Category philly live

“Philly Live!” is now “Xfinity Live!”

 
Some of you may look at this as bad news now that the “Philly” name has been dropped from this project’s moniker. Personally, I look at it as positive news for the project.

Why? Because now it has the financial backing of the US’ largest cable company, Comcast. It also means that the entire project first imagined will now have a better chance of being built at some point, hotel and all.

As hard as it may be to visualize this project’s significance, just know that it’s a big deal. It creates a whole new, year-round retail environment for the South Philadelphia Sports Complex, it keeps momentum going for South Philadelphia’s neighborhoods (adding much needed commercial real estate), it will feed off of the emerging Navy Yard, and it will add another tourist attraction for Philadelphia.

My guess is that with the stalled economy, Comcast was probably pulled in to really make “Xfinity” Live! all it could be; another Philadelphia venue that markets our local brands and businesses.

Welcome to Philly Live!

If you have not already been a witness to all of the hype about Philly Live!, then I’m not quite sure where you have been lately.

Philly Live! is the brainchild of Baltimore based The Cordish Companies; it’s also the reason why the Spectrum was demolished. The goal is to have a modern dining, shopping, and entertainment complex on site for probably the single biggest concentration of sports facilities in the entire country. Although Philadelphia missed the boat on constructing one of our newer stadiums in Center City (due mostly to politics and neighborhood opposition), they did capitalize on something that some of us locals take for granted. All of our beloved sports teams are located in the same area, South Philadelphia.

Although I personally see this as something we can capitalize on, others see it as a nuisance. “Man, I wish Citizens Bank Park was located downtown,” or “Why is there nothing to walk to around our sports stadiums like in Boston or Chicago?” Well, this problem should be solved in a mild way once Philly Live! opens. Now there will be a few different options to hit up before a game that do not involve McFadden’s or tailgating (although I do love those 2 options), and it will be within walking distance of all the sports facilities.

The city’s next step should be renaming our solemn sports mecca. To me, “South Philadelphia Sports Complex” just doesn’t cut it in our city of neighborhoods. How about:

  • South Philly Square
  • Southville
  • Pattison Park

I have others if anyone wants them.