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After Josh Harris led an ownership group to acquire the Philadelphia 76ers in 2011, his Philly roots were underlined. He wrestled at Penn, his parents met in Philadelphia, and his grandfather was a Philly postal worker.
Those local ties, however, flew out the Wawa in the 18 months since Harris landed the Washington Commanders, the Eagles’ opponent Sunday with a trip to the Super Bowl on the line.
“Philly fans are parochial and they’re loyal and they feel that if you own a team here that that should be your priority and that should be your focus,” said Kevin Kinkead, editor of the Philly-based “Crossing Broad” sports blog. “You’re talking about an Eagles rival in the NFC championship game. The stakes don’t get any higher.”
Harris’s estimated net worth (more than $11 billion) is more than the net worths of Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie and Phillies owner John Middleton combined. But Harris hasn’t secured the brotherly love that area fans hold for Lurie and Middleton.
“He is easily the most unpopular owner,” said Eliot Shorr-Parks, the Eagles beat reporter for Philly’s SportsRadio 94WIP. “I think it’s a combination of the Sixers’ perceived lack of success and him not being super charismatic when he talks.”
The Sixers haven’t made it past the second round injuries stunted what was projected to be a promising 2024–2025 season. Meanwhile, the Commanders under first-year head coach Dan Quinn and rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels have made it past the second round in Harris’s second season as owner with Saturday’s upset of the Lions.
“One thing you may or may not know, this guy is a hell of a competitor,” Quinn said of Harris this week. “He loves to compete. He loves all of that. On our Mondays is a recap of the game, so we review some of the things. … We get to maybe show six to 10 plays of what were the deciding plays in the game.”
Lurie and Middleton have banked some goodwill beyond both winning titles in Philly under their respective ownerships by being accessible to fans—and often echoing their fervor. Middleton, for example, told Phillies players during spring training last year, “I want our fucking trophy back.”
“Fans want their owner to also care as much as they do and Harris just isn’t good at showing that,” Shorr-Parks said.
Although he’s been with the Commanders for only this season after nine with the Eagles, tight end Zach Ertz said he’s noticed some similarities between Harris and Lurie.
“They’re both dedicated to winning,” Ertz told Front Office Sports. “They leave no stone unturned. Their commitment to the players is unparalleled. Mr. Lurie and Josh do a phenomenal job of just putting the players first and so I have a lot of love and respect [for] them.”
“Philly Sports Guy” Jamie Pagliei, who makes a living as a superfan, said the reason Harris isn’t the most beloved owner in town goes beyond just the Commanders and the Sixers’ on-court struggles.
“He held the city hostage the whole time with the City Center project,” Pagliei said. “I said when it started it was never going to happen, but he made everybody jump through hoops just to end up with a better deal at Wells Fargo Center.”
Philadelphia’s city council approved the planned $1.55 billion arena and mixed-use downtown development in December before Comcast Spectacor—the owner of the Flyers—and Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment entered into a deal to keep the Sixers in South Philadelphia earlier this month. Comcast Spectacor and HBSE entered into a 50-50 partnership to develop a new arena for the Flyers and Sixers near the current Wells Fargo Center.
Discussions for that deal, coincidentally, began as the Commanders hosted the Titans on Dec. 1. Harris, Blitzer, NBA commissioner Adam Silver, Comcast chairman and CEO Brian Roberts, and developer David Adelman were in attendance, and that’s when “the process really started” to keep the Sixers in South Philly, a source with knowledge of those conversations told FOS.
HBSE also owns the New Jersey Devils, a team Harris took over as the controlling owner in 2013. But there wasn’t nearly the backlash for Harris in Philly even if both the Flyers and Devils are in the same division.
“It doesn’t seem to matter so much that he owns the Devils,” Kinkead said. “Maybe that’s because the Flyers and Devils haven’t been good at the same time.”
It’s also not football and the Eagles have, by far, the most dedicated fan base in Philadelphia and beyond of all of the city’s teams. Harris will be at Lincoln Financial Field on Sunday, and he’s likely to be as visible on the field as he was in the Commanders’ road playoff wins in Tampa Bay and Detroit.
“I think he’ll get booed heavily on Sunday and probably at the next Sixers game,” Shorr-Parks said.
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