LeBron James drives early ticket and merchandise demand for the 76ers

LeBron James 76ers ticket demand is showing up well before the regular season begins. StubHub says Philadelphia has climbed to first among NBA teams in tickets sold for home and road games, while Fanatics says James became its best-selling athlete after announcing his move to the Sixers.

For investors following the business of sports, the figures point to unusually strong interest in a team that is scheduled to open the season against the New York Knicks on Oct. 20. They do not, however, show how much additional ticket or merchandise revenue the 76ers have actually booked.

How much have 76ers ticket prices and sales changed?

StubHub said Sixers tickets for the 2026-27 season were selling at roughly seven times last year’s pace. The resale platform also said the franchise moved from 22nd to first in NBA ticket sales for home and away games, with ticket units sold running 11 times above the comparable point last year.

Tad Brown, chief executive of Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, the organization that operates the 76ers, said the team had seen a surge of people interested in season tickets. Brown did not disclose a sales total.

The buyer mix is changing, too, according to StubHub. More than four in 10 tickets sold for Sixers games went to buyers outside Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware, compared with about one in four at the same stage previously. Searches for Sixers games represented 38% of NBA-game searches on StubHub, up from 4% a year earlier.

Those sales and search figures measure activity on one resale platform, rather than the team’s full ticket business. CNBC’s report also cited TickPick data showing an average 2026 resale price of $282 for 76ers home games, versus $107 in the same sales window a year earlier. TickPick put the average price for the Knicks opener at $2,088, the highest in the league. A resale price is what buyers pay on the secondary market, not necessarily what the team received from the original ticket sale.

What does the merchandise data show?

Fanatics said July was the best-selling merchandise month of James’ 24-year career. The company also said that James became the top-selling athlete across its platform after he announced his Philadelphia move.

Fanatics, which owns Topps, said buyers purchased more than 200,000 Topps Now cards after the announcement. Topps Now cards are print-on-demand collectibles tied to sports moments, so the number reflects purchases rather than a predetermined production run.

A new sponsorship deal, with limits on what it proves

The 76ers also announced a multiyear jersey-patch agreement with Bloom Energy, replacing Crypto.com. An unnamed source told CNBC that the deal’s annual value exceeds $30 million. Bloom Energy founder and CEO KR Sridhar said the team’s offseason additions, including James, helped make the opportunity attractive.

That comment connects James’ arrival to Bloom’s interest, but it does not establish that he alone determined the deal’s value. The 76ers said the agreement includes a seven-figure community investment in Greater Philadelphia.

James said in July that he would join Philadelphia for his 24th NBA season. A Boyd Company estimate that his first full year could add $250 million to $430 million in regional economic activity remains a forecast, not realized economic impact. The available data comes from ticketing and merchandise platforms and team executives; no audited 76ers revenue figures have been disclosed.

This story draws on original reporting from CNBC.