Comcast-Spectacor in talks to sell Sixers

While they were not publicly known to be for sale, the Sixers could have a new ownership group at any moment. According to ESPN, Comcast-Spectacor is currently in talks with a group of investors to sell the Sixers. The group of investors is reportedly led by Joshua Harris, a New York-based leverage buyout specialist, and it also includes a few other partners backing him up.

This news comes out of nowhere as Ed Snider, who has controlled the Sixers for 15 years, never gave any indication that Comcast was looking to unload the Sixers. The sale could have something to do with the imminent NBA lockout, which is expected to be a long, drawn-out battle and would be a time where whoever owned the Sixers would not earn any money.

In regards to the Flyers, the other team owned by Comcast-Spectacor, I wouldn't read anything into the Sixers being sold. The Flyers are still Ed Snider's first love and they seem to be making plenty of money for the owners.

Whether the sale of the Sixers to a new ownership group is good for the team is another question. Comcast-Spectacor is a large company with lots of branches so it might be nice to have a group of owners who can concentrate a little more closely on the on-court product. Of course, it all depends on how smart the new ownership group would be with their money and whether they would simply be looking to turn a profit or whether they wanted to build the best franchise possible regardless of cost. Let's hope for the latter.