Celtics Sold to William Chisholm for $6.1 billion

Keegan McLeod

Staff Writer

Buy low and sell high is the approach the past Celtics ownership group used with the team.

On March 20^th, the team’s controlling ownership group announced the sale to a new group led by Boston native businessman, Bill Chisholm, for a record-breaking $6.1 billion.

The deal sets the new benchmark for the largest sale of any North American sports team, surpassing the $6.05 billion deal that changed the hands of the Washington Commanders in 2023.

Co-owners, Wyc Grousbeck and Steve Pagliuca, had made up Boston Basketball Partners, LLC, who purchased the Celtics in 2002.

At that time, the storied franchise had not won a championship since 1986, which was amid the longest stretch of time between championships until the “Big Three” team got over the hump in 2008. The latest sale comes a year removed from Boston raising banner eighteen after defeating the Dallas Mavericks last June.

Coming off a championship while still having superstars, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, in the primes of their careers with a stacked supporting cast made the value of the team as high as it is.

The C’s have been staying strong this season as well, currently in control of the 2 seed in the Eastern Conference behind the promising, but unproven, Cleveland Cavaliers. Vegas currently has them with the second-best odds to win the championship, closely trailing the Thunder of Oklahoma City.

It is mostly all sunshine and rainbows for the Celtics, but their cap space situation is starting to look messy. Jason Tatum isn’t 19 anymore, and he requires big-boy money.

His supermax contract extension will begin to kick in next season, which will cost an average of $63 million for the next 5 years. Keeping him and Brown in Boston are the top priorities, but their costs will make it hard to keep Derrick White, Jrue Holiday, and Kristaps Porzingis all around for much longer.

Chisholm and the new ownership group will be challenged with guiding the team through this next phase of keeping the team in championship contention. Luckily, Brad Stevens and Joe Mazzulla aren’t going anywhere.

As a Celtics fan, it sits well to see the team being owned by someone who is a self-proclaimed “lifelong fan”. Boston fans aren’t afraid to call out ownership that prioritizes profits over winning. If you don’t believe me, just turn on Boston sports talk radio and wait until someone calls in to complain about the Red Sox. If the Celtics fall off in the next few seasons, it will be due to passion, not greed.