The 76ers ownership wants to build an arena in Philadelphia but will listen to New Jersey..
The state of New Jersey has officially entered the stadium game by offering the ownership of the National Basketball Association’s Philadelphia 76ers franchise around $400 million in tax credits and millions more in government-issued bonds to build an arena-village in Camden. Camden is just over the Ben Franklin Bridge from Philadelphia about a four-mile trip. The 76ers ownership already does business in Camden as the team’s training facility is in the New Jersey city. The 76ers ownership group has not dismissed the New Jersey offer. The 76ers ownership has a plan on the table to build an arena in Philadelphia’s Chinatown District but local residents want no part of the venue. The 76ers ownership now has some leverage in negotiations with Philadelphia elected officials in that if you don’t allow us to build the Chinatown facility we will go to New Jersey. In the stadium arena game creating a competition is part of the playbook.
The 76ers ownership put out a statement. “We have worked tirelessly for the past five years to build an arena in Philadelphia and negotiations remain ongoing with city leadership regarding our proposal at Market East. The reality is we are running out of time to reach an agreement that will allow the 76ers to open our new home in time for the 2031-32 NBA season. As a result, we must take all potential options seriously, including this one.” The 76ers ownership group wants its own Philadelphia arena because there would be revenue opportunities that do not exist by being a tenant in a building and the 76ers ownership wants to have that venue opened in 2031. This is not New Jersey’s first attempt at getting the 76ers business. In December 1993, then owner Harold Katz was ready to move his team to Camden but nothing materialized.
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New Jersey wants more than the 76ers training facility.
