By John George – Senior Reporter, Philadelphia Business Journal
Sep 25, 2019, 6:57pm EDT Updated 11 hours ago
Comcast Spectacor and the Cordish Cos. officially broke ground Wednesday afternoon on the $50 million Fusion Arena, a project the organizations expect will serve as a “global destination” for esports events on the East Coast.
Don’t expect the name of the 3,500-seat arena to be the same when in opens in January 2021.
Dave Scott, CEO of Comcast Spectacor, told the Philadelphia Businesses Journal the company is in discussions with multiple businesses about acquiring the naming rights for the 65,000-square-foot venue.
The plan is for the arena, being built next to the Xfinity Live! complex across the parking lot from the Wells Fargo Center, is to serve as more than just the home of the Comcast Spectacor-owned Philadelphia Fusion of the Overwatch League, Scott said.
“We are going to have concerts and family shows and not just amateur esports events,” he said. “We already have something like 100 dates set.”
Mayor Jim Kenney, who was among the guests for the groundbreaking ceremony, said he expects the arena will also host international esports events.
“Philadelphia is already known for its innovate ways to bring people together and the Fusion Arena will do just that,” he said.
Blake Cordish, a principal of the Baltimore-based Cordish Cos., noted the arena will be the “first of its kind venue” for esports in the Western Hemisphere. “It’s a pretty special project,” Cordish said. “We see it as the second chapter in a much larger book.”
Cordish and Comcast Spectacor already teamed up to create the Xfinity Live! dining and entertainment complex and are jointly building an office tower along Pattison Avenue in the stadium complex area. Cordish is also developing a casino — Live! Hotel and Casino Philadelphia — in the South Philadelphia Sports Complex at a site of formerly occupied in part by a Holiday Inn.
Blake Cordish said the projects are creating thousands of temporary construction jobs and will lead to thousands of permanent jobs in Philadelphia. The arena’s developers estimate the project will generate $1 million in economic benefits to the city and state in its first year of operation.
Among the features of the Fusion arena is a 6,000-square-foot public area with 2,000 square feet of interactive media surfaces hovering 30 feet above the ground surface level. Another 10,000 square feet will be used as the Xfinity Training Center, a broadcast studio and team offices. The arena will also have two balcony bars, club suites with USB ports, flexible loge boxes and private suites.
Architectural firm Populous of Kansas City, Missouri, was hired to design the arena, which Tucker Roberts, president of Spectacor Gaming and the Philadelphia Fusion, said will be “first class for esports and entertainment as well.”
This Sunday, the Wells Fargo Center in South Philadelphia will host the Overwatch League’s Grand Finals. The event is sold out.
