Comcast-Spectacor To Shutter Philadelphia's Spectrum In '09

Comcast-Spectacor Announces That Spectrum Will Be Demolished In '09

Comcast-Spectacor has announced that the 42-year-old Wachovia Spectrum in Philadelphia will close after the '08-09 hockey and soccer seasons. The company has created a Web site to pay tribute to the venue, which formerly housed the 76ers and Flyers and is now home to the AHL Phantoms and MISL Kixx. Comcast-Spectacor is in discussions to relocate the Phantoms, which it also owns, in time for the '09-10 season (Comcast-Spectacor). The AP's Randy Pennell noted the future of the Kixx is "clouded because its league ... shut down in May," and the league is "trying to restart in a new form sometime before" the '08-09 season (AP, 7/15). In Philadelphia, Kerith Gabriel reports the Kixx, as part of the new league, "will play the upcoming season at the Spectrum." Kixx Owner & President Jeff Rotwitt said that the team has considered Temple Univ.'s Liacouras Center and Villanova Univ.'s Pavilion as "new sites starting in the 2009-10 season." Rotwitt said that the "final announcement on the Kixx' new home will be made by Labor Day." Meanwhile, the AFL Philadelphia Soul's lease "requires that they play their games at the Wachovia Complex." But because of 76ers and Flyers games at the Center, some "creative scheduling could be required for Soul home games next season, including the possibility of weekend afternoon games or weekday games" (PHILADELPHIA DAILY NEWS, 7/16).

Luukko (l) Says Flyers Could Return To Spectrum For Preseason Game

PLANNING AHEAD: Comcast-Spectacor President & COO Peter Luukko said that "if the Kixx survive, they could be looking at an abbreviated schedule." Luukko also said Comcast-Spectacor is "looking at the possibility of bringing a preseason [Flyers] game and a regular-season 76ers game to the Spectrum this year, along with many other special surprises." Luukko added that the Phantoms "might play some home games at the Wachovia Center," and "because there aren't enough open dates to accommodate their entire home schedule -- there will be conflicts with the 76ers and Flyers -- they might be forced to play occasionally in another city, perhaps" Atlantic City or Allentown, Pennsylvania. Luukko also "hinted that a concert by Bruce Springsteen ... might bring down the curtain" at the arena. The Spectrum will be demolished to "make way for a proposed hotel, retail and entertainment complex," known as Philly Live (PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, 7/16). Luukko said of the Spectrum's last season, "The idea is to really celebrate the history of the building and to give it its proper send off" (DELAWARE COUNTY TIMES, 7/15).

TIME TO MOVE ON: Comcast-Spectacor Chair Ed Snider: "We're at a point with the Spectrum where a lot of money would have to be put into it, to bring it up to snuff with all of the modern technology. We couldn't justify the investment. It's had its day. ... It's my baby. It's probably the best thing I ever did. Financially, the Spectrum covered us through all the highs and lows so that we could do what we wanted to do." In Philadelphia, Rich Hofmann writes of the closing of the Spectrum, "What is being lost? In a word, intimacy." Hofmann notes the venue held about 17,000 fans for hockey. Luukko: "The tightness of the building, it's kind of funny, is what made it special at the time and what led to us having to build another arena because times change and you need the revenues in today's sports" (PHILADELPHIA DAILY NEWS, 7/16). Also in Philadelphia, Bob Ford writes Comcast-Spectacor officials are "saying the expected things, and meaning them, but they're not going to let memories stand in the way of a potential development bonanza." For its time, the Spectrum "got the job done" (PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, 7/16).