76ers Owner Harold Katz, who bought the team for $12M in
'81, says it has made money each of the 14 seasons since,
according to the PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER. Michael Sokolove writes
figures obtained from the NBA, as well as sources with knowledge
of Katz's finances, "support that claim." He adds that Katz's
pre-tax profits in recent years were as much as $2M. That the
76ers can be even a "modest money-maker" is "a testament to the
great success of the NBA," writes Sokolove. They show a team can
turn a profit while "doing poorly at the gate." In '94-95, the
76ers ranked 25th in per-game attendance and made about $10.7M in
ticket sales. The team's bottom line was helped by $6.5M in
local TV revenue, $10.2M from the NBA's national TV contract,
$600,000 from the NBA's international TV contract, and $4M from
their share of NBA-licensed products. In addition, the team will
receive $9.26M for their share of the expansion fees paid by
Toronto and Vancouver. Sokolove writes that the franchise "is
about to soar" as they begin to play in the new CoreStates Center
(PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, 11/19).
