VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (AP) — A Philadelphia-based sports and entertainment company will present plans for a new arena to the Virginia Beach City Council on Tuesday in a possible first step toward bringing a professional sports franchise to the city.

"At our presentation on Tuesday we will elaborate our collective plans for a new arena," Comcast-Spectacor spokesman Ike Richman said in a statement. "Despite preliminary reports, no specific professional sports team from any league has been identified as the potential tenant for this building."

Richman declined to comment further, referring all questions to the presentation.

Comcast-Spectacor owns the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League, and the Wells Fargo Center.

Virginia Beach Mayor Will Sessoms told The Virginian-Pilot (bit.ly/PEJtuv) that Comcast-Spectacor has guaranteed that if an arena deal goes through, the company would bring a professional sports team to town. The company owns the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League.

Sessoms did not return a call seeking comment. A city spokeswoman refused to comment until after Tuesday's 3 p.m. presentation.

Gov. Bob McDonnell taped a segment in support of Virginia Beach's effort to lure a professional team to the city, spokesman Tucker Martin said.

"He is aware of the effort to bring a professional sports franchise to Virginia Beach and he is very supportive. He has helped along the way to encourage a team to come to the area, including having conversations with a number of individuals and groups involved in this project," Martin said.

Virginia Beach is Virginia's biggest city with a population of about 430,000.