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97-592: The Wells Fargo Center, originally called Spectrum II , was completed in 1996 to replace the Spectrum as the home arena of the 76ers and Flyers, on the former site of John F. Kennedy Stadium at a cost of $ 210 million, largely privately financed (though the city and state helped to pay for the local infrastructure ). It is owned by Comcast Spectacor , which also owns the Flyers, and is operated by its arena-management subsidiary, Global Spectrum. Since opening, it has been known by

194-478: A $ 265 million "Transformation 2020" initiative. It debuted a new kinetic 4K-resolution scoreboard in September 2019 also by ANC Sports , which features two main arrays of outside displays that can expand outwards to a width of 62 feet (19 m), and two 65 foot (20 m) "crown" panels that can be raised and lowered as part of sequences. The arena also unveiled a new premium area for selected ticketholders known as

291-452: A basic channel." By September 1997, CSN had secured cable coverage reaching approximately 1.5 million households (or 60% of the network's regional territory). Williams promised that the network would carry more local programming than other regional sports networks, with an estimated seven to eight hours of live sports, and various news and discussion programs (including a four-hour morning sports news program, and news and interview program in

388-506: A concert titled "Last Call". Tickets were as low as $ 6.00. The remaining members of the Grateful Dead ; including Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann performed their final set of shows at the Spectrum on May 1 and 2, 2009; the show of May 2 was their 54th consecutive sell-out at the Spectrum. The Dead closed the show of May 2 with the song " Samson and Delilah ". The song contains

485-535: A controlling 75% interest), and the Philadelphia Phillies (which owns the remaining 25%). It is the flagship owned-and-operated outlet of NBC Sports Regional Networks . The channel broadcasts regional coverage of professional sports teams in the Philadelphia metropolitan area, as well as college sports events and original sports-related news, discussion and entertainment programming. NBC Sports Philadelphia

582-414: A crowd of 20,907. On August 1, 2006, Comcast Spectacor announced it would install a new center-hung scoreboard to replace the original one made by Daktronics . The new scoreboard, manufactured by ANC Sports , is similar to other scoreboards in new NBA & NHL arenas. An additional linear LED display lining the entire arena was also installed between the suite and mezzanine levels. Other renovations for

679-477: A deal with the Phillies, giving the new network rights to most of their Major League Baseball games. The deal strained relations between Rainbow and Comcast Spectacor somewhat; Rainbow offered a lower bid for the Flyers telecast rights during negotiations for a one-year extension of its contract. Disagreements between the Flyers and Rainbow Media over the amount the team would receive for the 1996–97 season contract led

776-468: A nice building!'" Scheinfeld also said that a seat in the city's first superbox initially cost $ 1,000 a year: "For every Flyers game, Sixers game, circus, you name it, you got 250 events for $ 1,000." The Flyers won their first ever home game in this arena by defeating the Pittsburgh Penguins , 1–0. Bill Sutherland scored the arena's first goal. On March 1, 1968, wind blew part of the covering off

873-485: A number of different names through naming rights deals and bank mergers, including CoreStates Center from 1996 to 1998, First Union Center from 1998 to 2003, and Wachovia Center from 2003 to 2010. Since 2010, naming rights have been held by financial services company Wells Fargo , after their acquisition of Wachovia. CoreStates Financial Corporation was acquired by First Union , which later also purchased Wachovia National Bank to rename itself Wachovia Corporation ;

970-492: A per subscriber rate of $ 1.50 a month (representatives for Comcast Spectacor stated the rate was closer to the range of $ 1.20 to $ 1.35) to participating cable providers, described as "one of the most expensive – if not the most expensive" basic cable channel in the United States (a distinction that was eventually assumed by the nationally distributed ESPN ); SportsChannel Philadelphia, by comparison, charged providers that carried

1067-661: A pre-season basketball game between the Philadelphia 76ers and Guangzhou Loong Lions . Spectrum (arena) The Spectrum (later known as CoreStates Spectrum , First Union Spectrum and Wachovia Spectrum ) was an indoor arena in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania . The arena opened in September 1967 as part of what is now known as the South Philadelphia Sports Complex . After several expansions of its seating capacity , it accommodated 18,168 for basketball and 17,380 for ice hockey , arena football , indoor soccer , and box lacrosse . The final event at

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1164-553: A prism) was launched by Spectacor, carrying home games of the Flyers and 76ers (as well as the Phillies); PRISM's technical and studio operations were based out of the event level of the Spectrum (though PRISM's administrative offices were instead located in Bala Cynwyd ). PRISM's successor, NBC Sports Philadelphia , is based out of the present-day Wells Fargo Center in a similar arrangement. A plaque inside The Spectrum stated that it held

1261-590: A replacement for PRISM. However, days before it was set to be added, the NBA issued a cease and desist order against Comcast, blocking the distribution of Philadelphia 76ers games in Middlesex County; this was despite the fact that the league allowed New York Knicks and New Jersey Nets games televised by MSG Network and Fox Sports New York to be shown on both Comcast and TKR (now Cablevision) in Mercer County , which

