The Philadelphia 76ers move to New Jersey is just about a done deal, team owner Harold Katz told The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Katz said Tuesday night he expects to announce this week the National Basketball Association team will move to New Jersey by the 1996-97 season, the newspaper reports in today's editions."We'll still be the Philadelphia 76ers," Katz said. "That's the corporate name and that's the name the league would prefer us to keep because of television contracts and various marketing reasons," Katz said.
Katz has been negotiating on and off with the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority for the past four years, while trying to cut a deal with Ed Snider, owner of the Philadelphia Flyers hockey team, for a new arena to replace the Spectrum, where both teams now play.
The New Jersey negotiations resumed in earnest when Snider backed out of an agreement for the new arena, Spectrum II, last month.