The ribbon cutting ceremony: The voice of the Flyers, Gene Hart, served as master of ceremonies. Ed Snider cut the ribbon as Flyers President Bob Clarke and 76ers President Pat Croce held the ribbon. Everyone attending the event received a commemorative coin.

The inaugural event: Team USA vs. Team Canada in a first round game of the World Cup of Hockey. A crowd of 19,500 attended the event. Team USA’s John LeClair scored the first goal ever in the CoreStates Center at 5:01 of the first period. Team USA went on to win the contest 5-3.

The inaugural concert: Oasis with Manic Street Preachers and Screaming Trees. An estimated crowd of 12,000 attended the show. Prior to the show, CoreStates Complex President Peter Luukko and promoters Larry Magid and Allen Spivak presented the band with a bronzed “first ticket” to the first concert ever at the CoreStates Center.

Game One of the World Cup of Hockey Finals: Team USA vs. Team Canada. Despite Team USA scoring with seven seconds remaining in regulation on a John LeClair goal, Team Canada prevailed in sudden-death overtime.

The Flyers played their first regular season game at the CoreStates Center, a 3-1 loss to the Florida Panthers. Dainius Zubrus became the youngest player in Flyers history at 18 years, three months and 20 days old on opening night. Zubrus also recorded his first NHL goal in the game.

The Flyers’ first win at the CoreStates Center was also the 700th home victory in franchise history–a 3-1 win vs. New Jersey.

KISS, in full make-up, became the first band to play three nights at the Center. The band was presented with bricks from “The Walk” prior to the third and final night. October 11 was the first time that events took place in both buildings simultaneously. The Phantoms hosted the Binghamton Rangers at the CoreStates Spectrum.

The first family show to play at the Center was Walt Disney’s World on Ice – The Spirit of Pocahontas. There were a total of 10 shows during the run.

The first Sixers point ever recorded at the Xfinity Mobile Arena was a foul shot by Derrick Coleman with 10:35 left in the first quarter of the home opener against the Milwaukee Bucks on Nov. 1, 1996.  

The Flyers defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins 6-3, in Game Five of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals to win the series four games to one. It was the final game in the illustrious career of Pittsburgh’s Mario Lemieux. The crowd gave Lemieux a standing ovation at the end of the game.

In Game One of the Stanley Cup finals, 20,291 fans set a record for the largest audience in Pennsylvania history to attend a hockey game.

Metallica performed a free outdoor concert in the Xfinity Mobile Arena parking lot, drawing 40,000, on Nov. 11, 1997.

Michelle Kwan and Tara Lipinski were among the skaters who earned berths to the 1998 Winter Olympic Games with their performances in the 1998 U.S. National Championships held in the CoreStates Center.

The Philadelphia Wings win game one of a best of three NLL Championship series against the Baltimore Thunder. The Wings would go on to defeat Baltimore two days later at the Baltimore Arena to capture their fifth Championship in franchise history.

The Phantoms again returned to the top of the AHL in the 2004-05 season. The team went on an AHL-record 17-game winning streak in October and November, and entered the playoffs as the second seed in the Eastern Conference. Series wins over Norfolk, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and Providence set the Phantoms up for a Calder Cup Finals meeting with the Chicago Wolves, which the Phantoms won in a four-game sweep. The 5-2 victory in Game 4 at the Wachovia Center was witnessed by 20,103 fans, then an AHL record.

The first event at the Center under its new name, the First Union Center. On July 15, 1998 an announcement was made about the name change and the beginning of the transition. Garth Brooks, on the opening night of six sold out shows, took the honor as the first event ever in the First Union Center.

During the AHL All-Star Weekend festivities, 13,028 fans filed into the First Union Center to watch Team Canada defeat Planet USA 15-12 in the skills competition. Planet USA exacted revenge the following day with a 5-4 victory on Chris Ferraro’s game winning goal in front of 14,120 spectators.

