Crossing Broad
The Eagles play the Washington Commies on Thursday night. Does it bother you that Josh Harris owns both the Sixers and Commanders?
Does it bother you that Josh Harris owns both the Sixers and Commanders?@Kevin_Kinkead: pic.twitter.com/nfTrKIpeze
— Crossing Broad (@CrossingBroad) November 11, 2024
Just so we’re all on the same page here, the ownership groups of the Commanders and Sixers are technically different. The Sixers (and Devils), are owned by Harris Blitzer Sports and Entertainment, the Josh Harris + David Blitzer group featuring limited partners David Adelman, Martin Geller, Marc Leder, and Joe Gibbs. Commanders ownership is fronted by Harris, but Blitzer is one of 14 LPs and Adelman, Leder, and Gibbs are not involved. So in both cases, Harris is the managing partner, but the groups are not the same.
Anyway, it just doesn’t bother me that Harris owns both the Sixers and Commies. The Devils are whatever. Nobody cares about the Devils. But to reiterate the key point from the video above, I don’t think the Commies are receiving anything at the expense of the Sixers. I don’t. If someone can find me proof, for example, that the Commanders budget was increased as a direct result of money coming out of the Sixers budget, then fuck Josh forever, but there’s nothing out there to suggest any kind of resource reallocation or taking from the basketball team to give to the football team.
Rhetorical question – what did the Sixers lose when Harris bought the Commanders?
The Sixers have a state-of-the-art practice facility, a sous chef, two soft tissue specialists, proper support staff, blah blah etc. They are trying to build a $1.3 billion arena in Center City. Harris put on his gold toe socks and flew to LA to recruit Paul George with Dr. J and Daryl Morey. So the insinuation that he’s not around because he’s focused on his new toy (the Commies) just doesn’t hold a lot of weight. On paper, Morey has everything he needs to win a title, and the team just can’t get over the hump and into the conference finals.
What Sixers’ ownership needs to provide, that isn’t being provided, is more of a connection with the fans. If Harris could be more like John Middleton and Jeffrey Lurie, then people would feel differently. But he’s not like those guys. He’s an awkward businessman who doesn’t speak well in public and doesn’t give off the impression that he lives and dies for this, like a lot of fans do. And for that reason alone, there will always be a disconnect between Harris and Philadelphia sports fans at large.
That being said, it could be worse. It could be so much worse. When you think of Jay Sugarman, or pre-Dan Hilferty Comcast, or go elsewhere and see Dan Snyder, the Pittsburgh Pirates, whatever – would you rather have the Sixers ownership resemble that? Josh Harris is fine. He isn’t exciting, and has his shortcomings in the optics department, but when...
