ESPN NBA

PHILADELPHIA -- The 76ers are not for sale.

Comcast-Spectacor said Friday that it has decided to retain control of the NBA team after evaluating a possible sale or new partnership.

"Over the last summer, we were presented a variety of proposals involving the purchase of some or all of our interests in the team," Sixers chairman Ed Snider said. "When these parties came to us, it confirmed what we already knew, that the Sixers are a very valuable and popular franchise."

In August, Comcast-Spectacor hired the sports investment firm Galatioto Sports Partners to review possible sale proposals and evaluate future strategies, which could have included selling the team. Comcast-Spectator never said which suitors were interested in buying the team, nor did they reveal a potential selling price. Various Philadelphia news outlets reported that former Sixers legend Julius Irving and actor Will Smith were part of a group that was interested in buying the team.

"Now, after completing our review and in consultation with GSP, we have decided that the team is not for sale," Snider said. "Our review made it clear that all of the different companies operating under the Comcast-Spectacor umbrella are doing very well, and reinforced our long-standing belief that holding all of these synergistic opportunities under one roof, including the Sixers, continues to be the best way to move forward for the future."

Comcast-Spectacor is the Philadelphia-based sports and entertainment company which also owns the Philadelphia Flyers, the Philadelphia Phantoms (AHL), the two arenas in which their teams play, the Wachovia Center and Wachovia Spectrum, four Flyers Skate Zone community ice skating and hockey rinks and Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.