Star power, new owner could put Sixers in the zone

The Phillies, the Eagles, and the Flyers all have scores of loyal fans, but what about the Sixers? While the young NBA team had some success this season, for years the Sixers have struggled.

With Comcast-Spectacor poised to sell the team to a group led by a wealthy Wharton grad, what’s next?

Lifelong Philadelphia area resident Neil Kramer has liked the Sixers for a long time.

“I’ve been a Sixers season ticket-holder since around 1995 till last year. As of last year, I stopped my season tickets. I enjoyed going to the games with family and friends, and family and friends didn’t want to go to the games,” he said. “If they don’t have a winner, it’s hard to bring people out.”

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St. Joseph’s University marketing department chairman John Lord, who specializes in sports marketing and sports business, said “it seems like there’s an opportunity for somebody to bring energy and some new vitality to the team.”

Lord said if a new owner pumps money into the team, it could change the Sixers.

“If this is a gentleman who is merely trying to buy the team at kind of a distressed price, since their franchise value according to Forbes has gone down since they last considered a sale–from over $400 million to about $330 million– and he’s looking to maybe make some good money and turn the things around for sale, then you know we’re not too sure.”

Lord said the NBA is a star-driven league, and the Sixers would need to buy or find one to make the team a real force in the NBA.

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