The Boston Celtics won their 18th NBA championship in the 2023-2024 season.
The team could be under new ownership soon, with the owners looking to move on after guiding the team to two championships and locking up several star players long-term.
What Happened: Investors have limited options when it comes to adding public sports teams to their portfolio. Those with deep pockets often wait until a top sports team goes up for sale. Today, one of the most storied National Basketball Association franchises of all time is on the auction block.
Boston Basketball Partners announced they plan to sell a majority stake in the team in 2024 or early 2025.
"The controlling family of the ownership group, after considerable thought and internal discussion, has decided to sell the team for estate and family planning considerations," the team said.
The team expects to sell the majority interest in 2024 or 2025 and would sell the remaining stake in 2028. The Celtics would have venture capitalist Wyc Grousbeck, who leads Boston Basketball Partners, remain as the Governor of the team until the second closing in 2028.
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Why It's Important: Grousbeck and several other investors bought the Celtics for $360 million in 2002. The investors bought the team from the Gaston family at the time, who had owned the team since 1983.
Under Grousbeck and the other investors, the Celtics won two NBA titles (2008, 2024).
The sale comes with some interesting timing. Along with the sale coming after the recent championship, the sale comes as the Celtics recently locked up several players to massive deals.
The Celtics signed Jayson Tatum to a five-year $314 million extension Monday. The deal is the largest contract in NBA history. Tatum, who averaged 26.9 points and 8.1 rebounds, is considered one of the best NBA players in the game today and a key to the 2024 championship.
The team also locked up Derrick White with a four-year $125.9 million extension Monday.
Tatum's record-breaking contract passes the Celtics' Jaylen Brown who signed a five-year $304 million contract last summer.
For the 2024-2025 season, the Celtics have the 10th highest payroll at $208.6 million, as reported by Spotrac. The team ranks first for the 2025-2026 season at $254.3 million.
The NBA salary cap is $140.6 million for the 2024-2025 season with teams over the cap owing a luxury tax for every dollar over. This means whoever owns the team is responsible for paying out salaries to players and extra penalties for the record-breaking contracts.
The sale of the Celtics could break the NBA record and be one of the most valuable sports team sales of all time.
Forbes valued the Celtics at $4.7 billion last year, ranking fourth among NBA teams and trailing only the Golden State Warriors ($7.7 billion), New York Knicks ($6.6 billion) and Los Angeles Lakers ($6.4 billion).
The Phoenix Suns were recently sold to Mat Ishbia at an NBA record sales price of $4 billion. The Dallas Mavericks were valued at $3.5 billion with Mark Cuban selling a majority stake to casino magnate Miriam Adelson. The record sale for a North American sports team was the Washington Commanders (NFL) at $6.1 billion.
A large sale price for the Celtics could put several stocks in the spotlight. Madison Square Garden Sports MSGS owns the New York Nicks. Blue Owl Capital OWL owns stakes in the Atlanta Hawks, Charlotte Hornets and Sacramento Kings through its Dyal HomeCourt Partners segment.
What's Next: Grousbeck told the Associated Press the team is "committed to finding a worthy incoming ownership group who will guide the Celtics to more decades of success."
"There will be a thoughtful and thorough process to find a buyer that recognizes the importance of Celtic Pride on the court and in the community," Grousbeck said.
Cllct co-founder and former sports business reporter Darren Rovell tweeted that there is already a new owner lined up.
"Signing $430 million in contracts on the day you announce you are selling the team only means one thing: You know who the next owner is,” he said. “No responsible business person would pile that debt without approval from who is next,"
Sports reporter Joe Pompliano responded with a potential take: "I think the more obvious sign is that they said it will be a 4-year, multi-step transaction in their press release today. You wouldn't do that unless someone else had already agreed to that.”
Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy expressed interest in buying the Celtics "if anybody has tens of billions" he can have.
The Celtics are the favorites to win back-to-back NBA championships, listed with odds of +295 at sportsbook DraftKings Inc DKNG.
Tatum has odds of +1,800 to be the 2025 NBA MVP, ranking seventh among players.
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