Bill Chisholm, managing partner at Symphony Technology Group, has agreed to purchase the Boston Celtics from the Grousbeck family for $6.1 billion, sources told ESPN.
It marks the largest sale for a franchise in North American sports history, surpassing the NFL’s Washington Commanders being sold for $6.05 billion in 2023.
The Grousbeck family announced last June that it intended to sell a majority interest of the Celtics in 2024 or 2025, with the balance closing in 2028. The family also said it expected Wyc Grousbeck “to remain as the Governor of the team until the second closing in 2028.”
Grousbeck reiterated that plan in November, saying he planned to continue running the Celtics for the next three years. The Grousbeck family has owned the Celtics since 2002.
Since the Grousbeck-led group Boston Basketball Partners purchased the team, the Celtics have consistently been among the NBA’s best teams. In that time, they have won two championships — including the title last year with a five-game victory over the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA Finals — and reached the NBA Finals on two other occasions.
Grousbeck and partner Steve Pagliuca led a group that purchased the Celtics in 2002 for $360 million.
Franchise valuations have since skyrocketed, with the Phoenix Suns being sold for $4 billion to Mat Ishbia in February 2023, the Milwaukee Bucks being sold to Jimmy and Dee Haslam for $3.5 billion several weeks later, and the Mavericks being sold to the Adelson and Dumont families for $3.5 billion in December 2023.
The Celtics are one of the iconic franchises in professional sports, with an NBA record 18 NBA titles — trailing only the New York Yankees (27) and Montreal Canadiens (24) among all North American professional sports leagues.
ESPN’s Tim Bontemps contributed to this report.