1358-628: A score of 104–101 in the final NBA game in the Spectrum. The game was sold-out and attendance was 17,563. The Phantoms' last regular season game at the Spectrum was played April 10, 2009, against the Hershey Bears , as the Phantoms won the game, 5–2, while the last Kixx game was against the Massachusetts Twisters on March 22. The Kixx moved onto the Temple University campus and played

1455-645: A sellout crowd of 17,380 on June 10, 1998, by defeating the Saint John Flames , 6–1. The only visitors to win the Stanley Cup and NBA championship at the Spectrum were the Montreal Canadiens (1976) and the Los Angeles Lakers (1980) respectively. The Spectrum is the only venue to host the NBA and NHL All-Star Games in the same season, doing so in 1976, when it also hosted that year's Final Four . It

1552-508: A specially-written version of the song "Wrecking Ball" , which he had written in honor of the demolition of Giants Stadium , with revised lyrics to honor the Spectrum. A scheduled concert with Leonard Cohen on October 22 was moved to the Tower Theatre in Upper Darby , instead. On October 23, 2009, Philadelphia area musicians The Hooters , Todd Rundgren and Hall & Oates headlined

1649-467: A sports network of its own, displacing both existing networks from Comcast and other cable providers in Southeastern Pennsylvania (Comcast, however, had reached a ten-year agreement with Rainbow to continue carriage of PRISM and SportsChannel, as well as the company's other networks in the fall of 1995); buy the existing networks; or reach a complex deal with Rainbow to have both networks retain

1746-490: A statement defending the move, stating that it was "about competition" and that Comcast SportsNet could help cable television "distinguish itself from satellite rivals." Waz also accused DirecTV of unfairness in wanting to "profit" from carrying the channel despite having "invested zero in improving the quality of programming available to greater Philadelphia". On January 20, 2010, the FCC Board of Commissioners voted 4-1 to close

1843-421: Is also one of a handful of venues to host the Stanley Cup and NBA Finals at the same time, doing so in 1980 (all four major Philadelphia teams would reach the championship round of their respective sport in 1980). The Spectrum was used for many basketball tournaments, including Big Five games, eight Atlantic 10 Conference tournaments (1977, 1983, 1997–2002), the 1975, 1980 and 1992 NCAA East Regional (site of

1940-518: Is available on cable and fiber optic television providers throughout the Delaware Valley region, which includes southeastern Pennsylvania , southern New Jersey , and most of Delaware . The network is also available on IPTV providers in those areas as well as throughout the entire state of Pennsylvania. The network maintains main studios and offices located inside the Wells Fargo Center in

2037-543: Is designed to provide a "first-class experience at an accessible price point"; the arena's cheapest tickets will feature access to the level. In addition, hanging from the rafters of the Wells Fargo Center are three banners in the orange and black colors of the Flyers honoring Pearl Jam's 10, Billy Joel's 48 Philadelphia sellouts and Bruce Springsteen 's 56 Philadelphia sellouts respectively. In October 2019, center staff removed fans shouting "Free Hong Kong" at

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2134-580: Is distributed only via microwave and fiber optic relays. Comcast inherited the terrestrial infrastructure that it uses to transmit the network from PRISM at the time that network shut down. Since NBC Sports Philadelphia did not uplink its signal to any communications satellites , Comcast was able to avoid a regulation outlined by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) that requires most television channels to be offered to direct broadcast satellite providers; this loophole , known as

2231-880: Is part of the Philadelphia market. Comcast opted not to carry CSN Philadelphia, unwilling to distribute the network if it had to black out 76ers game telecasts. Despite this, NBC Sports Philadelphia is carried by Comcast Xfinity and Verizon FiOS in Ocean County (within their New York service areas), Cablevision in Monmouth County (within its Allentown service area), Comcast in Lambertville and by Service Electric in Phillipsburg, New Jersey . Phillies games were previously unavailable through MLB Extra Innings on major satellite providers. MLB Extra Innings began transmitting

2328-467: The 1997 season , leaving them both open to enter negotiations with Comcast Spectacor. After short-lived discussions between Rainbow Media and Comcast about the latter possibly becoming a part-owner in PRISM and SportsChannel Philadelphia, on April 25, 1996, Comcast Spectacor formally announced plans to create a new Philadelphia-centric sports network, which would carry both the Flyers and Sixers; it also signed

2425-454: The 2000 Republican National Convention and 2016 Democratic National Convention . The arena is a regular venue for concerts and WWE events. The arena has a concert seating capacity of 21,000 seated and at least 21,500 standing. Prior to its construction, the proposed arena was tentatively called "Spectrum II". The Wells Fargo Center was originally named for CoreStates Financial Corporation , which agreed to pay $ 40 million over 21 years for

