Xfinity Mobile Arena: Three Decades Of Entertaining Philly Fans

Thirty years ago, Michael Sulkes was an awe-struck kid at the ribbon cutting of what is now Xfinity Mobile Arena in South Philadelphia. Today he’s the equally enthralled SVP and GM of the venue.

“It’s really celebrating all the memories people have had here over the last 30 years. That’s what makes this place special,” says Sulkes of the arena’s 30^th anniversary. “It’s not the brick and mortar that that make this place special. It’s what happens on the court, on the ice, on the stage, and the fans coming in and making lifelong memories with their friends and their families. And you know, I have my own.”

Sulkes keeps his ticket and a commemorative coin from the grand opening on his desk.

“I was actually at the first event, the World Cup of Hockey, on Aug. 31, 1996,” recalls Sulkes. “I was 10 years old. Being a hockey player, it was pretty amazing to be here to see Team USA vs. Team Canada at the first event here at the building.”

Sulkes attended with his brother and dad, concert and venue industry veteran Neil Sulkes. His favorite player – Flyers legend John LeClair – scored the opening goal.

“It was incredible, and to be sitting in the chair I am now, 30 years later, it’s still surreal,” adds Sulkes. “That’s what makes this arena special. That’s what makes facilities like ours special, and we’re going to celebrate that a variety of ways – at the arena and on social media, connecting with our fans and bringing back a lot of those memories throughout the decades.”

The 20,000+ capacity arena opened as CoreStates Center, replacing the Spectrum as the principal indoor sports and entertainment venue in South Philadelphia. Home to the NBA Philadelphia 76ers and NHL Flyers, it quickly became one of the city’s major concert stops with appearances by The Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen & E Street Band, Elton John, Paul McCartney, Metallica, U2 and Billy Joel.

“This really goes back to the vision of Ed Snider and creating a spot not just for the Philadelphia Flyers and the Philadelphia 76ers, but a cultural epicenter for the city,” offers Sulkes, who began his Comcast Spectacor career as a Flyers’ intern. “And having a culture here that is welcoming. We like to say, ‘We welcome our fans that come in the front door and the ones that come in the back door.’ And what we mean by that is it’s not just creating a great environment for the fans that come here to watch the events. It’s creating a great environment for the folks that come in the back door, the athletes, the performers and the folks that work with them.”

With two major league teams and a full slate of concerts and family events, the arena stays busy.

“If people want to come see it and want to buy tickets to it, we want to host it,” offers Sulkes. “Recently, we’ve really expanded the diversity of events that we’ve done. We’ve always had a very diverse calendar, but we are doing a lot more Latin music than we used to. We hosted our first K-pop show this past year with TWICE. We’re really leaning into the combat sports, which are having a big moment right now. Really, we want to do it all.”

On Jan. 30, Unrivaled, the 3-on-3 women’s basketball league, made history in Philadelphia when it held its first tour stop outside of Miami and set an attendance record at Xfinity Mobile Arena with 21,490 fans – a record for a professional women’s basketball game and the most attended regular-season event ever held at the venue.

“If you want to be the cultural epicenter for the city, you can’t just do hockey and basketball. You can’t just do the standard music,” offers Sulkes. “You have to do all genres of music. You have to do all different types of events.”

Brett Reopell, SVP booking for Comcast Spectacor keeps the plates spinning.

“We talk every single day about the best way to maximize our calendar,” says Sulkes. “A lot goes into it, but really, it’s constant communication. It’s developing those relationships with content providers – that’s key – and having the trust of those content providers that you’re going to do what’s best for their artists and their show.”

The arena has changed names over the decades from CoreStates Center to First Union Center, followed by Wachovia Center and Wells Fargo Center. In May 2025 Comcast Spectacor and Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment announced that the arena would become Xfinity Mobile Arena. The naming-rights agreement runs through the 2030-31 season.

The deal is interesting because Comcast owns Comcast Spectacor, the Flyers and the arena, so the Xfinity Mobile branding reinforces the company’s broader strategy of integrating its technology and connectivity products into the venue experience. One notable technology upgrade is Xfinity Mobile’s Wi-Fi PowerBoost, which Comcast promoted as providing substantially enhanced connectivity inside the arena.

Signage and technology may have changed, but the building has remained an anchor in the South Philadelphia Sports Complex, which also includes Citizens Bank Park (home to the MLB Phillies) and Lincoln Financial Field (home of the NFL Eagles).

Staying in front of industry trends and consumer expectations, the facility wrapped a $400 million, multi-year transformation in 2025. Comcast Spectacor undertook the project to modernize a building and make it more competitive as a sports, concert and premium-entertainment venue.

“It really transformed the experience for everybody,” says Sulkes.

The renovation included improvements to premium clubs and suites; concourse areas; frictionless food and beverage with more offerings; technology (including a custom navigation tool and automated parking); connectivity; video and digital displays; entrances and exterior areas; fan amenities; hi-end locker rooms; event-level spaces; and overall attendee circulation with shorter wait times. The project was essentially completed before the 2025 season, making the arena one of the more extensively upgraded major indoor venues of its generation.

The biggest recent development is that Xfinity Mobile Arena is now a bridge facility.

In January 2025, Comcast Spectacor and Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment (HBSE), which owns the 76ers, formed a 50-50 joint venture to develop and operate a new $1.5 billion multi-purpose arena in South Philadelphia on the former Spectrum Center site that will open in 2030 and become the future home of the Flyers, 76ers and Philadelphia’s new WNBA team.

Turner Construction and AECOM Hunt are construction managers and Populous and Moody Nolan are leading design. The venture also includes Philadelphia-based firms Perryman Construction, Hunter Roberts Construction Group and Camfred Construction.

With a new arena on the horizon, Xfinity Mobile Arena needs to be viewed in the context of a much larger redevelopment of the South Philadelphia Sports Complex.  

Comcast Spectacor and the Phillies (who joined Comcast Spectacor as a development partner in 2024) have been working on a broad $2.5 billion, two-phase transformation of the area. The mixed-use sports and entertainment development includes $15 million upgrades to Stateside Live! (formerly Xfinity Live!), a new mid-sized (5,000-6,000 capacity) concert venue, hotel development, retail, restaurants and an outdoor plaza with expanded pedestrian and public spaces. Phase one is underway and could be completed as early as 2027.

“South Philly has completely transformed in the last 30 years,” Sulkes says. “And it’s really exciting to how South Philly is going to develop over the next 10 years, as well. Thirty years ago, the reputation was South Philly was a parking lot with a few sports venues. That’s not the case anymore. It is growing. …We’re just getting started as far as developing and making sure that this place is better for the next generation.”