After eight years as CEO of Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, the parent company that owns the Philadelphia 76ers and the New Jersey Devils, Scott O'Neil has stepped down, he announced Wednesday.
"I would like to thank Josh Harris and David Blitzer for inspiring, engaging and empowering me to bring together the most talented executive team in sports and entertainment," O’Neil said (via NBA.com). "Josh and David are extraordinary leaders, partners and friends. Their commitment to our teams, brands, employees – and most importantly – their commitment to serving the City of Philadelphia, Newark and Camden – made our success together possible. To be trusted with the opportunity to steward epic brands – as well as buy, build, integrate, acquire, and grow complimentary businesses to create HBSE as it is today – has been the ride of a lifetime, one for which I am humbled and grateful.
"HBSE is the best organization I have ever been a part of, with the highest degree of difficulty I have ever encountered, and the most fun I have ever had, because every day brought a new opportunity to learn and develop. This company has grown through a culture of extraordinary teammates willing to be innovative, having the discipline to do the work, and a courage to lead from the front. While I thoroughly enjoyed every moment of my time here, I am even more excited to build, grow, and drive my next platform."
O'Neil says he does not have a specific opportunity lined up as of now, though the former president of Madison Square Garden Sports is looking to pursue other opportunities, with a focus on sports, entertainment, media and technology. According to Marcus Hayes of The Inquirer, O'Neil is also selling his silent limited partnership in the team and HBSE.
"I’m not riding off into the sunset," O’Neil said in an interview (via Scott Soshnick and Even Novy-Williams of Sportico). "I like big opportunity.”
Among his accomplishments with the 76ers were overseeing The Process, making the Sixers the first team to include a sponsorship logo on uniforms, opening the team's practice facility in Camden in 2016 and much more for HBSE as a whole.
"I'm leaving because it's time," O'Neil said over the phone (via Dan Gelston of The Associated Press). "I remember what it was like when we first walked in here, and to think we've grown this business, over $2 billion in value over six times in eight years, that's what I do. Hypergrowth, super growth. I think that the right person coming in here will be a wonderful steward of this brand for years.
"But I think I've done what I came here to do."
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