2522-582: The Atlantic 10 Conference , the Ivy League , and the Coastal Athletic Association . Beginning in 2022, NBC Sports Philadelphia broadcasts college football and men's and women's college basketball home games for Monmouth University . Until Comcast SportsNet discontinued its relationship with its competing RSN in September 2012, the network also carried collegiate sports events from Conference USA ,

2619-594: The Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena .) The statue was removed several times over the years to be used in the filming of sequels to the original film. In September 2006, it was given a new home in an area near the base of the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art not far from where a spot on the plaza at the top of the Museum's steps where it had appeared in the film Rocky III . Since the statue

2716-634: The Pac-12 Conference and the Big 12 Conference , as well as primetime Major League Baseball games on Thursdays distributed by Fox Sports Networks. Talk Eagles NBC Sports Philadelphia Plus is a full-time channel that also serves as an overflow network in case two local games are scheduled to air simultaneously on NBC Sports Philadelphia. The network was previously known as the Comcast Network . Unlike most other cable networks, NBC Sports Philadelphia

2813-834: The Philadelphia KiXX from 1998 until the National Professional Soccer League folded in 2001; as well as National Lacrosse League games featuring the Philadelphia Wings until that team relocated to Uncasville, Connecticut as the New England Black Wolves in 2014. NBC Sports Philadelphia also maintains the television rights to the Philadelphia Big 5 , carrying select games of the annual Big 5 Classic tournament. It also broadcasts numerous men's and women's college sporting events sanctioned by

2910-651: The Philadelphia Union until 2023, when the entire league switched to MLS Season Pass for all regular season match broadcasts. The network also served as the broadcaster for American Hockey League games involving the Philadelphia Phantoms (an affiliate team of the Flyers) until the team relocated to Glens Falls, New York as the Adirondack Phantoms in 2009. It also carried indoor soccer matches involving

3007-520: The South Philadelphia Sports Complex . The network traces its history to March 19, 1996, when Comcast acquired a 66 percent stake in Spectacor , the parent company of the Philadelphia Flyers , The Spectrum and the then-recently completed CoreStates Center , for $ 240 million and the assumption of a collective $ 170 million in debt. Ed Snider , the previous majority owner of Spectacor, stayed on as

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3104-627: The U.S. took on Czechoslovakia and the USSR . Ten NHL or NBA playoff championship series were hosted at the Spectrum. The Flyers competed in the Stanley Cup Finals in 1974 , 1975 , 1976 , 1980 , 1985 , and 1987 . The 76ers played in the NBA Finals in 1977 , 1980 , 1982 , and 1983 . The 1976 and 1992 NHL , and 1970 and 1976 NBA All-Star Games were also held here. The AHL Phantoms also won their first Calder Cup title on Spectrum ice before

3201-653: The U.S. Navy Yard bounded by 10th Street, Packer Ave., 23rd Street, and Terminal Avenue. The Spectrum itself occupied the portion of the Exposition's grounds on the south side of Pattison Avenue between Broad and 11th Streets that in 1926 served as the fair's main trolley terminal operated by the Philadelphia Rapid Transit Company . For its first 25 years, the Spectrum overlooked the 102,000-seat John F. Kennedy Stadium , known prior to 1964 as "Municipal Stadium", located roughly 600 feet (180 m) south of

3298-639: The Xfinity Live! project, the first portion of which opened in April 2012, at the southwest corner of 11th Street and Pattison Avenue. A statue of Sylvester Stallone , depicted in his role of Philadelphia boxer Rocky Balboa , stood for many years in front of the main Pattison Avenue entrance of the Spectrum, which had been represented in the movie as the site of Rocky's first and second fights with Apollo Creed . (The fight sequences were actually filmed at

3395-608: The pre-game ceremony were Lou Angotti , Ed Van Impe , Bob Clarke , Mel Bridgman , Bill Barber , Dave Poulin , Ron Sutter , Kevin Dineen , Éric Desjardins , Keith Primeau and Derian Hatcher . The last NCAA basketball game the Spectrum hosted saw the Villanova Wildcats defeat the Pittsburgh Panthers on January 28, 2009. The Sixers played one regular season game against Chicago Bulls on March 13, 2009, winning by

3492-590: The "Center City Club", and—as part of a partnership with Rivers Casino Philadelphia —two sportsbook lounges open to all visitors, which will feature a bar and seating areas, televisions and odds boards, and Rivers Casino ambassadors promoting use of the casino's sports betting app . The arena also announced the New City Terrace, a revamp of the standing room deck into a 23,000 square foot (2,100 m) "Assembly Room" (inspired by Independence Hall ), with bars and eateries, fireplaces, and communal areas. The area

3589-472: The "CoreStates Center" (1996–1998), the "First Union Center" (1998–2003), and the "Wachovia Center" (July 2003 – June 2010), the 20,000-plus-seat indoor arena replaced the Spectrum as the home of the Flyers, 76ers, and Philadelphia Wings of the National Lacrosse League beginning with each club's 1996–97 season. With the demolition of the Spectrum, the Wells Fargo Center has now become the oldest of

