Are Philadelphia 76ers moving to New Jersey? Closer look at rumors of NJ looking to acquire $4.3 billion NBA franchise

New Jersey is looking to move the Philadelphia 76ers away from the city of Philadelphia to a new arena that is set to rise in Camden. Tom Bergeron of ROI-NJ news confirmed this report on Thursday, July 18.

According to Bergeron, the Sixers' ownership, Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment and top state officials from New Jersey have started talking about the move. He also reported that the discussions have been going on for about two months, although they have yet to see significant progress.

"The state of New Jersey is making a serious push to convince the Philadelphia 76ers to move to New Jersey and into a new arena that would be built in Camden, four people familiar with the discussions confirmed to ROI-NJ. The sources indicated that talks have picked up recently, in part because HBSE’s efforts to build a new arena in Center City Philadelphia have hit repeated roadblocks, despite the fact that the owners have indicated they would self-finance the $1.3 billion proposed project," Bergeron reported.

The Sixers' lease at the Wells Fargo Center is set to expire after the 2030-31 NBA season. The ownership's goal has been to locate a new home for the team over the past year, but have not had any luck with the state of Pennsylvania.

Even though nothing has been approved thus far, the possibility of relocating to New Jersey will be just the second time that the team will move. The organization started in Syracuse as the Nationals, before moving to Philadelphia in 1963.

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Ownership wants to give the Philadelphia 76ers a new home

David Adelman, the chairman for 76 Devcorp, shared with Front Office Sports Today in August 2023 their desire to build a new arena for the team.

In the interview, Adelman shared that the Wells Fargo Center ranks near the bottom in every major category when it comes to fan satisfaction. That said, the ownership desires to have a place of their own where they can cater to the fans' wants and needs whenever they watch their team play.

"The Sixers are the only team in Philadelphia that doesn't have their own home. We're a tenant in someone else's building that happens to be owned by Comcast and they own the flyers," Adelman said.