Update on potential 76ers sale
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Update on potential 76ers sale
While the bones of ESPN.com's earlier report on the potential sale of the 76ers is accurate, calling the sale "imminent" is too strong. Earlier today, ESPN.com reported that Comcast-Spectacor is in talks to sell the Sixers to a "group led by New York-based leverage buyout specialist Joshua Harris."
That information is accurate, as are the details reported in the ESPN.com story. The one caution is that while the two sides are continually talking, there are a myriad of hurdles to overcome before an agreement between the two sides can be reached. Calling the deal "imminent" would not accurately reflect the current situation, which seems to put any potential deal -- if one is indeed reached -- at at least a week-plus in the future. In addition, this deal would allow current owner Ed Snider to retain a small percentage of the Sixers, although certainly not a controlling stake.
Also of note, a source has confirmed that this potential deal in no way affects the Flyers, the NHL franchise also owned by Snider.
Two hours ago, Sixers' president and COO Peter Luukko released the following statement about the news: "I can confirm that we are in discussions about the future of the team, but these discussions are confidential and we cannot talk about the details. At some point, we may have something more to say about these discussions, but we will not be making any comments at this point."
Messages were left for Comcast-Spectacor owner Ed Snider and Luukko. When reached, Sixers president Rod Thorn declined to comment.
If the two parties -- that would be Comcast-Spectacor and the group led by Joshua Harris -- reach a deal, the sale would become official only with the approval of the NBA's Board of Governors.
As ESPN pointed out, the Sixers were not known to have been for sale before today's news.
According to Forbes, Harris, 46, is worth $1.5 billion. He has ties to the University of Pennsylvania, having graduated from Wharton. And he received his MBA from Harvard. Harris made his money by investing in distressed properties. ESPN is listing other investors in the deal as private equity investor David Blitzer and former Sacramento Kings executive and NBA player agent Jason Levien. Blitzer also graduated from Wharton.
In ESPN's story, it says that Comcast-Spectacor would continue to operate the Wells Fargo Center and that the Sixers would become a tenant. The impending lockout does not appear to be a hurdle in this deal. Also of note, the Sixers' basketball operations will not be impacted by this news. Thorn and general manager Ed Stefanski still have full control over all basketball decisions, including potential trades (read today's earlier news about the Sixers discussing an Andre Iguodala-Monta Ellis deal with the Golden State Warriors) and the upcoming 2011 NBA Draft.
You can find the full ESPN story here: sale of 76ers.
Reports about Snider's attempts to sell the Sixers have surfaced in the past, including as recently as last summer, but this story appears to have more legs and is further along than anything that has previously surfaced.
More as it comes ...
--Kate
Each week, Kate will check in from the road and answer fan questions about the Sixers. Click here to ask Kate a question or e-mail her at kfagan@phillynews.com.
It's a shame the Sixers will no longer have local ownership; instead they'll have a bunch of New York hedge fund people trying to run a pro basketball team. Should be fun to watch this ship sink!!!!!!!!!!— JBinPA- hahahahah....another story that Philadelphia sports media was beat to the punch about lol. This article sounds like a way to justify it.— phillydopes
- phillydopes: presumably, you are including yourself in the moniker. As Fagan noted in her video interview today with Noel Coslov, there had been off-the-record rumors of potential sales, but not enough to go with it; that is called Journalism. Looks like ESPN, in a hurry to jump the gun as it does consistently, not being bound by journalistic ethics, incorrectly called the sale imminent. Snider has floated balloons like this before, and never consumated a deal, so why not wait and see. To attack Fagan is stupid.— chuckw
- Where's Julius Erving when you need him? Thought he was interested in buying this team.— rayzoe
- Finally we hear from Rod Thorn and it's no comment.— pedge
- Doc needs to be concerned about supporting the kids he fathered outside of his marriage. I never thought I would say to Comcast "please don't sell"!— Earl J
- So is Rod Thorn president of the Sixers or Peter Luukko?— Futurama
- wonder if this makes $$ and if it ever could without the cooked Comcast books?— barrywil
- how do you guys know it isn't imminent, if you haven't broken any of the news?— main liner
Hahaha. Joshua Harris and his group probably read the comment sections on philly.com and thought, "What the hell are we getting ourselves into????"- Like David Murphy w/ the Phils, Kate Fagan does an excellent job on her blog. Her insight on the team is good, and she isn't afraid to share her opinions. If the 76ers are indeed sold to the group mentioned in the ESPN article, however, she and other Philly writers(Cooney, Smallwood, etc)were beaten again by national writers on 76ers news. Peter Vecsey has beaten them in the past, and more than one SI writer has revealed information that Cooney and friends must have known about, but didn't report. I guess it shows how powerful Comcast is in controlling information related to them in this town, and the Eagles may be right up there with them in that department. I hope the 76ers are sold(finally), and that the new owners implement a number of needed changes, first of which would be a new set of personnel people.
Outside of Thorn, the men who are here(Stefanski, DiLeo, Witte, Nash)are MUCH too comfortable in their jobs.
I would like the 76ers to trade Iguodala very much, but Monta Ellis is NOT a guy I want that much. He had a decent year last year, but GS has been shown more often on TNT and ESPN lately, and Ellis is on full display, gunning away, not playing a lot of D, and making some poor, poor decisions with the ball in transition, as well as the half court. To me, the 76ers want him to be Iverson, Vol II, to sell tickets and create excitement. He is not as good a player as Iverson by any means, and makes many more mistakes. Unless Collins can do to him what Reid did to Vick, the 76ers should keep looking.— 76erfn 
Comment removed.- Go sixers...and take the Soul with you!— jmg7738
- Make the Iggy trade immenent— shawnmac
- Was Kate Fagan in the movie Just One of the Guys?
And trade Iguadala. What's the worst that could happen? They don't win the championship?— guyguy4
John Mitchell is in his second year covering the 76ers for the Inquirer after joining the paper in November 2011. He covered the Washington Wizards for the Washington Times from 1998 to 2008. He's also worked at the Philadelphia Tribune, the Wilmington News Journal, Courier-Post, Trenton Times and Elmira Star-Gazette.Born and raised in West Philadelphia - not too far from Will Smith - he graduated from Overbrook High School the same year the 76ers won their last championship. He's a proud graduate of Howard University and the proud father of two sons, Jared and Jordan.
ABOUT MARC NARDUCCI
Marc Narducci has served in a variety of roles with the Inquirer since beginning in 1983. He has covered the 76ers as a backup and a beat writer. In addition, Narducci has covered everything from the Super Bowl to the World Series and a lot in between. Narducci also has a true passion for South Jersey scholastic sports, which he has covered for many years.