3686-518: The "terrestrial exception" loophole. Lawyers for DirecTV and Dish Network had attempted to show that Comcast, the dominant cable provider in the Philadelphia market, acted in restraint of trade by not uplinking Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia to satellite. Comcast did not appeal the decision, allowing DirecTV and Dish to immediately enter into carriage negotiations to add the network. Both providers formally asked permission from Comcast to carry CSN Philadelphia on June 25, 2010. One month later on July 28, it

3783-501: The "terrestrial exception", was implemented by the FCC in 1992 to encourage investments in local programming by cable providers. As a result of its limited availability, satellite providers DirecTV , Dish Network and the now-defunct PrimeStar experienced a far slower rate of subscriber penetration into the Philadelphia market compared to other American cities. Craig Moffett, a senior analyst with Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. L.L.C., estimated

3880-470: The 1960s. In the 1970s, Electric Factory Concerts became the prominent concert promoter for the facility. Philadelphia soul groups that performed at the Spectrum include LaBelle in '71 and Hall & Oates in '83. The O'Jays (they were signed to Philadelphia International ) performed there in '73, and Lou Rawls (also signed to Philly International) performed there in '69. Boyz II Men from Philly performed there in '95. Guns N' Roses performed at

3977-697: The 2009–10 season at the Liacouras Center . The Phantoms were sold to a Pittsburgh-based ownership group, and moved to Glens Falls, New York , for the 2009–10 season, and subsequently moved to Allentown , where they became the Flyers-affiliated Lehigh Valley Phantoms . "With this season being the final season of the Wachovia Spectrum, we will celebrate the history of the Spectrum with an exciting, year-long, celebration of events," Comcast Spectacor President Peter Luukko said. Phish

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4074-565: The CSN Philadelphia feed for some games beginning in 2007 on both cable and satellite; the out-of-market sports package began showing both feeds of most games in 2008, at which time all of Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia's Phillies telecasts became available to all subscribers. In 2010, Phillies telecasts produced by CSN Philadelphia for MyNetworkTV affiliate WPHL-TV (channel 17) were also broadcast on Extra Innings. Due to blackout restrictions imposed by Major League Baseball, residents within

4171-486: The Eagles moved to Lincoln Financial Field , a purpose-built football/soccer stadium located SE of the Spectrum site directly across 11th Street from the Wells Fargo Center. The following year, the Phillies relocated to Citizens Bank Park , a dedicated baseball stadium completed in 2004 and located diagonally across from the Spectrum site at the northeast corner of Pattison Ave and Citizens Bank Way (11th St.), immediately east of

4268-694: The Flyers and 76ers moved across the parking lot to the new and larger Wells Fargo Center (then CoreStates Center), the arena remained in place and was used by the Philadelphia Phantoms of the AHL , the Philadelphia KiXX of the NISL , the Philadelphia Soul of the Arena Football League for Saturday home games, and a variety of other sporting events and concerts. The Spectrum had relatively few luxury suites or other amenities common in newer arenas. Additionally,

4365-524: The Flyers played a day game against the Los Angeles Kings during a blizzard. A piece of flying debris smashed out one of the concourse windows, cancelling the game just after the first period. In the 1970s, the venue's location near Broad Street and the reputation for fisticuffs that the Flyers had developed led to the nickname "Broad Street Bullies". In 1976, the local pay television service PRISM (so-named in part as you could see "the spectrum" via

4462-425: The Flyers to announce plans in late September that it would assume production responsibilities for its home game broadcasts and sell the local rights to its game telecasts to individual cable providers as a backup plan if deal did not come to fruition. Rainbow and Comcast Spectacor finally reached a one-year, $ 5 million contract extension to keep its locally televised games on PRISM and SportsChannel on October 4, 1996,

4559-591: The NBA's Philadelphia 76ers, NHL's Philadelphia Flyers, and the Philadelphia Phillies of Major League Baseball. In addition to live game telecasts, the network carries pre-game and post-game shows under the Pregame Live and Postgame Live banners that bookend 76ers ( Sixers Pregame Live and Sixers Postgame Live ), Phillies ( Phillies Pregame Live and Phillies Postgame Live ), Flyers ( Flyers Pregame Live and Flyers Postgame Live ) telecasts. Since 2010,

4656-500: The PA announcer for 76ers games. Jim Bachman is the PA announcer for Villanova basketball games. Vinnie Caligiuri was the PA announcer for the Philadelphia Soul during their tenure. Kevin Casey handled PA duties for the original Philadelphia Wings during their tenure. Marc Farzetta is the PA announcer for the current Philadelphia Wings . Wells Fargo Center continued further renovations as part of

