Nick Piccone
Joshua Harris has said all the right things publicly since becoming majority owner of the Sixers. Despite the team suffering on and off the court, Harris has done very well in his investment, tripled the team’s worth, and become owner of the New Jersey Devils, along with David Blitzer, as you can see by the photo above. However, the duo is not exactly happy owning just a [bad] NBA team and mediocre hockey team, so what’s next on their agenda? The NFL, of course.
Yup, Harris and David Blitzer want to dabble in the NFL by bringing a team to London. This is something that’s been in the works for a few years now, especially with the NFL now having more than one game in London each season. There’s been talk each and every year about bringing an NFL team to Europe, and it seems like Harris and co. will be spearheading that campaign. More from Forbes.com:
Harris and Blitzer now rank as two of the three top investors in Palace, along with club chairman Steve Parish. The two Americans have much bigger plans.
They’re more interested in getting the NFL in London than they are in the NBA,’’ the source said. “Their No. 1 goal is to get the NFL team in London. They want to flip the Sixers anyway.’’
Publicly, however, Harris has been very strong in his commitment to seeing things through with the Sixers, one of the worst teams in the NBA. He told the Philadelphia Daily News only two months ago: “I expect to be, and the ownership group expects to be, happily involved with the Philadelphia 76ers for many, many years to come. There’s not plans to sell it.’’
The Harris-Blitzer team, which also owns the NHL New Jersey Devils, bought the Sixers in 2011 for approximately $285 million. According to industry sources, they could fetch upwards of $900 million if they sell. If they’re waiting for a turnaround for their team before unloading it, that could come now with the hiring this week of the respected, long-time basketball executive Jerry Colangelo, formerly Suns founder and owner, as the team’s new chairman of basketball operations.
There are several different stories out there saying how Colangelo was hired – if it was Harris’ decision, or if it was the work of the NBA commissioner, Adam Silver, and the other owners in the league.
As much as the Sixers’ continued losing and refusal to add talent via free agency has angered the NBA and several owners, the tipping point for the league only came with the recent off-court problems of prized rookie Jahlil Okafor, released on video by TMZ. When the Sixers became the source of national embarrassment for the NBA, the league reportedly worked behind the scenes to have Harris hire Colangelo.”
Colangelo may be Harris’ first move of his exit process. But, who really would want to buy this team now? Tripling an investment is always good, but the majority of people out there looking to own sports franchises would have to be really, really, really sold high on how owning the Sixers would be a good thing. Sure, they have some young talent, which they can’t control, and that’s completely their fault. They needed to bring in, or needed help in bringing in, a well-respected league guy so the rest of the league doesn’t think they’re a joke. You can argue with that sentiment all you want, but that’s why it happened.
So, Harris and co. are just gonna flip the team? It sounds insulting. But, maybe it wouldn’t be the worst move.
*Update: Sixers Head of Public Relations, Michael Preston tweeted the following at 6:12PM
Owner Josh Harris has no intention of selling #Sixers; reports indicating that as an option or placing an NFL team in London are inaccurate.