A group led by Bill Chisholm, managing partner at Symphony Technology Group, has agreed to purchase the Boston Celtics for a valuation of $6.1 billion, sources told ESPN’s Shams Charania.
That price would surpass the $6.05 billion price a group led by Josh Harris paid to buy the NFL’s Washington Commanders in 2023 as the most paid for a franchise in North American sports history, and would easily surpass the record number for the control stake of an NBA team, which was set two years ago when Mat Ishbia bought the Phoenix Suns for $4 billion.
The Celtics — who surpassed their forever rivals, the Los Angeles Lakers, with their 18th NBA title last June when they beat the Dallas Mavericks in five games in the NBA Finals — began the sale process shortly thereafter, when the team’s controlling ownership group — Boston Basketball Partners, LLC, a group led by co-owners Wyc Grousbeck and Steve Pagliuca since 2002 — stunned the basketball world by announcing it would be selling the controlling stake in the franchise after more than two decades of stable ownership of one of the most iconic franchises in North American sports.
The Grousbeck-Pagliuca group purchased the Celtics for $360 million in 2002. Pagliuca acknowledged the sale Thursday in a statement posted to social media, saying he made a strong push to purchase the Celtics from the Grousbeck family and that he is “saddened to find out that we have not been selected in the process.”
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