The Philadelphia 76ers Are Reportedly Kicking Around The Idea Of A Move To Camden, New Jersey

It's been almost two years since the Philadelphia 76ers announced plans to build a privately funded arena with a price tag of $1.3 billion in downtown Philadelphia.

However, that plan hasn't exactly worked as they had hoped, with it drawing a lot of pushback from those who feel it would bring more than tax revenue, and now there's a report that they could be considering a move to the other side of the Delaware River where they'd set up shop in Camden New Jersey.

According to ROI-NJ.com's Tom Bergeron (not to be confused with Tom Bergeron of America's Funniest Home Videos) which cited anonymous sources, Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment and New Jersey officials have been talking about this possibility for as long as the last two months.

It makes quite a bit of sense given that HBSE owns the NHL's New Jersey Devils and their home arena the Prudential, plus Josh Harris and David Blitzethe— the "H" and "B" in HBSE — have relationships with New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy.

As if that wasn't enough to highlight why this might make some sense, the 76ers already have a presence in Camden. The team office and practice facilities are in Camden, which opened in 2016.

The 76ers already have offices and practice facilities in Camden. That's where this little statue of Allen Iverson is. (Photo by Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images)

So, there are definitely some New Jersey connections that could mean this is a "where there's smoke; there's fire" kind of situation.

The Sixers have called the City of Philadelphia home since relocating from Syracuse in the early 1960s.  They spent a few seasons playing at Philadelphia Convention Hall and then moved into the Spectrum in 1967, which they shared with the NHL's Philadelphia Flyers.

They've been on Broad Street in South Philadelphia ever since. Both the Sixers and Flyers relocated a few hundred yards south to their current arena, the Wells Fargo Center, in 1996.

That arena received significant renovations over the last few years.