The Delaware Governor wants the team in Wilmington,
There is no way that the owners of the National Basketball Association’s Philadelphia 76ers franchise are moving their business to Wilmington, Delaware in 2031, 2041 or 2131. It will not happen but the 76ers owners do have an invitation from the Delaware governor to take a look at Wilmington although the 76ers’ owners know the Wilmington terrain as the 76ers’ G League franchise, the Delaware Blue Coats business is owned by the 76ers’ owners Joel Harris and David Blitzer. Wilmington is about 30 miles from Philadelphia’s center city. Wilmington would never be considered as a site for an NBA franchise as it has just 71,000 people but it is a financial center for the credit card industry and has one Fortune 500 company. Wilmington is part of the Philadelphia market.
Delaware Governor John Carney posted on X, formerly Twitter, that he wants Harris and Blitzer to build a basketball arena in Wilmington. “Hey at sixers, if you’re looking outside of Philly, let’s build your new arena in Wilmington. We’re all in. In Delaware, you’ll get: A huge Sixers fan base, No sales tax, Best community around. Check out this rendering of the arena. What do we think, Delaware?” Ashley Dawson, Carney’s Deputy Director of Communications said, “we think there are a ton of advantages to building the new Sixers arena in Wilmington and we’ll do whatever it takes to get it done.” Harris and Blitzer want to build an arena and housing tower in Chinatown in Philadelphia and have met fierce resistance from the neighborhood. New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy said state officials were talking to Harris and Blitzer about moving the business to Camden, where the team has a practice facility. Harris and Blitzer have a lease to use the Comcast-run Philadelphia arena through 2031 and no longer want to be a tenant in that building.
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