“HBSE and Comcast will also immediately focus on Market East, bringing together government officials and local stakeholders to develop a variety of options to revitalize a vital neighborhood in Center City where the 76ers had originally proposed locating the arena,” the release read.

After years of planning and ongoing debate, the planners behind a proposal to bring a Sixers arena to Center City have backtracked. Instead, the team will get a new arena in South Philly, an official claimed.

Less than two weeks into the new year, the Sixers delivered "a curveball that none of us saw coming," Mayor Cherelle Parker said at a press conference Monday. Why it matters: The team's new deal with Comcast Spectacor to build a South Philadelphia arena and entertainment complex shakes up plans to redevelop Market East,