Philadelphia 76ers’ Owners: Show Us the Money

Philadelphia 76ers co-owner David Adelman, hype man for 76 Place, told the New York Times: “I got the chills the first time I walked by that site [11th and Market Streets]. I get it. We’re going to do this right. We’re going to honor this and respect this and find a way to enhance.” The Sixers’ billionaire owners honor the almighty dollar. They decide where to build based on how much cold hard cash they get from taxpayers.

In 2014, the Sixers received $82 million in tax credits to move their headquarters and practice facility from Philadelphia to Camden, the poorest city in New Jersey. The Sixers claimed their development project would create jobs for Camden residents. Only 11 of their 250 employees are local residents. The New Jersey Economic Development Authority found that the 76ers received a bigger tax break than they deserved and should pay back $400,000. To date, the Sixers have not repaid the money.

In 2017, Sixers billionaire owners Josh Harris and David Blitzer likely got goose bumps when Delaware dangled a tax break for a new arena for their NBA G League team, the Delaware 87ers. Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment received $30 million for a new arena and sports complex known as 76ers Fieldhouse. The team was renamed the Delaware Blue Coats.

The arena was renamed Chase Fieldhouse in February 2021 after JPMorgan Chase showed the billionaires a still undisclosed amount of money for naming rights.

The billionaires’ most audacious grab for taxpayers’ money happened two years before Adelman “got the chills.” Harris and Blitzer proposed a Neighborhood Improvement District that would have diverted tax revenues to them. The Philadelphia Inquirer reported:

Last week’s decision to grant Penn’s Landing development rights to a rival bidder upended the 76ers $4 billion plan to build themselves a new basketball arena at the central Philadelphia waterfront site.

[…]

Harris and Blitzer planned to seek state and local legislation granting them tax subsidies worth as much as $885 million to help pay for their proposal.

The Sixers claim their latest proposal – 76 Place – will not cost Philadelphia taxpayers a dime. Maya Angelou told us: “When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.” Time after time, the 76ers’ owners have shown us who they are: Billionaires who make decisions based on who shows them the money, not what gives them “the chills.”