Joshua Harris Is a Terrible Owner
April 14, 2025
After dealing last week with the foibles of an otherwise good sports owner, Jeff Lurie, this seems as good a time as any to discuss a truly bad one, Joshua Harris.
Since buying the Sixers in 2011, Harris has presented a team that purposely lost games for one extended period (2013-17) and one brief one (2025). He offered no rebates during these droughts, and in fact had no reluctance to keep raising ticket prices for the team’s loyal fan base.
Over his 14 years as owner, the Sixers have finished first in the conference once and have never made it to the conference finals. They have a composite regular-season record under Harris of 515-571 – 56 miserable games under .500.
This season, after an insane $400-million off-season investment in an over-the-hill Paul George and an increasingly fragile Joel Embiid, the Sixers just finished with a horrific 24-58 record.
When the Process was unfolding, no one predicted that the Sixers would be tanking again during the prime years of the top players in four consecutive drafts. Yet there they were again, desperately trying to lose for a more favorable spot in the draft.
Were the fans hoodwinked?
Does Harris care at all that The Process is just another broken promise in his infuriating tenure?
Yes, they were.
And no, he couldn’t care less.
The best way to evaluate Harris – who also owns the New Jersey Devils and Washington Commanders – is to define the qualities inherent in the very best owners.
By far, of course, the team needs to win. The best owners find a way to win, usually by committing to success in the standings the same way they laser-focused on their ledger sheet as they rose to billionaire status.
Accessibility is important, too, at least to fans. When something goes wrong, it’s essential that the owner owns the problem. Honesty goes a long way with fans, even in times of failure. They want accountability. They want to know that the money they spent on tickets to watch a bad team is a matter of serious concern at the top levels of the organization.
Then there’s involvement in the community. The best owners are not just attached to a sports team; they become part of the culture of the city, offering the same kind of generosity to important neighborhood projects that they do to their best players.
And finally, sports owners need to be fans of their team themselves. They need to live and die with every game the way the most ardent fans are. After a brutal loss, a fan derives some solace from the idea that the guy in charge is suffering, too.
Joshua Harris is none of these things. It’s hard to recall a Philadelphia sports owner who connected less with the city than this entitled, money-obsessed ingrate.
I knew Harris would be a bad fit for Philadelphia in the very early days of his tenure, when a story surfaced about how he ruined a kids’ soccer game in North Jersey by landing his personal helicopter on the field, sending the young players running for cover.
What I didn’t know then (but did suspect) was that the only scoreboard Harris cares about is his own bottom line. According to Forbes Magazine, his net worth is an estimated $11.2 billion. In the only sport that matters to him, he has built a dynasty.
On the field, court and ice, Joshua Harris is not so dominant. In fact, none of his teams has ever won a championship. That’s 13 seasons with the Sixers, 11 with the Devils and two with the Commanders.
In short, he is 0 for 26 as an owner of American sports franchises.
The sad truth is, none of his U.S. teams has ever even played for a championship. They rarely get past the first two rounds of the playoffs. Most often, they never make it to the dance at all.
What does Harris have to say about the contrast between his success in business and failure in sports?
Who knows? He has never respected the fans enough to make himself available, except when he was trying to build box office with a high-profile signing or hoping to squeeze a few more millions out of the city or a business partner.
I have never liked Harris. (I don’t know anyone who does, actually.) But my revulsion hit a new low a couple of months ago when he played a high-stakes game of bait-and-switch with the city of Philadelphia and Comcast.
To get a sweeter deal for a new arena at the sports complex, Harris dragged the innocent people of Chinatown through a years-long charade that he was going to build a sports palace in their neighborhood.
After he had made a fool out of Philly Mayor Cherelle Parker – who backed the Chinatown project only to support the vital voting bloc of the Building Trades Union – Harris squeezed a highly favorable new deal out of Comcast to build the arena in South Philadelphia.
The long battle is over now, but Joshua Harris will always be a villain in Chinatown, for good reason. He lied to them. He lied to everyone.
Harris rarely speaks, so I guess he doesn’t remember, or care about, those few times when he does choose to address the state of his franchises.
For example, I doubt he recalls what he said 14 years ago when he took over the Sixers. First, he tried to sell the fans on his strong ties to the area because he had attended Penn. Then he outlined his commitment to the franchise and to the city.
“This is a personal investment,” he said. “I’m going to live and breathe this. I’ll be down here for the games. I’m going to try to be very involved with the city of Philadelphia. . . . Our goal, make no mistake of it, is to create a world-class franchise and win a world championship.”
Less than two years later, he was making similar promises to New Jersey when he bought the Devils, and last year he gushing over his deep personal ties to Washington when he took over the Commanders.
Harris’ true feelings came into full view at the NFC championship game last winter, when he proudly cheered on his new NFL franchise – and rooted openly against the Eagles. That’s right. A Philadelphia sports owner rooted publicly against a Philadelphia sports franchise.
He got what he deserved that day, and so did his team. Harris got booed, and the Commanders lost.
My educated guess is, Harris recovered from the defeat very quickly. He just checked his bank account, and all was well again.
Philadelphia has had more than its share of rotten owners over the years.
The Eagles had penny-pincher Norman “Bottom Line” Braman and bon vivant Leonard “Double Down” Tose.
Comcast Spectacor has been majority owner of the Flyers for the past 29 years, with no zero parades.
The Phillies have a solid owner now, John Middleton, but before that it was a committee of rich people with no clue how to run a sports organization.
In any event, it clear now that there is a new champion in the race to the bottom among owners of Philadelphia sports franchises.
The worst owner in our history is Joshua Harris.
Congratulations, Joshua.
You finally won something.