Business owners in the Philadelphia region are “anticipating a revenue boost” with LeBron James donning a 76ers uniform. NBAE via Getty Images
Business owners in the Philadelphia region are “anticipating a revenue boost” with F LeBron James donning a 76ers uniform this season, according to John George of the PHILADELPHIA BUSINESS JOURNAL. More money “will be spent in the area” as James plays for Philadelphia “in search of another title.” The Sixers and owner Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment “stand to be the biggest beneficiaries.” The payoff “came quickly with an immediate surge in ticket and merchandise sales and has continued to grow with new corporate partnerships.” Then the Sixers inked a patch deal with Bloom Energy. Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment CEO Tad Brown said that when James signed with the team, “it just became this detonated atomic energy that has come into the market.” An analysis by Playfly Sports estimates television and streaming viewership of Sixers games “will increase 81% this season.” Playfly projects the anticipated rise in TV viewership “will yield a 115% jump in rates for advertising deals, which are typically sold on a quarterly or annual basis, for the upcoming season.” Playfly estimates that rates for new Sixers partnerships or renewals “are likely to rise by 51%” (PHILADELPHIA BUSINESS JOURNAL, 10/8).