Philadelphia Sixers billionaire owners Josh Harris and David Blitzer are gunning to own the first NFL team in London, industry sources tell Forbes.
The two just became major investors in the Crystal Palace Football Club in London and their strategy is simple: According to a business associate of Blitzer, it’s to “get to know the market,’’ as they get a footing in London and see how things operate there for their bid to land an NFL expansion team in London.
The NFL plays regular-season games in London, with the Jacksonville Jaguars using Wembley Stadium as their home away from home. If the NFL expands across the pond, the Jaguars are seen as the leaders to land there. They've played games in London since 2013 and recently reached an agreement to play once a season there through 2020.
But Harris and Blitzer are going to try to be the ones to bring the NFL to London and join the Kroenke family (St. Louis Rams, Denver Nuggets), fellow billionaire Paul Allen (Seattle Seahawks, Portland Trail Blazers) and Tom Benson (New Orleans Saints and Pelicans) as owners of teams in both professional sports. The Kroenkes also own Arsenal FC of the Premier League.
Harris and Blitzer now rank as two of the three top investors in Crystal Palace, along with club chairman Steve Parish. The two Americans have much bigger plans.
“They’re more interested in getting the NFL in London than they are in the NBA,’’ the source said. “Their No. 1 goal is to get the NFL team in London. They want to flip the Sixers anyway.’’
Publicly, however, Harris has been very strong in his commitment to seeing things through with the Sixers, one of the worst teams in the NBA. He told the Philadelphia Daily News only two months ago: “I expect to be, and the ownership group expects to be, happily involved with the Philadelphia 76ers for many, many years to come. There’s not plans to sell it.’’
The Harris-Blitzer team, which also owns the NHL New Jersey Devils, bought the Sixers in 2011 for approximately $285 million. According to industry sources, they could fetch upwards of $900 million if they sell. If they’re waiting for a turnaround for their team before unloading it, that could come now with the hiring this week of the respected, long-time basketball executive Jerry Colangelo, formerly Suns founder and owner, as the team's new chairman of basketball operations.
Colangelo is expected to infuse a sense of urgency into the Sixers’ glacial rebuilding process that has resulted in only 38 wins and 148 losses in the last three seasons under GM Sam Hinkie. Hinkie's future is now up in the air with the hiring of Colangelo.
As much as the Sixers’ continued losing and refusal to add talent via free agency has angered the NBA and several owners, the tipping point for the league only came with the recent off-court problems of prized rookie Jahlil Okafor, released on video by TMZ. When the Sixers became the source of national embarrassment for the NBA, the league reportedly worked behind the scenes to have Harris hire Colangelo.