WWF's Wrestlemania made its first and only appearance in Philadelphia in 1999 for the fifteenth annual event. The night included ten matches and was headlined by a "No Disqualification" match for the WWF Championship, featuring Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock. The main event match had no shortage of drama, starting things out with a surprise change in referees orchestrated by Vince McMahon, which was immediately disputed by Commissioner Shawn Michaels. To the thrill of the capacity crowd, the match ended with both wrestlers using their signature moves, the People's Elbow from the Rock, and the final blow to win the match, a Stone Cold Stunner from Steve Austin. Leading into the main event was the now famous "Hell in a Cell" match that saw The Undertaker defeat the Big Bossman, with the help of Paul Bearer, who helped raise the cell, ultimately hanging the Boss Man by Undertakers noose.

Bruce Springsteen sold out six shows at the First Union Center pushing his total to 37 Philadelphia sellouts.

The road to the Final Four ended in Philadelphia, as “March Madness” culminated with the sold out NCAA Women’s Final Four at the First Union Center. The April 2nd game drew 20,060 people, making this the largest crowd to see a college basketball game-men’s or women’s-in Pennsylvania.

40,000 people attended the Republican National Convention each day either as a media member, delegate, worker, or VIP, the First Union Complex became Pennsylvania’s 13th largest municipality for the four-day run of the convention.

The NCAA Tournament returned to Philadelphia for the first time since the historic regional game between Kentucky and Duke in 1992 as the East Regional was held in the First Union Center. Duke went on to defeat the University of Southern California 79-69 to claim the region and advance to the Final Four in a game that set a single-game attendance record for Pennsylvania college basketball with 20,270 people.

20,900 fans packed the First Union Center to watch the 76ers take on the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 3 of the NBA Finals. It was the 76ers’ first appearance in the finals since their championship season in 1983.

Madonna opened the United States portion of her Drowned Tour in Philadelphia on July 21. The “Material Girl” sold out both of her scheduled concerts at the First Union Center in 75 minutes.

The most anticipated event of the 2001 X-Games actually took place inside the First Union Center as Kenny Bartram won the first ever Moto X Big Air competition while AC/DC blasted throughout the arena, pumping up the crowd. The six-day event hosted 235,000 people.

The 51st NBA All-Star Game was played in Philadelphia in 2002. The West defeated the East 135-120, with Lower Merion High School product Kobe Bryant of the L.A. Lakers winning the Most Valuable Player award. Bryant scored 31 points, dished 5 assists, and grabbed 5 rebounds. Tracy McGrady led the way for the East, scoring 25 points off the bench. He also made one of the most memorable plays in All-Star Game history, the self-pass off the backboard dunk.

The piano playing dynamic duo Billy Joel and Elton John sold out six shows at the First Union Center. The six shows, totaling in excess of 110,000 tickets, are the most performances in one city on the “Face to Face” Tour.

The ESPN X-games welcomed its 2 millionth fan when the games came to Philadelphia. The athletes showcased unprecedented tricks, introduced women’s exhibitions, and experienced a spectator fan base that exceeded the averages from 2001.

The Penn State Nittany Lions won the 2011 NCAA Wrestling National Championship in front of a crowd of "hometown fans" in Philadelphia. It was the school's first title since 1953 and the first East Coast school to win the crown since that year. MPiONSHIS Pennsylvania native Quentin Wright claimed the individual national crown at 184 as Penn State outdistanced Cornell and lowa for the championship. Penn State head coach Cael Sanderson, the 2011 Big Ten Coach of the Year, earned his first collegiate national team title as a coach or wrestler as the Nittany Lions won the team race with 107.5 points. Comell took second place with 93.5 and lowa was third with 86.5.

The 76ers were the best team in the Eastern Conference in 2000-01, posting a 56-26 record behind a career season from Allen Iverson, who won the league scoring title and MVP honors. Boosted by the midseason acquisition of Dikembe Mutombo, the 76ers took care of Indiana in four games in the first round of the playoffs before winning a seven-game series against Toronto to reach the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since 1985.

The series pitted the 76ers against the Milwaukee Bucks, whose 52 wins earned them the second seed in the conference. The series went back and forth the entire time, with the 76ers winning games 1,4 and 5. While Milwaukee won games 2, 3, and then forced a seventh game with a game 6 win.

On June 3, in front of a home crowd of 21,046, Iverson scored 44 points to lead the 76ers past the Bucks 108-91, sending them to the NBA Finals against the Los Angeles Lakers.

