Eagles Legend Reveals Honest Take on Sixers' Arena Situation

Former Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce recently spoke about the 76ers' arena situation.

May 5, 2023; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce encourages the crowd before ringing the bell against the Boston Celtics before game three of the 2023 NBA playoffs at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-Imagn Images / Eric Hartline-Imagn Images

The Philadelphia 76ers’ new arena plans are moving in a positive direction for the team.

After facing backlash for their efforts to move the team to a brand new arena downtown, separating themselves from the South Philly Complex, the Sixers received support from Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker on Wednesday.

Some support the idea—some don’t.

You can count former Philadelphia Eagles offensive lineman Jason Kelce as somebody who prefers the Sixers to stay in South Philly. At the same time, Kelce seems to believe the arena will grow to become beloved over time.

On a morning segment with 94WIP, the Eagles legend revealed his honest take on the arena situation.

“I would prefer it stays in South Philly, unquestionably,” said Kelce. “I’ll say this: When it does get built in Center City, and all of these people are displaced, at the end of the day, people are probably going to love it. In 10 years, all this is going to be different, and we're probably going to be really happy that there's this beautiful complex that was developed down there, and it's a thriving part of the city.”

Of course, Kelce wasn’t in total support of the plans as he thought back to his days as a Cleveland Browns fan.

“Right now I like, I really hate it,” he added. “Part of me is like, I have scars from growing up in Cleveland and watching Art Modell try and strong-arm the city and then move them to Baltimore. And I just, I, I really had a strong disdain for the fact that this guy strong-armed the city by threatening to move them out of the city and all these people that have devoted all their time, all their efforts, all their money, and like a lifetime of fandom towards this team, and now you're going to strong-arm people against what the city wants. I really have a hard time being okay with that.”

To be clear, I would absolutely support the Sixers building their own arena in South Philadelphia. The renting thing isn’t fair to them, I just hate the strong arming of the city to force an inevitable move into an area that the local residents, and vast majority of… https://t.co/jJifC1XWip

— Jason Kelce (@JasonKelce) September 19, 2024

Recently, it was revealed that the Sixers were exploring all options for Plan B if the downtown arena idea officially fell through. That made it known the Sixers were receiving a pitch from Camden, New Jersey, leaving many fans frustrated with the idea that the Sixers could relocate outside of the state.

A hypothetical move to New Jersey gained a bit of steam, but it wasn’t long before the Sixers would learn that they had the support of the Mayor to move forward with their project.

The organization hasn’t reached the finish line just yet, but they are certainly one step closer.