Here’s what made me add a few grains of salt to the Forbes’ story that Philadelphia 76ers owner Josh Harris was considering selling the Sixers to get in on the ground floor of an NFL team in London. Which I guess they have talked about having by 2022, but it’s taken the NFL two decades to get a team into the United States’ second largest market (Los Angeles), and they are going to London within seven years?
Still, that report gained a little traction in the media, so as you would expect the Sixers issued a denial on Thursday night before their team took on the Bulls. Here it is, via CSNPhilly.com, with additional comments from Harris.“[The Forbes story] is inaccurate. Josh has said repeatedly that he hopes to own the Sixers for many, many years and keep it in the family for many, many years,” Preston said. “He loves owning the team and the [story] is inaccurate and not true.”
Harris said as much during his media session with the local press during training camp at Stockton University. Regarding his future ownership, Harris said: “I expect to happily be involved with the Sixers for many, many years. There are no plans to sell [the team]. Our ultimate goal has not changed and that’s to bring an NBA championship to Philly.”
If Harris or any of the NBA owners with the means wanted to jump from the NBA to the NFL (or do both, ala Paul Allen), I would get that as a business decision. The NFL is a money-printing machine and the 800-pound gorilla of professional sports in America.
But London? Come on now. There’s a better chance of the Barclays Premiere League putting a team in New York than there is America shipping out its favorite sport.