October 06, 2026
Colleen Claggett/for PhillyVoice
Memorabilia and sports betting company Fanatics, owned by former Sixers part owner Michael Rubin, is footing the bill for LeBron James' helicopter travel between Philadelphia and New York City this season.
LeBron James' helicopter travel between Philadelphia and New York for Sixers games and practices will be fully covered by Fanatics, the sports merchandise brand and betting platform owned by former Sixers part-owner Michael Rubin, according to a report from Front Office Sports.
James, who is living in New York City while playing for the Sixers, has had a trading card and memorabilia deal with Fanatics since January 2024. One of the perks of the endorsement deal is access to Fanatics' corporate aviation, including its choppers.
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After a few recent practices, James has been seen leaving the Philly area in a Fanatics-branded helicopter.
Leaving Sixers practice today. As LeBron walked outside toward the building. Two plus two? pic.twitter.com/YRRYZRVG1X
— Dana O'Neil (@DanaONeilWriter) September 29, 2026
The helicopter LeBron James is using to commute from Philadelphia to NYC has made a dozen roundtrips between the two cities in the past week.
— Front Office Sports (@FOS) October 5, 2026
James is flying in a Fanatics helicopter, which he has access to in his deal with the company, a spokesperson for him confirmed to FOS.
A spokesperson for James confirmed the arrangement with Front Office Sports on Tuesday.
"The deal we signed with Fanatics almost three years ago includes access to their corporate aviation," the spokesperson said. "It's a feature in many of their deals with their largest athletes and we appreciate their partnership as LeBron splits his time between New York and Philadelphia."
The value of James' deal with Fanatic has not been made public, and Fanatics did not respond to a request for comment on James' use of the company's helicopter. Flight records viewed by Front Office Sports show the chopper has made a dozen round-trip flights between the two cities in the past week.
In July, New York-based charter service Wings Air Helicopters told PhillyVoice that a round-trip flight between Philly and New York City typically costs about $12,000. Using the benchmark of 41 home games for the Sixers and 26 home practices last season, the cost for James' travel would be about $804,500 this season if he paid for the flights himself. That's roughly one-fifth of James' $3.9 million base salary for the first year of the veterans minimum contract he signed to join the Sixers.
James' partnership with Fanatics started while he was still a member of the Los Angeles Lakers. He signed another short-term deal with the Lakers after his deal with Fanatics started.
Rubin became a part-owner of the Sixers in 2011 when the team was purchased by Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment. He sold his 10% stake in 2022 amid Fanatics' expansion into the sports betting market. The NBA's rules prohibit team owners from operating a sports betting business, and Rubin's continued ownership would have posed conflicts of interest related to endorsement deals with athletes elsewhere in the NBA.
When Rubin left the Sixers, he said he intended to maintain his close relationships with HBSE and Sixers players, including Joel Embiid.
"I'll probably go to less games, but when there's something going down that's massive, I'll stop what I'm doing to help," Rubin told Fox Sports in 2022. "That's who I am. That's what I like doing."
Not long after James signed with Fanatics, Rubin spoke openly about his exit from team ownership while speaking at that year's MIT Sloan Conference in Boston. He said the growth of Fanatics resulted in him "violating every rule that the NBA had" once the company started taking bets.
"It was holding back Fanatics," Rubin said.
James has earned nearly $600 million during his 24-year NBA career and last month agreed to an endorsement deal with prediction market Polymarket that will pay about $15 million annually and centers strictly on promoting the NFL and other football-related events.
