New Jersey floats $400 million in tax breaks to lure 76ers

FILE – Philadelphia 76ers mascot Franklin waves the flag during pre-game introductions prior to the NBA basketball game against the Brooklyn Nets, April 14, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola, File)

CAMDEN, New Jersey — Seeking to lure NBA team Philadelphia 76ers across the river, New Jersey is offering up to $400 million in tax credits and outlining plans for a sprawling mixed-use waterfront development.

In a letter dated Monday, Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy’s administration said it envisioned a multibillion- dollar plan in the city of Camden featuring residential, commercial and retail properties, with the Sixers as an anchor.

The pitch from Economic Development Authority CEO Tim Sullivan comes as the team and Philadelphia negotiate over a future $1.3 billion arena the team had announced near the city’s Chinatown neighborhood. The team has said it doesn’t plan to stay at the Wells Fargo Arena in the city’s stadium district past 2031 when its lease is up.

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The Sixers, which already have a training complex and headquarters facility in Camden, called New Jersey’s offer “thoughtful and compelling,” though the team is still talking to Philadelphia leaders about a new arena in the city.

“The reality is we are running out of time to reach an agreement that will allow the 76ers to open our new home in time for the 2031-32 NBA season,” team spokesperson Molly Mita McEndy wrote in an email. “As a result, we must take all potential options seriously, including this one.”

A spokesperson for the Philadelphia mayor’s office declined to comment on New Jersey’s offer or the status of its own negotiations.

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At an unrelated event in suburban Philadelphia on Tuesday, Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro said the team wants to remain in Philadelphia and that he hasn’t been asked for tax incentives or offered any.

“I love the Sixers,” he said. “They belong in Philadelphia.”

The team’s move to a part of the city a block from Chinatown comes as some in the community worry that street parking could disappear, traffic could rise and it could be harder to hold festivals.

New Jersey’s offer comes just months after the state’s attorney general filed criminal racketeering charges against a Camden Democratic power broker as well as a former mayor of the city and others over what he said was their role in orchestrating tax incentive legislation and benefiting from it. He and the others have denied the charges and are fighting them in court.