The 76ers take the plunge

11:58 AMWe should have known it would be them. The Philadelphia 76ers, the NBA team seemingly most bereft of any type of talent or plan for the future in recent seasons, announced Monday that StubHub’s logo will appear on their game jerseys in 2016-17, according to ESPN’s Darren Rovell.

On two levels, this is both confusing and appropriate. For one, the Sixers recently overhauled their uniforms with a bit of a retro look that was fantastic. Now, they’re adding the sponsor, which is not exactly invasive and we thought that was the whole point. If nobody can see the sponsor, why bother? At least they adjusted the color scheme to the team colors.

Oddly, this ends up being an advertisement that psychologically might work against both partners. The Sixers’ ticket prices aren’t particularly high at the Wells Fargo Center. According to Statista, the average ticket price for the 2015-16 season was $38.46. That’s 24th out of 30, which for a team that finished dead last in the Eastern Conference and barely got to double-digit wins, makes sense.

But even with those low prices, it’s not like people are showing up. The Sixers ranked 28th overall in average attendance at home. On the road, they move up to 24th, but overall their attendance percentage is lowest in the league at 81.7 percent. Back in April, Sam Hinkie stepped down as general manager, taking The Process with him. Joel Embiid has been a disaster and Jahlil Okafor still has some growing up to do. Discounted tickets from a fan share site don’t seem to matter when it comes to putting butts in the seats.

If this is new team president Bryan Colangelo’s plan to get people interested in the team again, it’s a heavy lift. Good thing the Sixers have a 25 percent chance of winning the NBA Draft Lottery.