4753-952: The Philadelphia Spectrum on August 4, 1988; August 5, 1988; June 13, 1991; December 16, 1991; and December 17, 1991. The Spectrum Theater was a venue for acts not big enough to fill the entire Spectrum arena. The stage was placed in the middle of the Spectrum floor, and the other half of the arena behind the stage was closed off with curtains, creating a theater-like environment. Some of the acts that played in this configuration included Frank Zappa in 1973, 1976 and 1977; David Bowie's Diamond Dogs Tour in 1974; The Kinks ' Soap Opera Tour in May 1975, Bob Marley 's Natty Dread Tour in 1975 and Kaya Tour in 1978; Bruce Springsteen in 1976; The Bee Gees in 1979; Peter Gabriel 's tour in 1982; Howard Jones in 1985 and Julian Lennon with Chris Bliss on June 20, 1986. The 1995–96 NHL and NBA seasons were

4850-849: The Philadelphia area, the eastern half of Pennsylvania and most of New Jersey and Delaware cannot view these games via the MLB Extra Innings package. Because of the network's distribution exclusively in the Delaware Valley , ESPN must reach agreements with ABC owned-and-operated station WPVI-TV (channel 6) – owned by ESPN's majority owner The Walt Disney Company – to provide the network recordings of any sporting events involving teams whose game broadcasts are shown on NBC Sports Philadelphia to include in highlight packages seen on Sportscenter , NBA Fastbreak and Baseball Tonight . These highlight excerpts were originally distributed in 480i standard definition until 2012, when CSN began distributing to ESPN (via WPVI) in 720p high definition. As

4947-723: The Philadelphia area. The Flyers hurriedly moved their next home game against the Oakland Seals to Madison Square Garden in New York followed by a meeting with the Boston Bruins played at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto before establishing a base at Le Colisée in Quebec City , home of their top minor league team, the AHL Quebec Aces , for the remainder of their regular season, marking

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5044-467: The South end of Broad Street since 1926. The complex's total area expanded with the addition of each new facility and now takes up the entire southeast quadrant of the grounds occupied in 1926 by Philadelphia's Sesqui-Centennial International Exposition , a massive 184-day World's fair built on 700+ acres of until then largely undeveloped city-owned swamp and park land, including League Island Park adjacent to

5141-516: The Spectrum was a Pearl Jam concert on October 31, 2009. The arena was demolished between November 2010 and May 2011. Opened as the Spectrum in September 1967, Philadelphia's first modern indoor sports arena was built to be the home of the expansion Philadelphia Flyers of the NHL , and also to accommodate the existing Philadelphia 76ers of the NBA . The building was the second major sports facility built at

5238-423: The Spectrum would be shuttered and torn down to make way for Philly Live! , a proposed retail, dining and entertainment hub. "This has been one of the hardest decisions I've ever had to make," said Snider. "The Spectrum is my baby. It's one of the greatest things that has ever happened to me." The Phantoms commemorated the final season of the Spectrum by wearing a special patch on their uniforms, as illustrated on

5335-554: The Spectrum's roof during a performance of the Ice Capades , forcing the building to close for a month while Mayor Tate fought with then-Philadelphia County District Attorney Arlen Specter over responsibility for the construction of the roof, and the damage was repaired. The 76ers moved their home games to Convention Hall and to the Palestra , but neither of those arenas had ice rinks at the time, and there were no other NHL-quality sites in

5432-399: The Wachovia Center's ten-year anniversary included upgrading the suites with more flat screen HDTV's, as well as changing ticket providers from Ticketmaster to New Era Tickets , which is owned by Comcast Spectacor. The public address (PA) announcer at the Wells Fargo Center for Flyers games is Lou Nolan , who moved with the team from the Spectrum, where he worked since 1972. Matt Cord is

5529-568: The arena was an October 17, 1967 boxing match featuring Joe Frazier vs. Tony Doyle. From 1967 through 1972, fifteen fight cards were held at the Spectrum. The NBA's 76ers also moved there from Convention Hall as a second major league sports tenant. Lou Scheinfeld, former President of the Spectrum, explained that the name "Spectrum" was selected to evoke the broad range of events to be held there: "The 'SP' for 'sports' and ' South Philadelphia ', 'E' for 'entertainment', 'C' for 'circuses', 'T' for 'theatricals', 'R' for 'recreation', and 'UM' as 'um, what

5626-471: The arena when it first opened in 1996. The Wells Fargo Center officially seats 20,318 for NBA and NCAA basketball and 19,541 for NHL hockey and indoor NLL lacrosse. With additional standing-room admissions available in luxury and club-box suites, the total paid capacity increases. The Wells Fargo Center has 126 luxury suites, 1,880 club-box seats, and a variety of restaurants and clubs (both public and private) available for use by patrons. In addition,

5723-423: The arena's sight lines were cited as a concern. Some seats in both the hockey and basketball configurations (especially those added in the upper level over the years) had badly obstructed views. There was only one concourse for all three levels, making for somewhat cramped conditions whenever attendance was anywhere near capacity. On July 14, 2008, Comcast Spectacor Chairman Ed Snider officially announced that

