Jeff Bezos 'Has No Plans' To Buy NBA's Boston Celtics, Could NFL Team Ownership Still Be In The Cards?

After winning the NBA Championship, the Boston Celtics were put up for sale.

But don’t count on billionaire Jeff Bezos placing a bid.

Podcaster Bill Simmons was the man behind the Bezos report on the bid for the Celtics. But sources close to Bezos told The Information there is "zero truth" in his buying the NBA team.

Wyc Grousbeck and several other investors bought the Celtics for $360 million in 2002. Today, the price tag is between $5 billion and $6 billion.

While Bezos might not buy an NBA team, he’s still rumored to be shopping for an NFL team. The Amazon.com Inc AMZN founder and executive chair has been selling shares of the company.

The sale could be done for several reasons, including to help pay the $25 million in annual operating costs for his superyacht. But it could also precede a bid on an NFL team like the NFL's Washington Commanders in his crosshairs.

The Commanders sold for a North American sports franchise-record $6.1 billion.

Bezos has also been linked to the Seattle Seahawks.

"Other owners have expressed a desire for Bezos to buy a team. Bezos could get that opportunity if he pursues the Seattle Seahawks. That team is expected to be sold in the coming years," a Washington Post report previously said.

The family of Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen owns the Seahawks. Before Allen’s death in 2018, he requested the team to be liquidated and the proceeds to go to philanthropic efforts.

While Bezos may have moved from Seattle to Florida, he will forever be linked to the Washington city that Amazon calls home. And the Seahawks could lure him back — at least on a part-time basis.

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The Celtics' owners plan on selling a majority stake in the team in 2024 or early 2025 with the rest of the team sold in 2028. With Bezos likely out of the running, the team will have to find another billionaire or investor group to buy the team, likely setting an NBA record in the process.

The current record sale price for an NBA franchise is $4 billion for the Phoenix Suns, with the Dallas Mavericks also recently valued at $3.5 billion with Mark Cuban selling a majority stake in the team.

Sportico values the Celtics at $5.12 billion, while the Seahawks have a valuation of $5.59 billion.

One potential question mark for the NBA or NFL to consider if Bezos bids on a team will be how his broadcasting partnership could be impacted.

Amazon has the NFL rights to "Thursday Night Football" games and has seen success in growing its live sports media rights. The company was recently part of the winning bidders for the rights to NBA games beginning with the 2025-2026 season.

Sports leagues would have to consider if his ownership was a conflict of interest and allowed with the current media deals as he remains chairman of Amazon. For Amazon shareholders, that’s likely a decision they hope isn’t made as an ultimatum of Bezos being chairman or the company losing media rights.

Bezos, who ranks the second-richest person worldwide by Bloomberg with a wealth of $202 billion, is no longer involved with day-to-day operations at Amazon.

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