Fifteen years ago, Josh Harris, David Blitzer and Co. bought the Sixers for a reported $280 million. In the ensuing decade-and-a-half, the Sixers’ value has jumped up to an estimated $7.15 billion, according to the latest estimates from Sportico released Friday.
The Sixers currently clock in as the NBA’s ninth-most-valuable franchise, just behind the Brooklyn Nets. They’re nowhere close to the Golden State Warriors ($14.5 billion), New York Knicks ($12.8 billion) or Los Angeles Lakers ($12.5 billion), but
they aren’t far off from the Los Angeles Clippers ($8.21 billion), Chicago Bulls ($8.13 billion), Miami Heat ($8.05 billion) or Boston Celtics ($8.0 billion).
Their value may only continue to skyrocket, too.
For one, their estimated valuation jumped by 27 percent just within the past year, which was the fifth-biggest jump in the NBA, per Sportico’s Kurt Badenhausen. If the NBA does expand to Las Vegas and Seattle—and the price of the Vegas franchise and new arena does top $12 billion, as expected—that should help push up every existing team’s valuation as well.
The Sixers also had kind of a big summer, in case you hadn’t heard. Not only did they pry Jaylen Brown away from the Celtics, but they also signed some guy named LeBron James to a two-year, veteran-minimum contract.
According to Badenhausen, 15,000 people “put down deposits on season tickets within the first 72 hours” after the Sixers signed LeBron. The Sixers “limited those to half-season and partial plans to allow more people into the building and also boost the revenue yield,” Badenhausen added. (Of course they did.) He estimated regular-season ticket revenue will increase by 50 percent this season.
They’ve also been active on the business side of the organization, as Badenhauser reported:
“Interest on the sponsorship side has been just as active, with revenue projected to grow at least 50% this season. Last month, the team signed a new jersey patch deal with Bloom Energy that is the second-biggest jersey deal in the NBA after the Warriors, according to two people familiar with the details. The 76ers are not doing any sponsor deals less than three years after signing LeBron. That will provide a bridge ahead of the new arena, which will provide further revenue opportunities.”
The Sixers will also be opening a new arena in 2030 in partnership with Comcast Spectacor. That’s a departure from their current setup, which is a lease agreement with Comcast Spectacor that came up as a sticking pointwhen the Sixers were exploring the potential of creating their own separate arena in Market East.
Even though HBSE won’t have full control of the new arena, being 50-50 partners instead of long-term tenants should further increase the valuation of the Sixers, much like the Chase Center did for the Warriors. Adding a WNBA team to the portfolio in 2030 won’t hurt, either. Until then, having LeBron on the roster should help business keep booming in the short term.
But you know what would really help? Winning. If the Sixers make good on their potential this season and keep LeBron in the fold in 2027-28, it wouldn’t be surprising if they jumped a few spots on next year’s franchise-valuation list.
Unless otherwise noted, all stats via NBA.com, PBPStats, Cleaning the Glass or Basketball Reference. All salary information via Spotrac and salary-cap information via RealGM.
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