Fifteen months ago, Josh Harris was positioning himself to become the next majority owner of the Washington Commanders.
At that time, Jason Bishop of “The Sports Junkies” on 106.7 The Fan claimed he had a source who did not think so highly of how Harris was running the Philadelphia 76ers. Bishop continued, “I’ve got a well-placed source — and I won’t say who — that said, ‘Josh Harris, if he is the one who gets the team, is super-duper cheap.’”
Also, on March 22, 2023, we wrote about how Kevin Sheehan had a guest, Eben Novy-Williams of Sportico, state on his program that “Josh Harris is a notorious value investor. He has been a runner-up in some of the biggest sports team sales in history because he is not someone who raises his price to get an asset.”
Now that 15 months have passed, what have we learned?
Novy-Williams was not saying Harris is cheap. He was saying that Harris would not lose money by ignoring the purchasing price he set in his mind. By the way, what is wrong with that? Why should someone spend more money to only purchase a franchise, when they are going to need to use much money for wise investments involving the business operations?
As to Harris being “cheap” and not spending money in ways to help the 76ers, how has Harris invested in and managed the Commanders in his first year as owner?
When Harris took the reins, the Ashburn facility was absurdly behind most other NFL franchises’ facilities. When the NFLPA grades for the Commanders’ facilities, locker room, training room and stadium came back as abysmal, Harris boldly responded, “I am not an F-minus guy.”
The Commanders announced plans to spend upward of $75 million to upgrade their playing stadium and Ashburn team facilities.
Even the unused turf practice field in Ashburn, which had sat idle for years, was removed in recent weeks.
Perhaps Bishop’s source regarding how Harris is managing and investing in the 76ers was mistaken?
Harris is clearly investing much more into the franchise than did the previous owner, Daniel Snyder. Harris is addressing the many issues he inherited. He is shelling out huge amounts of money to improve the resources for the Commanders.
Josh Harris is not cheap.