PHILADELPHIA — When Tad Brown walked through the 76ers’ section of the Wells Fargo Center last year, he immediately concluded it was “not up to NBA standards.”
The tour confirmed that, as Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment’s new CEO, a significant portion of Brown’s job would be helping shepherd the Sixers to a new home after their lease in South Philly expires in 2031. The Sixers proposed their plans on July 21 — a privately funded, $1.3 billion arena at 10th and Market Streets in the Fashion District of Center City. And though Brown trumpets the venue as a community asset that will revitalize the neighborhood, lure premier events to the city, and improve the fan experience, those who play and coach the basketball inside are also expected beneficiaries of the from-scratch project.
“Not having to look at how you ‘retrofit,’ how you get things to a place where we want them,” Brown told The Inquirer last week, “we get to start and say, ‘This is going to be the best structure for our team, for our players, so we can compete at the highest level and build it out from there.’”
