Stateside Live! announces its $20 million outdoor expansion just in time for summer
The venue's newest expansion, highlighted by a 5,000-seat outdoor music venue, is set to host a grand opening celebration on Memorial Day weekend.
Two years and one name change later, Stateside Live! has set an opening date for its newly announced $20 million outdoor expansion.
Comcast Spectacor and the Cordish Companies announced Thursday morning that the expansion of the entertainment hub at the South Philadelphia sports complex will open to the public for the first time on Friday, May 29, at 5 p.m.
Alongside the Coors Light Stage, a new 5,000-person capacity outdoor music venue, the expansion also includes other improvements that come with branded sponsorships like the AVA rooftop bar, the Blue Moon beer garden, the Stateside Crush cocktail bar, and the PBR Backyard, an outdoor expansion of the cowboy-themed PBR bar inside Stateside Live!
The venue’s new expansion is set to host a grand opening celebration spanning Memorial Day weekend and is scheduled to include concerts by Taking Back Sunday and Two Friends.
“As we look ahead to the future of the South Philadelphia sports complex, the newly transformed Stateside Live! represents an important anchor for what’s next,” said Dan Hilferty, chairman and CEO of Comcast Spectacor. “Coming on the heels of a transformational renovation project at Xfinity Mobile Arena, this incredible sports and entertainment destination offers an exciting glimpse into the growth, innovation, and experiences we’re building for fans and the community.”
The property’s developers announced it would undergo a $12 million renovation in February 2024, with the reported price tag for renovations to the venue, then named Xfinity Live!, climbing to $15 million by November 2024.
The cost of the renovation has since jumped to $20 million-plus in Comcast Spectacor and the Cordish Companies’ latest announcement.
“More than 15 years ago, we made a commitment to invest in the South Philadelphia sports complex with the belief that it would evolve into one of the nation’s premier sports-anchored entertainment destinations,” Reed Cordish, principal of the Cordish Companies and CEO of Live! Hospitality & Entertainment, said in a release. “With this expansion, we’re introducing a new, hospitality-driven experience for fans, visitors, and the broader Philadelphia community that elevates how people come together to gather, celebrate, and connect.”
The venue’s opening weekend will begin May 29 with Emo band Taking Back Sunday set to christen the Coors Light Stage with a free concert. Mayday Parade and Bayside will open the show, which will begin at 7 p.m.
Free tickets to the event will be available on the venue’s website starting at 10 a.m. on Friday.
Stateside Live! will open at noon on May 30 and May 31, and DJ duo Two Friends will perform at the Coors Light Stage at 7 p.m. on May 30. Paid tickets for the Two Friends concert will go on sale at 10 a.m. on Friday on the venue’s website.
The Phillies will be on the road for a three-game series against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the opening weekend of Stateside Live!, but a deep playoff run by the 76ers or the Flyers could bring a home game to the sports complex during that time.
Stateside Live! is already gearing up for a busy summer at the sports complex. In addition to the usual Phillies schedule, Citizens Bank Park will host baseball’s All-Star Game on July 14 and Lincoln Financial Field will host six matches in the FIFA World Cup, including a quarterfinal match on July 4.
Philly expects to host more than a million visitors between the World Cup, the All-Star Game, and America 250 celebrations.
Additionally, the venue plans to attract more concertgoers, as more acts will be added to the schedule in the coming weeks.