5820-420: The athletes who made the building famous such as Hockey Hall of Famers Bernie Parent and Bob Clarke of the Flyers and Hall of Famer Julius Erving of the 76ers, was held in the adjacent parking lot "H" on November 23, 2010, to formally begin its external demolition. However, unlike Veterans Stadium, its one-time neighbor, which had been located immediately across Pattison Avenue from the Spectrum before it

5917-403: The broadcast rights to the 76ers and Flyers. Within days of the purchase, Comcast indicated that it was considering launching a new regional sports network, and approached the Philadelphia Phillies about entering into a broadcast deal. PRISM and SportsChannel Philadelphia's joint contract to carry most of the Flyers' NHL games was set to end that fall, while the Phillies' contract ended after

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6014-443: The combined company was acquired by Wells Fargo in 2008. In addition to hosting home games for its main tenants, the arena has been the site of a number of other notable athletic events including games of the 1997 and 2010 Stanley Cup Finals , three games of the 2001 NBA Finals , and various collegiate events for the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Wells Fargo Center has hosted two political conventions, hosting

6111-421: The complex's three current venues. The Spectrum's closest sports complex neighbor was Veterans Stadium (opened 1971, closed 2003, demolished 2004), which was located north of the arena directly across Pattison Avenue. The 60,000-plus-seat "Vet" accommodated MLB 's Philadelphia Phillies and the NFL 's Philadelphia Eagles for just over three decades before it was itself replaced by two new facilities. In 2003

6208-494: The day before its season home opener. On July 21, 1997, Comcast acquired the local television rights to broadcast the 76ers' NBA games on the new Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia , with the team choosing to opt out of its contract with PRISM and SportsChannel that was set to run until the 1999–2000 season . After much uncertainty, which included plans for PRISM and SportsChannel to become affiliates of Fox Sports Net (after News Corporation and Liberty Media purchased 40% of

6305-409: The exception of SportsNet Central . In September 2012, Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia and its sister Comcast SportsNet outlets ceased carrying Fox Sports Networks-supplied programming, after failing to reach an agreement to continue carrying FSN's nationally distributed programs. On January 2, 2014, as part of an agreement reached on a 25-year broadcasting contract with the team (with the network paying

6402-460: The famous last-second shot by Christian Laettner of Duke to beat Kentucky ), and the 1976 and 1981 Final Fours (both won by Bob Knight 's Indiana Hoosiers ). Smaller conferences preferred holding tournament games at this venue over the larger Center nearby. In 2003 and 2004, the PBR brought their Built Ford Tough Series tour to the Spectrum. Many concerts were staged at the Spectrum, often praised for its acoustic properties, beginning in

6499-411: The final ones for the Flyers and the 76ers at the Spectrum. The 76ers' last game was a 112–92 loss to the Orlando Magic on April 19; on May 12, Eric Lindros scored the arena's final Flyers goal in the 2nd period, and Mike Hough of the Florida Panthers scored the arena's final official NHL goal in the 2nd overtime of Game 5 of the 1996 Eastern Conference semifinals , a 2–1 Flyers loss. Although both

6596-421: The first NHL games in Quebec City in over four decades, and years before the Quebec Nordiques joined the NHL. The roof was repaired in time to permit the Flyers to return to the Spectrum to open their first Stanley Cup playoffs against the St. Louis Blues on April 4, 1968; the opening faceoff came just as the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. was transpiring in Memphis, Tennessee . Similarly, in 1993,

6693-493: The fitting refrain "If I had my way, I would tear this old building down." The lyric was changed by the band's singer Bob Weir to say "I wouldn't tear this old building down." With the demolition of The Spectrum, all venues at which The Grateful Dead played through their career within the City of Philadelphia, except for the Irvine Auditorium, have succumbed to the wrecking ball. On October 27, 28, 30, and 31, American rock band Pearl Jam played over one hundred unique songs across

6790-401: The floor. (Reportedly, 76ers CEO Scott O'Neil's first idea was to color it with clear-coat paint only visible with UV blacklighting showing the logo during the opening of Sixers games when the arena lights were drawn down; however, the team, after discussion with their lawyers, elected not to do so.) With the start of the new year in January 2016 with input from Comcast Spectacor, the logo decal

6887-401: The former Veterans Stadium site which now serves as a parking lot for the entire complex. In 2017, the Phillies' spring training complex in Clearwater, Florida was renamed Spectrum Field after Bright House Networks was purchased by Charter Communications . While named for Charter's residential service, the name invoked memories of the Spectrum arena. Another NBA arena ( Spectrum Center ,

6984-497: The four days. On the final night, the band played 34 songs over nearly four hours before ending with their hit " Yellow Ledbetter ". Opened in 1967 as the first of the five modern facilities to be built at the South Philadelphia Sports Complex between 1967 and 2004, by the time it closed in 2009 the Spectrum was the oldest of the four venues still standing of the two indoor arenas and four outdoor stadiums built at

