For nearly 30 years, what’s now known as Xfinity Mobile Arena has hosted fans for thrilling wins and disappointing defeats. It’s welcomed the nation’s top musical and comedy acts as well as circus elephants, monster trucks and both national party’s political conventions.
On a recent Wednesday night, 19,053 hockey fans came to watch the Flyers win over the Washington Capitals.
As they entered the South Philly arena, home also to the Sixers, the Wings and occasionally Villanova, and made their way to their seats — maybe stopping by the concession stand or merchandise shops along the way — someone was was making his way around the building, making sure everything was running smoothly and everyone was enjoying themselves ahead of puck drop.
No, we’re not talking about Gritty.
Phil Laws, Comcast Spectacor’s Chief Operating Officer, has managed the building, and the South Philadelphia Sports Complex, in some capacity for over 10 years. Throughout that period, a walkthrough of the arena — empty and filled — has been a regular part of his routine.
“There’s an old adage, ‘You’ve got to walk the building to know what’s going on. There’s no way to do that from an office.’ So I try to get out and see what’s going on.” Laws said as he began Wednesday evening’s stroll.
Laws oversaw the $400 million arena transformation that finished in 2024, as well as the most recent name change. Now, he’s working with Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment and Populous Holdings to plan and design for the new $1.5 billion arena that will replace the current one from 2030.
Like many Philly sports fans, the transition will be a bitter-sweet moment for Laws, leaving the many fond memories of one space for the promise of bigger and better in a new one.
‘As busy as I think that I’ve ever seen’
It’s been a month of many walkthroughs for Laws and many events for his staff at the arena. There had been games, concerts or events for the past 13 straight days before the game against the Capitals and the calendar was filled out for much of the rest of the month, including with the NCAA Men’s basketball tournament.
“This is as busy as I think that I’ve ever seen,” Laws said. “We’ve had a couple March runs that are like this and it usually happens when you have the NCAA tournament or something like that that takes up some space in the calendar.”
Preparing for the Flyers game began as soon as the Sixers-Grizzlies game ended the night before.
After the Sixer’s fourth-quarter comeback victory and the crowd left, cleaners came in to tidy up the stands, restaurants and bathrooms. The changeover crew and building trades were in at 11 p.m. to start the usually six-hour process of switching all the basketball elements with hockey ones.
The next morning, a second group of cleaners comes in, along with another crew that adds the final details needed for the specific night, like the table and items for activations and giveaways.
By the afternoon, the arena is ready for the event crew: the ushers, security, ticket takers, restaurant workers, and of course the teams. Finally, the fans can come in.
“It’s a process and it’s a cycle every day, no matter whether it’s a game or a concert, this sort of rhythm throughout the 24-hour cycle that happens.” Laws said.
Stretches like these test everyone working in the arena. So Laws makes sure that there’s some brief chances for his staff to unwind. Tucked between his Wednesday schedule of meetings with Comcast Spectacor’s legal counsel, CEO Dan Hilferty and the groups designing the new arena that will replace this one, there was a surprise party to celebrate Laws’ executive assistant Gab Rosser’s upcoming maternity leave. There they revealed the winning submission to the suggestion box Laws had in the office space for the past few weeks: A minifridge in the conference room emerged victorious.
“It’s just something silly we do,” Laws said. “We’re here a lot. The whole group is here for so many events during the season, it’s 60-80 hour weeks. So, doing some little things to make it fun while we’re here is just part of what makes it a good place to work.”
“He’s tough but fair, is probably the best way to put it,” Brett Reopell, the senior vice president of booking, said about his boss. “He expects you to do your job, expects you to do it well and to the highest of your ability. But he also understands that things ebb and flow in this business.”
Laws said that his role as COO, which he’s been in for almost two years, is about removing barriers and providing resources for others to do the many tasks they need to do.
“Even the days when you’re tired and worn out, you understand that everybody goes through that,” he said. “So just keeping the energy up and really positive for the staff is my challenge in a month like this … it’s part of the fun of the business, going through these stretches.”
‘An industry about change’
You miss a lot of details in the arena if you’re heading straight to your seat before the game starts. A walkthrough with the building’s COO really showed that.
Laws said every part of the arena has some little memory for him. With the enthusiasm similar to a proud parent, he pointed out how the new electric Zambonis don’t need to build up ice inside to get heavy, how the building’s entrance doors were made larger to allow bigger vehicles in to the concourse, how much work it took to not make the ice-covered bar tops look bulky, and how the merchandise racks rotate to quickly switch from Sixers to Flyers gear. The results of an eight-year, $400 million transformation earned the venue recognition as one of the nation’s best.
Laws pointed out the Shift4 Club, the private lounge for Flyers all-inclusive season ticket members, as one of his proudest projects, because of its humble beginnings as a store room for carpets and the ice deck.
“It was just concrete block, concrete floors, sprinkler heads everywhere and there was all this mechanical equipment that hung in the air here,” Laws said “And we took it and made it into this beautiful space.”
For Laws, the walk also offers a chance to connect with the staff and ticketholders, another important barometer for how things are going.
“It gives you a chance to see some of your friends that you see often in the game. There’s a lot of times they start out as customers that will have a problem or complain about something and you end up talking to them and saying, ‘Hey, here’s my number. If you’ve got any more problems, give me a call.’” Laws said. “And all of a sudden, you’re kind of friends with them 10 years later.”
One high profile friend that we spoke with gave his honest opinion about the arena’s future demolition, from his perspective as a two-time Stanley Cup winner.
“It’s unfortunate because this building is the nicest building in the NHL … probably in basketball too. And, unfortunately, they’re going to knock it down,” said Flyers great Joe Watson, who stepped aside from selling his book to chat with Laws. “But that’ll be taken care of, just like he takes care of this building. He’s a great man.”
But that’s the nature of the arena business, Laws said before the walkthrough.
“It’s hard to see these buildings go, but sports entertainment is an industry about change,” Laws said. “It’s always about expanding the product and finding the next thing for the fan to enjoy, for the teams to enjoy, for the artists to to be a part of. So, as sad as it is to put these buildings in the past, it’s part of the business and you look forward to the next arena, you look forward to putting that same time in and building those same memories.”
While Laws couldn’t divulge much about the new arena plans, he assured that “it’s going to truly live up to what Philly deserves, in terms of a state-of-the-art arena,” and we can expect new updates within weeks, not months.
In 2022, an old steel gate of the Spectrum — the complex’s previous arena — that used to separate the Flyers and the visiting locker room was moved from storage to the entrance of the club level’s Showcase Bar. The walls of the whiskey bar are filled with photos of the highlight sports and music moments from the Spectrum’s legacy of entertainment.
Laws said that part of that legacy was carried over into the current arena, and then expanded on. While he hasn’t thought about what specific physical items might go into the new building, he wants to carry on that tradition of succession.
“That core of diverse entertainment is the biggest thing that we want to transfer over, that heritage of ‘America’s Showplace,’ from Spectrum to the many names of this building … over to the new building, whatever it will be called.”