Before they were known as "Dunk City", they were Florida Gulf Coast University: a public school in Southwest Florida, set to play in their first ever NCAA Tournament. The #15 FGCU Eagles would face the #2 Georgetown Hoyas at Wells Fargo Center in the first round. Georgetown was a popular pick to make a run to the Final Four but fell victim to the madness. Brackets were busted as Head Coach Andy Enfield's squad dismantled the Hoyas, pushing the pace and executing a barrage of energetic lobs and dunks. The Eagles won 78-68 and Dunk City was born. Philadelphia rallied around the underdog, using the familiar chant "E-A-G-L-E-S" and flapping their arms in support. FCU felt right at home. The #7 San Diego State Aztecs awaited them in the second round and the Eagles did not slow down, winning 81-71 behind Bemard Thompson's 23 points. Their Cinderella story came to an end in Arlington, Texas against the University of Florida but no one will forget when Dunk City became the first #15 seed to advance.

In 2014, the Wells Fargo Center hosted its first NCAA Men's Division I Ice Hockey Championship, the "Frozen Four". The Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference (ECAC) hosted a sellout crowd for the weekend at the Wells Fargo Center. Minnesota, Boston College and North Dakota were playing in their combined 65th Frozen Four, while Union College was making only its second appearance.

The Dutchmen were led by Shayne Gostisbehere, who had been drafted by the Flyers in 2012. Flyers fans turned out in full force to catch a glimpse of their Flyers prospect, who did not disappoint.

"Ghost" went on to be named Most Outstanding Player of the tournament, recording three points as his team defeated Minnesota 7-4 to win the program's first NCAA title.

In her first and only major arena tour of North America, Adele made a stop in Philadelphia for two sold out shows in 2016. The Academy and Grammy Award winning singer belted out many of her hits including, "Hello", "Rolling in the Deep", "Skyfall" and "Someone Like You" to a massive crowd of fans who purchased tickets in record time for her long awaited tour.

The crowd that showed up to watch the top ranked Villanova Wildcats host Virginia in late January 2017 not only got to witness a hard fought game that saw the 'Cats pull out a late 61-59 victory, they were part of a record breaking night. The 20,907 turnstile number broke the previous attendance record for basketball at Wells Fargo Center, set by Villanova in 2006, and made the game the largest crowd to see a college basketball game in the state of Pennsylvania.

With a 14-1 record heading into the game and having swept the Tampa Bay Storm during the regular season, the Soul were big favorites to repeat as Arena Football League Champions.
A crowd of 13,648 watched the Soul come out of the gate looking uncharacteristically out of sync, finding themselves trailing 20-7 in the second quarter. Behind the leadership of Soul star quarterback Dan Raudabaugh and the league's best defense, the Soul rallied to defeat the Storm 44-40. This was the largest comeback in ArenaBowl history and resulted in back to back league championships and their third overall in twelve seasons for the Soul.

Led by charismatic head coach Shaheen Holloway, the #15 seed Peacocks began their improbable NCAA tournament run against the perennial blue blood #2 Kentucky Wildcats. Juniors Daryl Banks Ill and Doug Edert led the team to arguably the biggest win in program history to date, winning in overtime by a score of 85-79. The magic continued as they defeated #7 Murray State 70-60 and punched their ticket to the Sweet Sixteen at Wells Fargo Center. The entire nation was captivated by this small school in Jersey City, NJ. Already the first team in the history of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference to advance to the Sweet Sixteen, the Peacocks were not done yet. History was made once again as Peacock Nation strutted to South Philly and upset the #3 Purdue Boilermakers, 67-64. It was the first time a #15 seed had advanced to the Elite 8 in NCAA March Madness history. Their season came to an end against #8 North Carolina, but their Cinderella story captured the hearts & minds of sports fans everywhere.

The Center changes its name to the Xfinity Mobile Arena. 

On January 30, 2026, Unrivaled set the record for largest crowd with 21,490.  

TWICE's THIS IS FOR World Tour stop at Xfinity Mobile Arena on February 24, 2026, marked both the group's first-ever performance in Philadelphia and the first K-pop concert in Xfinity Mobile Arena history.