The new owners got to work right away and it was announced that Ed Stefanski is no longer the club’s general manager and Rod Thorn, the team’s president, will be getting more involved with the day-to-day operations of the team. However, Doug Collins is staying on as the team’s coach.
What may be of the most interest to the fans was the announcement that ticket prices were going to be cut by quite a bit. CEO Adam Aron said that the cost of about 9,000 seats would be slashed. Some of the $101 seats have been reduced to $54 and some of the $54 tickets have been dropped to $29.
Slashing ticket prices could help revitalize the ailing franchise since there are usually quite a few empty seats at their home games and they haven’t won a series in the postseason since back in 2003. They’ve also gone several years without making any money.
The ownership group is quite large and includes Hollywood couple Will and Jada Pinkett Smith. However, Harris is the head honcho of the group and has the final say on all 76er-related matters. Harris, who’s just 46 years old, is reportedly worth about $1.5 billion. Along with two others, he founded Apollo Global Management back in 1990 and also has a bachelor’s degree from the Wharton School of Business, as well as a master’s degree which he earned from the Harvard Business School.
Ed Snider, who ran the club for the past 15 years for Comcast-Spectacor, said he decided to sell the franchise in July because it was simply costing too much money to operate. It’s been reported that the club lost about $15 last year and haven’t made any money since the 2001-02 season.
Comcast-Spectacor has owned the franchise since 1996 when they bought it off of Harold Katz. The company still owns the Philadelphia Flyers of the NHL as well as the Wells Fargo Center. Snider, who still owns the Flyers, said selling the 76ers was an emotional decision because he loves the organization, but business-wise, it was time to let them go.
The basketball team will now become a tenant at the Wells Fargo Center and it looks like they’ll probably be there for quite some time since Harris said he doesn’t plan on building a basketball-only arena. He is looking to build a new practice venue though. With Snider as owner, the club was beaten in the 2001 Finals by the Los Angeles Lakers and have only won a single playoff series since then. Their last winning season came back in 2004-05 with their last championship being won in 1983.
Forbes valued the franchise at $330 million this year, which is 17th in the league and the club also has a good television broadcasting deal with Comcast SportsNet until 2029. It was reported that Harris and his group got a pretty good deal on the franchise and paid $280 million for it.
Harris has a lot of work to do though as the 76ers have to compete with the city’s other sports franchises, such as the Flyers, Phillies, and Eagles. They had a decent season last year with 41 wins and a five-game playoff run against Miami. The lockout will obviously slow things down, but the main objective is to fill the arena with fans and build on the team’s strong player core.
