Stadium

Philadelphia Arena: ‘$50 Million, $100 Million, The Whole Thing Is A Sellout!’

December 18, 2024 Joe Piette, Workers World. Resist! China Town, Gentrification, Philadelphia, Solidarity, Stadium

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - For over two years, a growing movement has fought to stop the proposed construction of 76 Place, a basketball arena in Philadelphia that would threaten the existence of Chinatown, the last community of color in Center City. It’s the people against the billionaires. A poll of city residents revealed 70% disapproval of the arena at that location. The struggle is also against the billionaires’ government. There’s the federal government, where billionaires get what they want no matter which party is in office.

Philadelphia: Billionaires’ Mayor Okays Arena

September 25, 2024 Betsey Piette, Workers World. Resist! Chinatown, Displacement, Gentrification, Philadelphia, Stadium

Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker came out strongly in support of billionaire developers on Sept. 18 when she announced that she will present a legislative package to the City Council for approval of a controversial plan by the 76ers basketball team to build an arena in Center City. The pre-recorded announcement, released to select media in a closed-door session, was strongly denounced by protesters with the Save Chinatown Coalition who were gathered outside City Hall. For over two years, thousands of demonstrators have protested the arena they say will do irreparable harm to the city’s historic 150-plus year-old Chinatown.

The People Versus The Billionaires

September 11, 2024 Betsey Piette, Workers' World. Resist! Chinatown, Class Struggle, Gentrification, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Stadium, Worker Rights and Jobs

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - Several thousand people turned out for the Save Chinatown Coalition rally on Sept. 7 to protest the Philadelphia 76ers’ proposal to build a new $1.55 billion arena near Chinatown called “76 Place.” While the National Basketball Association team’s billionaire owners repeatedly say a new arena at 10th and Market streets would provide “economic opportunity for surrounding areas,” community residents, who have been fighting this proposal for over two years, argue that it would be an “existential threat” to this historic Philadelphia neighborhood. The impact studies commissioned by the city, released in late August, support the residents’ arguments.

Voters Reject Stadium Sales Tax To Help Fund New Royals Ballpark

April 3, 2024 Celisa Calacal, Flatland - Kansas City. Resist! Kansas City, Missouri, Stadium, Taxes, Voting

Jackson County voters handed the Kansas City Royals and Chiefs a major setback on Tuesday, rejecting a stadium sales tax extension that would fund a new downtown baseball stadium and renovations at Arrowhead Stadium. Question 1 would have repealed Jackson County’s existing 3/8th-cent sales tax and replaced it with a tax at the same level until 2064. The results mean that the existing sales tax will end in 2031, when the Royals and Chiefs’ leases expire, and can only be used on the existing Truman Sports Complex properties.

Inside The Fight To Save Philly’s Chinatown From A New Arena

January 17, 2024 Justin A. Davis, Waging Nonviolence. Organize! China Town, Gentrification, Philadelphia, Stadium

Since the summer of 2022, the city of Philadelphia has seen a fierce battle over the home of their professional basketball team, the 76ers. Currently located at Wells Fargo Center on Philly’s south side, economic power players have been shopping around a proposal for a new 18,000 seat arena called 76 Place, which would move NBA games to the city’s bustling downtown core (known as Center City). With a billion-dollar price tag, 76 Place represents a partnership between team owners Josh Harris and David Blitzer and real estate mogul David Adelman, who have argued that the arena would create new jobs, raise tax revenue and revitalize a part of downtown that many see as full of untapped potential.

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