7081-545: The home of the Charlotte Hornets ) currently includes "Spectrum" in its name, although again it refers to the Charter residential service whose naming rights are attached to that building. Although the Spectrum formally closed on October 31, 2009, demolition of the structure did not begin for more than a year with internal work commencing on November 8, 2010. Two weeks later a public "wrecking ball ceremony" attended by some of

7178-552: The indoor arena. Opened on April 15, 1926, the stadium was also the Sesqui-Centennial Exposition's only intentionally permanent facility. The site of 42 Army–Navy Games between 1936 and 1979, JFK Stadium eventually fell into disuse in favor of the newer nearby Veterans Stadium, was condemned in 1989, and demolished in 1992 to make way for the Wells Fargo Center which opened four years later in August 1996. Known earlier as

7275-472: The installation of the new Wells Fargo Center signage. Work was completed in September 2010. During the 2015–16 NBA season for a short time, the 76ers ceased recognizing Wells Fargo's naming rights and referred to the facility exclusively as "The Center", as the institution was not a sponsor of the team. The Wells Fargo Center logo decal which sat on the 76ers court was in the most minimal text discernible by television cameras, colored in white to blend in with

7372-581: The late afternoon). Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia launched on October 1, 1997, replacing SportsChannel Philadelphia on local cable systems within the Philadelphia metropolitan area; with the launch, Comcast SportsNet became the Philadelphia affiliate of Fox Sports Net. Comcast expanded the Comcast SportsNet brand to other markets over the next several years, through the purchases of Fox Sports regional networks in San Francisco and Boston as well as

7469-440: The launches of new channels in markets such as Chicago , Houston and northern California . With Comcast's acquisition of NBCUniversal in 2011, Comcast SportsNet was also integrated into the new NBC Sports Group unit, culminating with the addition of the peacock logo and an updated graphics package to mirror that of its parent network. The updated graphics were implemented on CSN's live game coverage and all studio shows, with

7566-484: The managing partner and chairman of the renamed Comcast Spectacor. On the day the deal closed, Comcast Spectacor immediately purchased a 66% interest in the Philadelphia 76ers . Immediately after the purchase was announced, speculation arose as to whether Comcast would let at least some of Spectacor's television contracts with premium cable network PRISM and existing regional sports network SportsChannel Philadelphia (both owned by Rainbow Media ) run out, and create

7663-524: The most important and emotional hockey game—or sporting event of any kind—ever held there, however, came at the height of the Cold War on January 11, 1976, when the Flyers became the first NHL team to defeat (by 4–1) the vaunted hockey team of the Soviet Central Red Army (ЦСКА). [1] Two games in the inaugural Canada Cup hockey tournament were also held at the Spectrum in September of that year, as

7760-492: The naming rights, with additional terms to be settled later for an additional eight-year period at the end of the contract. The contract went through multiple hands due to various bank mergers; first by First Union in 1998, Wachovia in 2003, and currently by Wells Fargo since July 2010. Installation of the new Wells Fargo Center branding began on July 27, 2010, with the removal of the Wachovia Center signage, followed by

7857-475: The network between 25¢ and 35¢ a month per subscriber. The company's demand that CSN Philadelphia be offered as a basic cable service resulted in complaints by some local providers (including Wade Cable, Lower Bucks Cablevision and Harron Communications) because of the higher per subscriber rate; however, Jack Williams, who was appointed as the original president of CSN Philadelphia, said that the company would "not accept any arrangement other than running SportsNet as

7954-550: The network has also produced the Phillies' Opening Day game and other select Phillies regular season games for NBC- owned-and-operated sister station WCAU (channel 10). Although it does not hold the regional rights to NFL games involving the Philadelphia Eagles , the network produces pre-game and post-game shows before and after every Eagles game ( Eagles Pregame Live and Eagles Postgame Live ). The network formerly broadcast select Major League Soccer matches involving

8051-533: The network. However, on December 4, 2006, Comcast reached a deal with Verizon FiOS to carry CSN Philadelphia on its systems in eastern Pennsylvania, Delaware and southern New Jersey . In 1998, Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia almost became available in Comcast's New York City service area on systems in southern Middlesex County (in the municipalities of Plainsboro , South Brunswick , Monroe , Cranbury , Jamesburg , Helmetta , Spotswood and East Brunswick ), as

8148-489: The number of potential customers lost due to the loophole at 450,000. This issue resulted in DirecTV filing an FCC complaint against Comcast on September 23, 1997, claiming that it used unfair monopolistic control to keep CSN Philadelphia from being made available via satellite (in contrast, DirecTV had carried SportsChannel Philadelphia prior to its shutdown). Three days later on September 26, Comcast spokesperson Joe Waz issued

8245-519: The offices, studios, and production facilities of NBC Sports Philadelphia are all located in the facility. On June 10, 2005, the Wachovia Center set a record for the highest attendance for an indoor hockey game in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania (20,103) when the Philadelphia Phantoms won Game 4 of the 2005 Calder Cup Finals over the Chicago Wolves to win the Calder Cup . The attendance record

