76ers Buying, Giving Away Tickets to Prevent Another Knicks Takeover
The Philadelphia 76ers are doing whatever it takes to keep the Wells Fargo Center from being annexed as an unofficial sixth borough by New York Knicks fans.
The day after a stunning overtime Game 5 win in New York, the Sixers hope to avoid another embarrassing takeover of the Knicks’ faithful in their own arena. On Wednesday afternoon, former 76ers investor and Fanatics CEO Michael Rubin said he and the team’s governors, Josh Harris and David Blitzer, have purchased up to 2,000 tickets themselves and are giving them away to Philadelphia-based organizations as well as the area’s first responders to pack the house full of Sixers fans.
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Josh Harris, David Blitzer, @david_adelman and I just bought more than 2,000 tix for Sixers Game 6 – we absolutely CANNOT let Knicks fans take over our arena again!!! Giving them to first responders, health care professionals and other local Philadelphia-based organizations once… https://t.co/HQkOWJpHgB
— Michael Rubin (@michaelrubin) May 1, 2024
The informal blockade of Knicks fans comes after a sizable contingent of orange-and-blue clad visitors were heard loud and clear during the Knicks’ Game 4 win on Sunday, prompting 76ers star Joel Embiid to call out the fan base for their relatively poor turnout. Knicks fans were also heavily present during Game 3 last Friday night, though they were largely muted because of Embiid’s 50-point outing, including his dominant second half, in the 76ers’ 125-114 win.
“Disappointing,” Embiid said after Game 4 of the large Knicks crowd. “I love our fans. I think it’s unfortunate. I’m not calling them out, but it is disappointing. Obviously you’ve got a lot of Knicks fans, and they’re down the road, but I’ve never seen it. I’ve been here 10 years.
“It kind of pisses me off, especially because Philly is considered a sports town. They’ve always shown up and I don’t think that should happen. It’s not OK.”
Philadelphia was one of 12 NBA teams that sold out all their home games in the 2023-24 regular season, which ended on April 14. (The NBA itself touted record attendance across the league.) The 20,478-seat Wells Fargo Center, which opened in 1996 as the CoreStates Center, ranks second in capacity in the NBA, behind only Chicago’s United Center.
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