Boston Celtics ownership group considers selling majority stake

The Boston Celtics majority ownership group, led by Wyc Grousbeck, is considering making the franchise available for sale.

Grousbeck and his partner Steve Pagliuca led a group that bought the team in 2002 for $360 million. Since then, franchise valuations have skyrocketed, with the latest teams to sell majority stakes being the Phoenix Suns, who were bought for $4 billion from Mat Ishbia in February 2023, the Milwaukee Bucks, with Jimmy and Dee Haslam paying $3.5 billion several weeks later, and the Dallas Mavericks, with the Adelson and Dumont families paying $3.5 billion in December.

The Celtics are one of professional sports’ iconic franchises, with an NBA record 18 NBA titles, second only to the New York Yankees (27) among all North American professional sports leagues.

In a statement announcing the decision Monday, the Celtics said the ownership group’s board of directors plans to sell a “majority stake” in the team this year or early next year, and that it ” expects Wyc Grousbeck to remain team governor until the second close in 2028.”

Since Grousbeck-led Boston Basketball Partners purchased the team, the Celtics have consistently been among the best teams in the league. They have won two championships – including the title last month with a five-game victory over the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA Finals – and reached the NBA Finals on two other occasions.

During this span, Boston is third in regular season wins, behind only the San Antonio Spurs and Mavericks – the three teams with more than 1,000 regular season wins during this span – and is second behind the Miami Heat in terms of playoff wins.

Sources told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski on Monday that Boston has agreed to a four-year, $125.9 million extension with Derrick White. The Celtics are also expected to agree to sign Jayson Tatum to a five-year extension worth $314 million — which would be the largest contract in NBA history — this summer, as they continue to lock the core of a team that won 64 games and finished 16-3 in the playoffs. This is the second-best winning percentage in NBA playoff history since the playoffs expanded to four seven-game series.