The NBA has been slow to expand largely because it is waiting to see how the sale of the Boston Celtics goes in hopes of setting a record price for a franchise and thereby increasing the entry fee charged to new owners are looking to get into the league.
It looks like the league office is getting its wish: At least four (and maybe five) offers from potential new owners — with a final sales price of more than $6 billion — are expected when the Boston Celtics’ first-round pick Sales process ends in January. 23, reports Michael Silverman of the Boston Globe. From this first group of four or five, two bidders will be selected in February and will undergo a final round of tenders. However, if any of the bids in the first round are “fulfilled [Grousbeck family] Expectations” that could end the process. The Celtics are owned by the Grousbeck family, with Wyc Grousbeck serving as majority owner and governor of the franchise.
This sounds like something the Grousbecks wanted to reveal in the days leading up to the first bids to drive up the price. It may all be true, but the timing of the news is at least interesting.
Although the bidders are not public, we know that Steve Pagliuca, the current owner of the minority team, is leading a consortium that is making a bid. Fenway Sports Group, which includes the MLB’s Boston Red Sox, the NHL’s Pittsburgh Penguins and the English Premier League’s Liverpool Football Club, is also expected to make a bid.
The Grousbeck family surprised many people by announcing they were selling the team shortly after the Celtics won the 2024 NBA title.
However, most members of the Grousbeck family apparently saw this as an opportunity to sell at a high price. When discussing his reasons for selling his majority stake in the Dallas Mavericks, Mark Cuban said that NBA ownership was shifting from a technology play to more of a real estate play, with the teams and new arenas serving as anchors for much larger development plans (The Cuban said it wasn’t his specialty).
The new owners, whoever they are, will take over a team that is contending for the title but faces difficult financial decisions going forward. The 2025-26 Celtics roster (as constructed) will likely cost more than $500 million in salaries and luxury tax penalties, a level that is unsustainable for almost no owner.