76ers' Josh Harris, David Blitzer Reportedly Acquired Stake in Pittsburgh Steelers
Philadelphia 76ers Managing Partners Josh Harris and David Blitzer have extended their sports ownership portfolios this year. In addition to having ownership in NBA's 76ers and NHL's New Jersey Devils, Harris and Blitzer have also reportedly bought a small percentage of NFL's Pittsburgh Steelers, according to a report from Bloomberg's Erik Schatzker.
"Josh Harris and David Blitzer acquired a stake of less than 5% in the Pittsburgh Steelers earlier this year, according to two people familiar with the transaction," Schatzker wrote on Monday morning. "While no details on price were available, the pair of financiers may have paid as much as $140 million, based on the $2.8 billion value Forbes estimated for the NFL franchise last September."
The two Sixers Managing Partners might've expanded their sports business operation this year, but the report indicates that Harris and Blitzer won't have much say in decision-making processes for the Steelers as they are "passive investors" with "no input on operations."
Buying their way into the NFL is surprising, but not shocking. Just last week, a report from Variety indicated that Harris and Blitzer have been looking into other opportunities to acquire an ownership stake in another sports team. Except for they weren't looking at the NFL. Instead, Harris and Blitzer have been considering buying MLB's New York Mets.
The Mets have been available for purchase for quite some time now. While they had a bidder, who was ready to strike a deal, everything eventually fell through. Now, it is believed that Harris and Blitzer are looking into potentially swooping up the struggling franchise as they did with the Sixers back in 2011.
Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him on Twitter: @JGrasso_