8342-495: The right. The team also celebrated some of the building's memorable moments throughout the season. The Flyers marked the last season by playing two pre-season games at the Spectrum. They played the Carolina Hurricanes in an NHL pre-season game on September 27, 2008, and the Phantoms on October 7 of that same year. Before the game against Carolina, the Flyers honored the team captains in the franchise's history. Those honored in

8439-582: The south end of Broad Street in an area previously known as East League Island Park and now referred to simply as the South Philadelphia Sports Complex . Ground was broken on the arena on June 1, 1966, by Jerry Wolman and then-Philadelphia Mayor James Tate as the home of the NHL's expansion Philadelphia Flyers . The first event at the arena was the Quaker City Jazz Festival on September 30, 1967, produced by Larry Magid. The first sporting event at

8536-469: The sports assets owned by Rainbow parent Cablevision on June 30, 1997 ), Comcast then reached agreements with Liberty and Rainbow Media to replace PRISM with the Liberty-owned premium movie channel Starz! (which at the time, was starting to expand its carriage outside of systems operated by its then co-owner Tele-Communications, Inc. ). Reports indicated that Comcast SportsNet initially would charge

8633-550: The team $ 100 million in rights fees each season through 2041, totaling around $ 2.5 billion), the Philadelphia Phillies acquired a 25% equity stake in Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia. Comcast rebranded the network as NBC Sports Philadelphia on October 2, 2017, as part of a larger rebranding of the Comcast SportsNet networks under the NBC Sports brand. NBC Sports Philadelphia holds the regional television rights to

8730-507: The top and a four-sided American Sign and Indicator scoreboard at the bottom. Inside the videoscreens were General Electric projectors located 15 feet (4.6 m) away from each screen. The Flyers won their first Stanley Cup at the Spectrum on May 19, 1974, defeating the Boston Bruins , 1–0, in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals in front of a then-capacity crowd of 17,007. Perhaps

8827-578: The world record for the fastest conversion from Hockey to Basketball. The Spectrum, along with the Met Center and The Forum , was one of the first sports arenas to have a scoreboard with a messageboard. Furthermore, the messageboards on the Spectrum scoreboard were the first dot matrix screens in pro hockey or basketball, capable of photos, animation, and replays as well as messages. This was replaced in 1986 with ArenaVision, which consisted of six 9-by-12-foot (2.7 by 3.7 m) rear-projection videoscreens at

8924-520: Was broken on June 9, 2010, as the Wachovia Center set another attendance record of 20,327 for Game 6 of the 2010 Stanley Cup Finals ; the Flyers lost to the Chicago Blackhawks in overtime, which gave Chicago its first Stanley Cup since 1961 . The Wells Fargo Center also set a record for the highest attendances for a college basketball game in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania on January 29, 2017, when Villanova played and defeated Virginia before

9021-423: Was enlarged and repainted in black. The 76ers then signed a non-signage sponsorship agreement with Firstrust Bank as their official banking sponsor. On July 24, 2024, Wells Fargo announced that it would not renew its naming rights deal with Comcast Spectacor, the owner of the arena, once it expires in August 2025, ending a 29-year relationship that dates back to one of company's predecessors, CoreStates , sponsoring

9118-422: Was imploded on March 21, 2004, the almost half-year process of demolishing the then-44-year-old arena, done without the use of explosives, was completed in May 2011. This was done to protect its other sports facilities from dust. Water was used to prevent dust from spreading. A 300-room hotel is planned to eventually be built on the demolished Spectrum's site, which is now occupied by a parking lot, as an adjunct to

9215-516: Was not deemed "art," it was moved around the corner of the museum on Kelly Drive. Other statues that stood in the arena area included: The statues have been incorporated into the design of Xfinity Live! . NBC Sports Philadelphia NBC Sports Philadelphia is an American regional sports network owned by the NBC Sports Group unit of NBCUniversal , which in turn is owned by locally based cable television provider Comcast (and owns

9312-814: Was reported that Comcast had entered into discussions with DirecTV and Dish Network for carriage of CSN Philadelphia. Two days later, after accusing Comcast of refusing to negotiate in good faith , Dish Network stated it would file a complaint with the FCC. The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia upheld the FCC's original ruling on June 10, 2011. Despite this ruling, Comcast has yet to offer CSN Philadelphia on competing satellite providers. Partly due to this, satellite penetration remains far lower in Philadelphia than in other major cities. Cable providers other than Comcast within NBC Sports Philadelphia's designated market territory do have access to

9409-437: Was rumored to be among the acts to commemorate the closing of the arena. "It is our hope and intent to bring back many of the musical acts and entertainers who have made the Spectrum 'America's Showplace. ' " Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band played two shows at The Spectrum on April 28 and 29 as part of their Working on a Dream Tour , and returned on October 13–14 and 19–20 for their Spectrum swan song. Springsteen debuted

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