Philadelphia Arena To Get New Name After Wells Fargo Decision

Ever since the arena opened in 1996, Philadelphia Sports Fans have seen the building that hosts Sixers Basketball and Flyers Hockey change names over the years.

Built on the site of the former John F. Kennedy Stadium, the building first called Spectrum II opened in 1996 to replace the old Spectrum Arena. The building is owned by Comcast Spectacor, the corporation that also owns the Philadelphia Flyers.

For two years, the building's name was CoreStates Center until First Union acquired Corestates. From 1998 to 2003, the arena was called the First Union Center until that financial institution was purchased by Wachovia National Bank.

The building was renamed the Wachovia Center from 2003 to 2010 which coincided with some years of mediocre play by the Sixers and Flyers. When the area was call First Union Center, the Flyers reached the Stanley Cup Finals and Sixers reached the NBA Finals. Some Philadelphia Sports fans viewed Wachovia as an "unlucky" name for the arena.

When Wachovia Corporation was acquired by Wells Fargo, the arena was renamed the Wells Fargo Center in 2010. Even though the Sixers and Flyers teams' success has only moderately improved in the last 14 years, Philadelphia Sports Fans have been overall happy with "The Center" and the upgrades in recent years to the facilities.

So What Is The Future of Wells Fargo and Philadelphia Sports?

Bloomberg News was the first to report that Wells Fargo and Company has decided to let their current agreement for name sponsorship expire next year. The financial institution released the following statement:

“Wells Fargo regularly reviews and adjusts our overall sponsorship strategy - As such, we have made the business decision not to renew the naming rights contract to Wells Fargo Center.”

This is not the first sponsorship that Wells Fargo has decided to discontinue spending money on. The company decided to not renew its sponsorship agreement with the PGA Tour last year and remove the company name from an office tower in Jacksonville, Florida.

Despite the Philadelphia 76ers' plans to build their own arena and no longer play games at "The Center" by 2031, the decision by Wells Fargo to end their sponsorship with the arena appears to not be related to the 76ers' future with the building.

The cost of name sponsorship for an arena has a median value of hundreds of millions. In 2021, Crypto obtained the arena naming rights from the Los Angeles Lakers for the former Staples Center for $700 million. The Philadelphia Flyers and their ownership corporation, Comcast Spectacor, will likely be looking to obtain a similar number for their next arena sponsorship.

I am curious to see if a local corporation or national institution will be the next sponsor for the building formerly known as Spectrum II. Independence Blue Cross (IBX) has been a Flyers sponsor for decades while Wawa is one of the most recognizable companies in the Philadelphia Region. Meanwhile, Johnson and Johnson, an international company, have their headquarters in New Jersey.

Could a new name for the arena be symbolic of a new era for Philadelphia Sports? The Flyers are rebuilding and trending toward becoming a perennial playoff contender. The 76ers have not gotten past the second round of the NBA Playoffs since the building was called the First Union Center.

Speaking of the Flyers' original area, The Spectrum, here is a list of the biggest sporting events played at that legendary Philadelphia arena: