This week on CNBC Sport, the podcast, my colleague Mike Ozanian sits down with Josh Harris, the managing partner of the Philadelphia 76ers, the Washington Commanders, and the New Jersey Devils. Harris explained why LeBron James chose the 76ers.
I think it came down to where he thought he could win, and then where he thought it would be right to spend the last chapter of his career.
Why team valuations are soaring, and why he thinks the Lakers going for 12 and a half billion dollars is not an overpay.
Think about $10 billion 14 months ago, and 12 and a half billion now. It's 25% growth. I think that's basically what these things have been growing at.
That's all coming up next on CNBC Sport, the podcast.
Josh, thanks so much for taking the time for doing this. I really appreciate it. Can you first start off by taking me through sort of the step-by-step process about how LeBron James became a Philadelphia 76er? You know, the people involved, when you got involved, and sort of how it all came together.
Sure. I mean, obviously, we went into the offseason, and then we were busy at work. I mean, obviously, Mike Yanzi came on the scene, Bob Myers was involved. He got more involved, and the first thing that happened was, you know, the Jaylen Brown trade came up, obviously, and that was an incredible opportunity for the franchise. And so we concluded that trade. And before that, we had joked, well, LeBron had opted out from the Lakers, and we said, "Well, maybe we'll go after him." Like, man, we were kind of ha ha ha! But then all of a sudden we had a really competitive team. We took it really seriously after that, and we said, "Wait a second!" And so it was really everyone out for a pass. You know, Mike obviously had known LeBron for a long time. Bob obviously knew everyone on LeBron's team, as did I, and so we were, you know, we all started really hitting the phones and really trying to get in the game. And then, you know, he did an incredible job, and his team did an incredible job. He's very thorough of figuring out where he wanted to be, where he thought the chemistry was right, where he liked the people, where he liked the ownership of the front office. But at the end of the day, I think it came down to where he thought he could win, and then where he thought it would be right to spend the last chapter of his career. And I'm so grateful and happy that he chose our franchise. He chose Philadelphia, and you know we can't wait to get started. It's going to be a really fun season for us, and looking forward to really being competitive. He's already having an impact on the franchise.
And Governor Shapiro seemed to be really rooting for it, too, on live.
The whole city is. Listen, it's energized the whole city. So there were billboards that went up. The governor obviously named it LeBron Day, and you know, and then we were immediately sold out of tickets. We had to put everything on hold and sort out how to really rank-order the requests that had come in, and how to get truly authentic Philly fans in the arena and so forth. And so, you know, sponsorship opportunities. So when LeBron—and so grateful again that he came—when he joined your franchise, everything changes, and it's really energized our city and our community as well as our team and everyone. Everyone's out there in LA working hard together. There are lots of group chats, and we're already a lot of collaboration already as to figuring out, you know, how we're going to play, and really exciting.
You know, I realize his contract is only for two years, but I have to imagine that leading up to 2030, which is—I've been doing this for 35 years. I don't think I've ever followed an owner who has so much happening in one year as you do: a new arena for the 76ers, newer stadium for the Commanders. On top of that, you've got a new WNBA team starting that year, and then, you know, you've got mixed-use real estate around that, and then the Devils. You got stuff happening down in Newark with that arena, too, and then with your English soccer team, Crystal Palace, you're building up that. It's almost, from the outside looking, as though this is as much of a real estate business almost as a team operation business. Does somebody like LeBron, even though he's only playing two years, does he get the juices flowing? You had mentioned sponsorships, and, you know, give you momentum for all that coming together?
Yeah, when you have, you know, someone who's in the GOAT discussion and maybe the GOAT of the sport, you know, he gets the juices flowing. I mean, everyone. That reenergizes the fan base, energizes everyone, energizes the management team. I was actually in a meeting with Adam Silver when LeBron—you know, it came over the transom that they had chosen the Sixers, and I said, "Adam, you know, you're a very important guy. I'm really sorry, I have to excuse myself. I'm too excited to talk." And I just had to get involved and, you know, start to celebrate, but also, you know, deal with all the excitement around the club and around the team. And so he certainly energizes everything. And look, like all the building, it turns out that people want to live—sports is emerging as, you know, it's one of the true places in a world that AI is impacting of community. Right? You go, you're a Sixers fan, you're a Commanders fan, or whatever your team is, and it bridges, you know, where you're from, your background, your race, I mean your religion, all of it, and you're just a fan. And so, more and more people want to live around sports. They want to go to the office around sports. They want to celebrate at bars around sports, and it galvanizes these communities. And you can kind of build incredible stuff that goes beyond just the athletic event. It can attract great concerts, but also create jobs and tax revenue for the cities. And so it's very exciting to be a part of this, and I feel really blessed and happy that the best part of my week is designing the arena in Philly or the stadium in Washington, and thinking about—or any of the other projects—and thinking about all the new technology that we're going to bring to create a great experience for fans in the area, and then thinking about how we help the cities.
