is an
26:41
Speaker 1: award winning journalists and columnist. Great great work over at
26:45
Speaker 1: the Philly Tribune. Find him on all social media just
26:47
Speaker 1: about all social media platforms at OJ Spivey and give
26:51
Speaker 1: him a follow. And as we start wrapping up this
26:55
Speaker 1: discussion here, I think at the end of the day, Oj,
26:58
Speaker 1: you know, the city government, community organ is, Asians, Sixers management,
27:02
Speaker 1: they only need to work together to help ensure that
27:04
Speaker 1: there's a positive momentum here for the community. Should this
27:09
Speaker 1: arena be built right outside of Chinatown? And I know
27:12
Speaker 1: maybe Pie and the Sky. Thinking here at this point
27:16
Speaker 1: of us recording this right here, at the end of
27:17
Speaker 1: twenty twenty four, what are the chances that this project
27:21
Speaker 1: can and will come together and really truly benefit everybody involved.
27:27
Speaker 3: Well, you know, I don't want to go on record
27:29
Speaker 3: saying it's going to benefit Yeah, it's it's going to
27:32
Speaker 3: benefit the Sixers, perst and foremost and everything again as
27:36
Speaker 3: they got the i's and cross the t's. Of course,
27:40
Speaker 3: the legislation you know, has been passed by city Council,
27:44
Speaker 3: which the mayor will sign, which she proposed. You know,
27:47
Speaker 3: you just hope at the end of the day that
27:49
Speaker 3: as many people can benefit as possible as Sixers have
27:52
Speaker 3: also promised. And they've already worked with minority businesses since
27:57
Speaker 3: the pandemic and everything to keep them aflu so that's
28:00
Speaker 3: a positive or maybe now you know, I don't know
28:02
Speaker 3: if that was a setup for them, but you know,
28:04
Speaker 3: I've I've written about that as well. So the Sixers
28:07
Speaker 3: have put their money where their mouth is in that aspect.
28:10
Speaker 3: So you know, that's kind of how I'm leaning towards, bro,
28:14
Speaker 3: because I have seen them in action, you know, actual
28:18
Speaker 3: you know, small businesses who you know, had to suffer
28:21
Speaker 3: through the pandemic and now they're still thriving. So but again,
28:26
Speaker 3: you know, you just hope that as they finish, you know,
28:30
Speaker 3: gotten the eyes across some teams that will benefit as
28:32
Speaker 3: many people as possible, especially Chinatown.
28:35
Speaker 2: Yeah.
28:35
Speaker 1: Absolutely, all right, But well, buddy, before I let you go,
28:38
Speaker 1: I got to talk about the Sixer season really quick,
28:41
Speaker 1: really quick. Uh God, it's been rough as a podcaster
28:46
Speaker 1: covering this team.
28:47
Speaker 3: Ye season for sure.
28:49
Speaker 1: I mean, do you think this year's Sixer season is
28:52
Speaker 1: lost at this point or do you think there's still
28:55
Speaker 1: a fighting chance that they could give us fans really
28:57
Speaker 1: something to look forward to.
29:00
Speaker 3: The only way I can say that they have a shot.
29:04
Speaker 3: And I'm just saying just playoffs period, because the East
29:07
Speaker 3: is so mediocre. You know, I think as we speak,
29:12
Speaker 3: they're only what two games and a half out of
29:16
Speaker 3: you know, the playing spots, you know, the you know,
29:18
Speaker 3: the seven or eight seed, right or even you know
29:21
Speaker 3: now you only have to get to the ninth or
29:23
Speaker 3: tim seed to you know, be eligible for postseason play. So,
29:27
Speaker 3: I mean, they're as bad as things have been, They've
29:30
Speaker 3: never been out of it. But you know, it looks
29:33
Speaker 3: like EMBD is not as injured as as we think.
29:36
Speaker 3: You know, they're going to continue to monitor things. I'm
29:39
Speaker 3: glad that Paul George is playing. You know. The bummer
29:43
Speaker 3: is you know, losing McCain. You know, we don't know
29:45
Speaker 3: if he's going to be back this season because I thought,
29:50
Speaker 3: you know, even in the games that and B doesn't play,
29:52
Speaker 3: you have George, you have an action, you have McCain
29:55
Speaker 3: to kind of hang your hat on. And also but
29:59
Speaker 3: you know, I I think there's still a chance today compete.
30:01
Speaker 3: And but again it's all with and be it South,
30:03
Speaker 3: which it is. You know, he's had the worst luck ever.
30:06
Speaker 3: As you know, you can maybe even think back to
30:09
Speaker 3: Bill Walton perhaps.
30:11
Speaker 1: Yeah, you're absolutely correct. If he stays healthy, this team
30:14
Speaker 1: definitely has a chance to make it into the postseason
30:17
Speaker 1: for sure. So again, folks. O. J. Spivey from the
30:21
Speaker 1: Philadelphia Tribune. Buddy, it was great talking to you. Thanks
30:24
Speaker 1: so much for jumping on to talk about this here
30:26
Speaker 1: during the holiday time. Wish you and yours the best
30:29
Speaker 1: and come back and join us down the road. I'd
30:30
Speaker 1: love to have you back on.
30:31
Speaker 3: The show anytime. Jeff, Thank you so much, and again
30:34
Speaker 3: happy holidays to you. On you verus.
30:36
Speaker 1: That's going to do it for us here on Table
30:38
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30:41
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30:44
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31:07
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