<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Three buyers with local ties among eight Sixers suitors The team, whose owners have not said is for sale, could fetch a record price. By David Aldridge Inquirer Staff Writer As many as eight potential buyers - including at least three with local ties - have come forward seeking to buy the Philadelphia 76ers, according to numerous sources. One NBA source said this week that the league was increasingly confident the team would be sold for up to $450 million before the end of the year. Such a price would be an NBA record, topping the $401 million paid by Robert Sarver in 2004 to buy the Phoenix Suns, the WNBA's Mercury, and the Arena Football League Arizona Rattlers. A spokesman for Comcast-Spectacor referred inquiries about the sale to the statement issued by Comcast chairman Ed Snider in early August that acknowledged only that the team had hired a sports investment firm, Galatioto Sports Partners, to handle inquiries about a potential sale and that no decision had been made to sell. A source said one of the local groups includes the managing directors of ETF Venture Funds, a King of Prussia venture capital fund that specializes in technology and health-care companies. According to the source, the two directors, Ian Berg and Wayne Kimmel, have partnered with Andrew Barroway, the managing partner of Schiffrin & Barroway, a Radnor law firm specializing in class-action lawsuits. In an e-mail on behalf of Berg sent yesterday, Kimmel declined to comment. Another local group looking to buy the team is Mitchell Morgan, head of Morgan Properties, also based in King of Prussia. Morgan's company invests in and develops apartment units in states throughout the Northeast and Midwest and controls more than 14,000 units, including rental property in Philadelphia. Morgan did not return phone calls seeking comment. The Kushner Cos., a New Jersey-based real estate enterprise, no longer is involved in the bidding after initial talks with Comcast, according to sources. The Seattle SuperSonics, along with the WNBA's Storm, were sold last month to a group based in Oklahoma City for $350 million. That group is seeking an agreement with the city to construct a building to replace KeyArena, where the team now plays. The Sixers would continue playing at the Wachovia Center, which is owned by Comcast, and continue to be televised on Comcast SportsNet. The conventional wisdom among many sports business executives is that a potential sale of the Sixers makes little sense without a prospective owner also buying the Wachovia Center, which would significantly enhance future revenue streams. Yet, with the Wachovia Center not for sale, there appears to be a number of people willing to buy only the team.</div> Off RealGM
^Nah..would just be under new management..which hopefully means somebody that doesn't care just about the Flyers.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting miss3pointer25:</div><div class="quote_post">Are they staying in Philly if they get sold? I'll be so mad if they dont.</div> Why in the world do you think the owners would move the team? Philadelphia is one of the biggest cities in the US so the owners would only lose money by moving the team. Eventually they would have to sell the team as well, so do would you rather buy the Philadelphia 76'ers or the Oklahoma City 76'ers? Plus this place has too much history anyway...
I was just proving something. Because this kid at school kept saying they weren't going to stay if they were sold. I told him he was a crapface and that they wouldnt leave Philly because it wouldnt make sense for them to be anywhere else.
Kimmel Talks Sale With Sixers <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">If nothing else, Wayne Kimmel has his foot in the door as a suitor in the potential sale of the 76ers. The Daily News has confirmed through multiple sources that Kimmel, one of the founders of ETF Venture Funds, met earlier this week with representatives of Comcast Corp., the parent company of Comcast-Spectacor, which oversees the Sixers, Flyers, Phantoms, the Wachovia Center, the Wachovia Spectrum, Comcast SportsNet and various other entities. A source confirmed that Kimmel was accompanied by a partner in the venture, Andrew Barroway of the law firm of Schiffrin & Barroway, of Radnor. Sources also indicated that two other groups have been scheduled to meet with Comcast representatives, but that there should be no inference that these are the final three groups involved, or that Comcast is necessarily prepared to sell to one of these groups or any other group. It is not known whether Comcast has set a deadline of any sort to resolve the situation. Kimmel, initially contacted Sept. 1, declined comment. In an e-mail response yesterday, he said, "We still do not have any comment at this time.'' Of the groups most prominently speculated as suitors for the team, including Mitchell Morgan, head of Morgan Properties, of King Of Prussia, Kimmel has been the only one to respond to the Daily News. Kimmel founded ETF with Ian Berg in 2000; the company has been ranked as a top 1 percent U.S. performing venture fund. In 2000, Kimmel was included in PhillyTech magazine's "30 people under 30.'' He is on the board of directors and investment committee of NewSpring Ventures. He serves on the board of directors of Albert Einstein Healthcare Network and the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia. He received the "distinguished alumni award'' from The Tatnall School in Wilmington, Del., in 2003 and holds a law degree from Widener University. Asked about working in the midst of speculation about a possible sale, Sixers president/general manager Billy King, in a pretraining camp meeting yesterday with reporters, said, "I get up every day and work.'' "I've had numerous conversations with Ed [chairman Ed Snider] and Peter [Luukko, president and chief operating officer of Comcast-Spectacor] in regards to that,'' King said. "We're focused on building the best team. I spoke to our staff and said, 'Do the best job you can... You're our best asset. People want that.' I'm not letting that [speculation] distract me.'' </div> Link
