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.
Sources told ESPN that Wyc Grousbeck will continue as the franchise’s CEO and governor through the 2027-28 season, which was part of the family’s plan when it announced its intention to sell the team last year.
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The group led by Chisholm, a lifelong Celtics fan who was born and raised in the Boston area, includes Boston business executives and philanthropists Rob Hale — a current Celtics owner — and Bruce A. Beal, Jr., sources told ESPN.
The Grousbeck family, which has owned the Celtics since 2002, announced last June that it intended to sell a majority interest of the franchise in 2024 or 2025, with the balance closing in 2028.
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.
