The last time the Philadelphia 76ers hosted the New York Knicks, the New York faithful made their voices heard at the Wells Fargo Center. The cheers for Knicks players were nearly as loud as the home crowd’s enthusiasm for their own favorites. The support for the orange and blue was audible on the broadcast and even got to Joel Embiid, who complained about Philly fans not showing up for Game 4.
The 76ers owners are willing to go to great lengths to ensure that doesn’t happen again.
On Wednesday it was reported that the team’s ownership group, consisting of Josh Harris, David Adelman, and David Blitzer, teamed up with Fanatics founder Michael Rubin to purchase over 2,000 tickets to Game 6 on Thursday evening. They plan to give out those tickets to essential workers in Philadelphia, which is obviously great and a lovely way to give back to the community.
But, as Rubin himself said, it also serves the dual purpose of taking tickets off the market for those dastardly Knicks fans who might be looking to make the Amtrak trip down from New York City.
This is, of course, one big PR stunt and really just a drop of water in an ocean since the Wells Fargo Arena capacity clocks in at 21,000. Which means there are still roughly 19,000 tickets to be purchased for any Knicks fan who really wants to go.
Nevertheless, this whole situation feels a lot like a teacher stepping after one kid whined that things weren’t fair. As Embiid pointed out, Philadelphia is widely recognized as one of the best sports towns in the country. The franchise superstar challenged the fanbase. Let them step up to the plate without the intervention of billionaires with endless pockets.
How successful the gambit ultimately is will be revealed at 9 p.m. ET tonight when Game 6 tips off between the Sixers and Knicks.
