Ex-Apollo Partner Abrams Joins 76ers Parent as Investment Chief

(Bloomberg) -- Investment banker David Abrams, a former partner at Apollo Global Management, has been named head of investments for the parent company of the Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Devils.

The position reunites Abrams, 52, with Apollo co-founder Josh Harris, who is the managing partner of the NBA’s 76ers and NHL’s Devils. The company, Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, also owns the Devils’ arena, Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.

Abrams will lead Harris Blitzer’s effort to build on its portfolio of startups with complementary investments in sports, technology, media and entertainment, reporting to Chief Executive Officer Scott O’Neil. He’ll also seek to attract capital for investment in early-stage companies.

Abrams spent 2006-14 with Apollo, founding its European Principal Finance Funds franchise. He joined Harris Blitzer informally last year and assisted with the merger of its esports franchise, Dignitas, with Clutch Gaming in a deal that included raising $30 million and the formation of a new company, New Meta Entertainment.

The venture arm of Harris Blitzer led investments in HomeCourt, which uses artificial intelligence to analyze basketball shots, and FEVO, an interface for groups booking tickets and live experiences.

Harris Blitzer’s umbrella also includes the Sixers Innovation Lab, an accelerator that supports early-stage consumer-products companies like Hydrant, a sports-drink mix, and U.GG, an esports platform that uses data and statistics.

Abrams also was a senior managing director for Cerberus Capital Management. Prior to Apollo, he was a managing director in the leveraged finance group of Credit Suisse Group AG.

To contact the reporter on this story: Scott Soshnick in New York at ssoshnick@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Nick Turner at nturner7@bloomberg.net, John J. Edwards III, Rob Golum

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