Looking at Harris Blitzer Sports, how important is what's happening outside the stadium and arenas in terms of being able to do what you just mentioned: connecting the fanbase, connecting all the people that buy products and share products, and with technology now, you know, on social media in real time?
Yeah. So all that. I mean, again, we're making the largest private investment in Washington in terms of a $4 billion stadium development project. But after that, over the next decade, I'm going to spend my really my life force developing thousands of units around the stadium, hotels, restaurants, and that's going to create incredible economic activity and jobs right by the Anacostia River in D.C., which is behind the Capitol. And that's an area where economic activity can help. And then in Philly, obviously, we're also—it's north of a $2 billion project with our partners at Comcast. We and Comcast are doing the same thing in Philly. We're building a new arena right in the sports complex there, but with that is going to come restaurants and bars and, you know, development around the stadium, but also jobs and tax revenue for the city. So, whenever you build, you know, an arena, a stadium, a stand in London, you have a dialogue with the city, and you have to convince, you know, the city council, the mayor, the citizens themselves of the area that it's worth it for them, that they have to be willing to support it. And you have to advocate for it, and they have to accept it. And in our case, you know, we're blessed and lucky that the cities really see the ROI for the cities themselves.
How are you able to get your staff, the team together at Harris Blitzer Sports to kind of like—I imagine there's a lot of information they share on this, and whether it be benchmarking or when they're looking at other arenas and stadiums that maybe they're taking certain things from, saying, "You know, I'd like to do this. I'd like to do that," and perhaps even sharing marketing activities and branding. How do you pull a team together? What are some of the keys to that?
Well, the keys to it, first of all, are obviously leadership. So I think you want to get the best leaders in place at each organization because each organization is local in flavor. So you want to think strategically and global, I guess, and act locally. And what I mean by that is each city has neighborhoods, and it's very nuanced. D.C. is not like Philly. I mean, I grew up in D.C., but my grandparents, my mom were from Philly, and each city is different, each location is different, and so you have to have different teams. But on the other hand, whether it be analytics technology across sports and platforms, whether it be sports science, or in the case of arenas, there's so much new technology as to sound, as to scoreboards, as to even the roof of stadiums is now clearer. And each arena in Philly or our stadium in D.C. will be the best arena and stadium in the world. And how do you cater to suite holders? How do you cater ticket holders? How do you create better vision and better fun for them? Right? How do you buy food? Right now you don't need staff anymore. You can have a chip on your phone, or you can just literally go to the market and grab what you need, and it's all done electronically. And so, outfitting each—so you get to see across. We have Populous helping us in Philly. We have HKS helping us in Washington, and you get to see and talk to all these people who are really on the cutting edge of technology, and it's super fun. And you just think about like I'm now spending time on the suites, and what does the suite look like, and how do you up the food quality, and every little detail matters. So think about building a house, but the house is for 20,000 or 70,000 people, right? That's what it's like, and so every detail matters, and you've got to be really careful, right? Because the public is involved, and it gets on social media, and you better have everything locked down. And that's what we're doing, and it's a lot of fun.
Speaking of the public, Josh, how far along are you in thinking of rebuilding the brand of the Commanders, which, you know, let's be honest, it was a damaged brand, if you will, when you had acquired it? In terms of fans and sponsors, how far along are you with that?
No, I think we're making a lot of progress, and I credit Mark Clouse and the team down there. And so Commander is a leader of warriors, and so we now have the spear on our helmet, which ties together Washington, D.C., in that area. The DMV is home to a lot of military. It's the home to the most active duty military in the nation, and so the spear goes back to the Romans, but then it engages Native American imagery, but then also now the special forces are the tip of the spear. And so that spear is now locking together the amazing history of the Washington football team with now this new Commanders brand, and the team loves it. So Dan Quinn now and Adam Peters, they brand the toughest, most aggressive guys with the highest football IQ who bring it every day. They brand them Commanders, and so you get the Commanders logo. And so I think we're making a lot of progress, whether it be recent small changes to the fight song, the latest helmet. We're kind of trying to honor our past franchise, but also really look to the future and modernize it. We inherited the Commanders brand, but we're all in on the Commanders brand, and we're making a lot of progress.
If you look at the Lakers sale, which is pending as you and I sit here and chat today, $12.5 billion. Fine, but what's more startling to me is that that's like 20 times revenue.
And when I first started doing this, going back to when you bought the 76ers, you know, teams were selling for two and a half, three times revenue.
