Back in 2002, the Boston Celtics were purchased by Wyc Grousbeck, his billionaire father Irving, and a stable of other investors for $360 million. Now, nearly two and a half decades later, ownership of the team will change hands once again, as Wyc Grousbeck announced shortly after winning the 2024 NBA Title that he would be selling the team. While the timing of Grousbeck's announcement is certainly curious to say the least, the Celtics majority owner and governor did reveal that the team is losing money, in part because of the tremendously expensive — and championship-winning — roster that Celtics President of Basketball Operations Brad Stevens has built (h/t Shirley Leung of the Boston Globe).
The Boston Celtics were recently valued by Forbes at $4.7 billion, which means in all likelihood they'll go for at least $5.0 billion. It goes without saying, but that price tag eliminates the possibility that folks like you or I could get in on the bidding. We live in an entirely different world than the guys and gals who will be in the mix for the team. Even two of the richest and most successful athletes alive — LeBron James and Tom Brady — are considered unlikely long shots to purchase the team.
As you can see, both LeBron James (100/1) and Tom Brady (25/1) come in well behind a number of other potentially interested buyers. However, LeBron's odds indicate a solo bid, considering he's had a partnership with Fenway Sports Group (6/1) since 2011. The issue here is, the NBA-NBPA's collective bargaining agreement prohibits player-owners, which means LeBron would need to have retired from the NBA before he gets in on any bidding. Additionally, LeBron has spoken publicly on numerous occasions about his desire to eventually own an NBA team in Las Vegas. I don't anticipate he'd let a Celtics bid get in the way of that. In fairness, Bron's already been an informal owner of the Boston Celtics since 2012.
Although Tom Brady's net worth pales in comparison to LeBron James', Brady has substantially better odds to become the next owner of the Boston Celtics than his NBA counterpart. This likely has more to do with the hurdles that LeBron faces to acquire ownership of the team than it does Brady's own qualifications. Brady's estimated net worth is $300 million, which means if he got in the ownership game, he would need plenty of partners. Brady knows this all too well, as he's currently in the midst of becoming a minority owner of the Las Vegas Raiders, where he will become just the third player in the history of the NFL to go on to become an owner.
The next owner of the Boston Celtics will be…
Given his lifelong Celtics fandom and steep odds, Bill Simmons (75/1) feels like an enticing bet. Simmons has rubbed shoulders with the rich and famous in LA for over two decades now, and sold The Ringer to Spotify for nearly $200 million in 2020, so it's possible he could find himself part of a group that purchases the team. Thus far, Simmons has given no indication that this is on his radar. In fact, on a recent episode of the Bill Simmons Podcast, Simmons speculated that current Celtics co-owner Steve Pagliuca could be viewed as the leader in the clubhouse.
“I think it’s Steve Pagliuca, who was really the number two owner on this team the whole time, and was somebody that you’d see him on the podium,” said Simmons. “He didn’t have the steering wheel, and you always knew he wanted it, and he ran for political office in Massachusetts, spent a ton of money on his campaign and didn’t get it. He went for the Nets a few years ago and had it, he had the Nets, and I forget what happened at the 11th hour, something happened, he froze or he backed off for a split second and Joe Tsai stepped in and took it.”
Among the other filthy-rich options are: Robert Kraft (20/1), the current owner of the New England Patriots and New England Revolution… Jeremy Jacobs (5/1), the current owner of the Boston Bruins… Larry Ellison (2/1), the co-founder of Oracle and current betting favorite… Abigail Johnson (4/1), Boston native and president/CEO of Fidelity Investments… and Jeffrey Bezos (8/1), founder/executive chairman of Amazon, and the 2nd-richest man alive.
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