NBA
The Boston Celtics will have a new owner for the first time in more than two decades and two NBA championships. Bill Chisholm, the managing partner of Symphony Technology Group (STG), will buy the franchise at a $6.1 billion valuation, Boston’s current ownership group announced Thursday.
The sale price is the largest for a North American sports franchise, topping the $6.05 billion a group led by Josh Harris paid for the NFL’s Washington Commanders and far surpassing the $4 billion valuation the Phoenix Suns got when Mat Ishbia bought the team in 2023. It could also set a new baseline for NBA team sales as the league weighs whether to expand and could push prices up for those potential new franchises.
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The deal still needs approval from the NBA’s Board of Governors.
“Bill is a terrific person and a true Celtics fan, born and raised here in the Boston area,” Wyc Grousbeck, the Celtics’ current governor and CEO, said in a statement. “His love for the team and the city of Boston, along with his chemistry with the rest of the Celtics leadership, make him a natural choice to be the next Governor and controlling owner of the team.
Chisholm, who said he has been “a die-hard Celtics fan my entire life,” grew up on Boston’s North Shore and attended Dartmouth College in New Hampshire. He specifically named team president Brad Stevens and coach Joe Mazzulla as partners he looks forward to working with.
Sixth Street, a private equity firm, is also buying a portion of the team and will put in more than $1 billion, an industry source said. The firm bought into the Spurs in 2021 and is now one of three firms with investments in multiple NBA franchises.
Grousbeck will remain in those roles through the 2027-2028 NBA season, he confirmed in the statement, and continue to oversee team operations.
Current Celtics minority owner Stephen Pagliuca and Philadelphia Phillies minority owner Stan Middleman were among the other bidders for the Celtics. Stevens met with the final four sales candidates in the final month preceding the sale, according to league sources.
Pagliuca had been considered the favorite by industry sources for the last few months.
“I recruited new partners with deep resources and expertise in technology and international markets to maximize the Celtics’ successes to ensure we can always compete for Championships, luxury taxes be damned,” Pagliuca said in a statement. “We made a fully guaranteed and financed offer at a record price, befitting the best sports fans in the world, and with all the capital coming from individuals who are fully committed to winning on and off the court.”
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Pagliuca, who has been a minority owner since partnering with the Grousbeck family in 2002, said his group had no debt or private equity money that could “potentially hamstring our ability to compete in the future.”
“We have felt it was the best offer for the Celtics. It is a bid of true fans, deeply connected to Boston’s community, and we’ve been saddened to find out that we have not been selected in the process.”
The Celtics went on sale last July, just days after the franchise won its latest NBA title. The Grousbeck-led group bought the Celtics for $360 million and now sells it for nearly 20 times as much. Jordan Park Group led the sales process as the financial advisor for the Grousbeck family, while Goldman Sachs was the financial advisor for the investor group led by Chisholm.
Boston is the ninth NBA team to have a controlling ownership sale since 2019, as team owners cash out for large returns.
Chisholm will take over the franchise when it is enjoying immense success but will also face difficult questions. The Celtics will exceed the luxury tax for the fourth straight season in 2025-26 if their payroll stays at or near its current level. With increasingly punitive repeater tax rates set to kick in next season as a part of the current collective bargaining agreement, keeping the current group together could mean a roster that costs more than $400 million in total payroll plus taxes.
“I trust Wyc and Pags and those guys in their decision,” Celtics star Jayson Tatum said Friday in Miami. “And understanding the culture that we’ve set and we have, and sustaining that and trying to make it better. We’ve got some great people in this organization and on this team and we’ve worked really hard to build something special. I trust that they’ll make the right decisions in whoever that next group is.”
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The Boston Globe first reported the news of the sale.
The long-term impact of the ownership shift couldn’t possibly be known yet but the stakes are high for the Celtics as they aim to maximize their championship window.
The overwhelming $400-plus million cost to keep the team together next season suggests big roster moves could be on the horizon, regardless of whether Joe Mazzulla’s team repeats as champions this summer. At a minimum, the franchise will need to make significant decisions on their future this offseason.
How will the new arrangement work with Grousbeck set to stay in charge through the end of the 2027-28 season? How much will the new ownership group, led by Chisolm, aim to change? How much willingness will the incoming and outgoing ownership groups show to bite the enormous luxury tax bill that would come with holding onto all of the key players?
A lot of questions still need to be answered. And those are big questions. —Jay King, Celtics writer
Chisholm is a co-founder of STG and grew up in Georgetown, Mass. He serves as the Managing Partner and Chief Investment Officer, leading the company’s investment portfolio. Creative software company Avid, based out of Boston suburb Burlington, is included in that portfolio as of 2023. STG also led a consortium that purchased SurveyMonkey in March 2023.
Chisholm has connections to the current Celtics ownership group, as STG previously sold background check solutions provider First Advantage to Silver Lake Partners, which was co-founded by Glenn Hutchins of the outgoing Celtics ownership group.
Chisholm also worked at Bain & Company, which has connections to Pagliuca’s Bain Capital, which was affiliated with Bain & Company early on. — Jared Weiss, NBA writer
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This sale is a breakthrough for the NBA, which has been openly considering expansion for some time and needed the Celtics to sell for a significant amount to catalyze adding more teams to the league. Las Vegas and Seattle have been considered front-runners for new franchises.
The Celtics breaking the U.S. sports franchise sale record gives the NBA validation in listing new franchises for a more significant expansion fee, which would then be distributed to the league’s owners.
Early in the sales process, league sources expressed concern the bidding was well under projections. Grousbeck and the ownership group eventually got what they wanted, even though the deal does not include the TD Garden, which is owned by Boston Bruins owner Jeremy Jacobs. — Weiss
(Photo: Brian Fluharty / Getty Images)
