Gov. Phil Murphy said he knew the state’s efforts to bring the Sixers to Camden late last year were a long shot, but it was one worth taking, one that brought positive attention to the city — and one the city had earned the right to make.
Murphy, speaking at an event sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce of Southern New Jersey earlier this week in Atlantic City, compared the impact of the effort to the state’s push to bring Amazon’s HQ2 project to Newark, which happened at the beginning of his eight-year term.
“(The) cold-blooded assessment that we made, both before pitching for Amazon in Newark’s case and before pitching for the Sixers in Camden’s case, was that even if we lost — and the likelihood of losing was high in both cases; there was a meaningful non zero probability of success in both cases — it would say something positive: ‘Hey, these guys actually had a compelling case,’” he said.
Murphy said that opinion was offered by the leaders of Harris Blitzer Sports Entertainment, the owners of the Sixers (as well as the Devils, Prudential Center and other sports properties).
“To the credit of the Harris Blitzer folks in their professional management, they’ve all said really good things about Jersey generally, and about Camden specifically, since then,” Murphy said. “That’s obviously quite gratifying.”
The view was just one he offered about Camden during a 45-minute discussion aimed at summing up his efforts during his administration.
Murphy told the crowd of more than 100 that he had put an emphasis on South Jersey and was thrilled to see it paying off, especially in Camden, which he described as a city on the upswing in a big way.
“That’s not to say it’s perfect; it’s not to say it’s a straight line, but it is on fire,” he said, rattling off improvements in public safety, business development, transportation and education.
“It’s just rocking,” he said. “Not perfect, but it’s rocking.”
Murphy noted Cooper Health’s recent $3 billion Project Imagine expansion initiative, the total renovation of the Walter Rand Transportation Center, Holtec’s employment of city residents and the Strategic Innovation Center the N.J. Economic Development Authority established with the Coriell Institute for Medical Research earlier this year.
Eds and Meds are leading the way, Murphy said, but he noted it all goes back to efforts by the city to increase public safety, calling the decision over a decade ago that put the county in charge of policing a ‘Ground Zero Moment.’
“(I) love Philly, but if you look at the public safety record in Camden versus across from Delaware, it’s a stark contrast, and we should all make note of that,” he said. “A lot of folks in that community deserve a lot of credit for doing what’s going on there right now.”
The numbers bare it out.
In July, the Camden County Police Department reported that through the first six months of 2025, total crime is down 13% and violent crime declined by another 12% over the same time last year.
Homicides are down another 30% from this time last year, and aggravated assaults with a firearm are down 31%.
Crime rates are currently at the lowest number recorded, making 2025 “one of the best statistical half-year totals in the last 50 years,” the department said.
“I feel really good about where things are headed there,” Murphy said.
Good enough that he said he hopes the city still will be able lure a professional basketball team — noting Philly was just awarded a WNBA franchise.
“We had a really compelling, real shot at the Sixers,” he said. “I hope we’ll have a real shot at the WNBA side of their house.”
