Gov. Phil Murphy gave 76ers co-owner David Adelman a private tour of Camden site where N.J. officials hope to lure the team

Gov. Phil Murphy on Tuesday afternoon gave 76ers co-owner David Adelman a private tour of the Camden waterfront site where New Jersey officials are hoping to entice the team to build a new arena with the help of hundreds of millions in taxpayer subsidies.

The event was not on the governor’s public schedule, and it was intended to be closed to media. The private meeting comes at a delicate time in the 76ers’ more than four-year push to build its own home by the start of the 2031-32 season, when its lease expires at the Comcast Spectacor-owned Wells Fargo Center.

Since 2022, the team has been working to get approval from Philadelphia officials to build an arena in Center City, a controversial proposal opposed by the major neighborhood groups in the vicinity. The arena would sit atop SEPTA’s Jefferson Station, with a footprint from Market Street to Filbert Street and 10th Street to 11th Street.

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After two years of struggling to build support for the proposal, news broke in September that the team was considering an offer from New Jersey to build it on the other side of the Delaware River, on the site of a former prison immediately north of the Benjamin Franklin Bridge.

The New Jersey offer includes $400 million in state subsidies to build the arena and another $400 million for the 76ers to build a mixed-use development nearby. For the Philadelphia plan, the team has said it would not seek any taxpayer support from the city but is open to state and federal programs that could subsidize the project. Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro has said he opposes the state directing taxpayer money to the project.

But weeks after news of the New Jersey offer broke, Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle L. Parker endorsed the Center City proposal and revealed that she had struck a deal with the team to make it happen. The high-profile announcement gave the project a major political boost and made City Council approval by the end of the year a possibility.

» READ MORE: Mayor Cherelle Parker has unveiled the terms of the city’s deal with the Sixers to build a new arena

It’s unclear how the optics of Adelman continuing to explore the Camden site despite momentum for the Center City plan will affect negotiations with Philly officials.

Parker was not aware Adelman was touring the site with Murphy on Tuesday until being informed by a reporter. But she said she was “not surprised at all by New Jersey’s aggressive pursuit of our 76ers.”

“After all, they were just as aggressive in pursuing the team to move its practice facility to Camden,” Parker said in a statement, referring to the Camden facility the team opened in 2016 with the help of $82 million in New Jersey tax credits. “However, I will not be discouraged by this occurrence.”

A reporter who attended the walking tour uninvited was allowed to follow along from a distance.

“What you have over there looks good,” Adelman said at one point, pointing south from the site.

Later, a New Jersey official, exclaimed, “Shovel ready! Shovel ready!”

Toward the end of the tour, Murphy said to the group, “The more we know, the sharper the plan can be.”

The team has repeatedly pushed back its self-imposed deadline for winning Council approval for the Center City project and is now hoping to get it done by the end of 2024.

Asked if the 76ers would definitely build the arena in Philadelphia if Council approves — or if it would still consider other options, like Camden — Adelman said, “We’re always focused on Philadelphia, and we have a timeline to hit.”

After the event, a 76ers spokesperson said team representatives “joined Gov. Murphy and local and state officials to walk a potential arena site in Camden as part of our diligence on alternative opportunities for the future home of the 76ers.”

“We remain focused on advancing our proposal at Market East with City Council but are approaching critical deadlines to deliver a new arena by the start of the 2031-32 NBA season,” the spokesperson said. “As such, we must ensure we have suitable options for our franchise moving forward.”