Boston, MA – October 22: The Boston Celtics 2024 World Championship banner is raised to the rafters … More of TD Garden. (Photo by Erin Clark/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
Boston Globe via Getty Images
Thursday marked the dawn of a new era for the Boston Celtics. A group led by William Chisholm purchased the franchise for $6.1 billion, per ESPN’s Shams Charania. It’s the most expensive sale of a North American sports team.
That distinction previously belonged to a group led by Josh Harris, who paid $6.05 billion to purchase the NFL’s Washington Commanders.
Chisholm is co-founder of the private equity firm Symphony Technology Group [STG]. They’re known for investments in software and other technology businesses. STG raised $4.2 billion in 2023, per investing.com. They manage more than $10 billion in total assets.
The Celtics’ new majority owner is a Georgetown, Massachusetts native. Chisholm attended Dartmouth College and received his MBA from Wharton, the University of Pennsylvania’s prestigious business school.
He describes himself as a “rabid fan” of the hometown team he just purchased.
“This process to buy the team started just under 50 years ago when I had my 7th birthday and attended a game at the old Boston Garden,” Chisholm shared with Charania. “I was hooked ever since. I’ve been a rabid fan ever since. I bleed green. I love the Celtics. When this opportunity came up, I couldn’t pass it up. Wyc [Grousbeck]
has done an incredible job running this franchise. So, why would you mess that up? The team is in a great place right now, and I’m very sensitive to that. Wyc, Brad [Stevens], and Joe [Mazzulla] have done amazing jobs, and that’s all goodness that we want to continue.”
“My approach is to win and raise banners,” Chisholm continued. “That’s in the near term and the long term. I’ve had a couple of sit-downs with Brad, and it’s been about aligning our goals and extending the window of this team. The plans that Wyc and Brad have laid out make perfect sense to me.”
Grousbeck conveyed the following about selling the controlling stake in the Celtics to Chisholm.
“Bill is a terrific person and a true Celtics fan, born and raised here in the Boston area,” Grousbeck told Business Wire. “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. I know he appreciates the importance of the Celtics and burns with a passion to win on the court while being totally committed to the community. Quite simply, he wants to be a great owner.
Grousbeck also shared, “He has asked me to run the team as CEO and Governor for the first three years and stay on as his partner, and I am glad to do so.”
Grousbeck and Steve Pagliuca led Boston Basketball Partners, LLC, which purchased the Celtics for $360 million in 2002. Last June, Boston Basketball Partners, LLC, announced their intention to sell the controlling stake of the franchise.
“That news came on the heels of winning their 18th NBA championship, breaking a tie with their rivals, the Los Angeles Lakers, for the most in league history. Five of the latter’s NBA titles came while the franchise resided in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Pagliuca, who was also in the running to become the Celtics’ majority owner, said in a statement about the franchise sale that his group made a “fully guaranteed offer at a record price.” He also noted that did not include debt or private equity money “that would potentially hamstring our ability to compete in the future.”
The NBA’s reigning champions are staring down the prospect of fielding the most expensive roster in league history. The Celtics have $445 million in projected salary and tax penalties in 2025-26. That figure could exceed $500 million when the roster gets filled out.
The willingness to pay what it takes to keep at least most of the Celtics’ roster together becomes the primary question facing Chisholm, along with a new ownership group that includes Boston business executives and philanthropists Rob Hale [a current Celtics owner] and Bruce A. Beal, Jr., president of Related Companies, as well as Sixth Street, a global investment firm.
How Boston, who is 50-19, second in the Eastern Conference and third in the NBA standings, fares in their title defense could influence which players return next season.
