A group led by Symphony Technology Group managing partner William Chisholm has agreed to purchase the Boston Celtics for at least $6.1 billion US, which would make the sale the richest in U.S. major pro sports history, a person with knowledge of the negotiations said Thursday.
It remains unclear when exactly the deal will be closed and how the deal will be structured, said the person, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because neither side had made any public announcement of the agreement.
But the $6.1 billion valuation would set the U.S. major sports league record, coming in just ahead of the $6.05 billion that a group led by Josh Harris spent to buy the Washington Commanders in 2023.
Sportico and ESPN were among those first reporting the agreement for the sale of the reigning NBA champions.
Boston Basketball Partners LLC announced last summer that it intended to sell the majority of the Celtics either late last year or early this year, then would sell the balance of its shares in 2028. Wyc Grousbeck, whose family leads the ownership group, is expected to remain the Celtics’ governor until the sale is complete.
Grousbeck’s group bought the Celtics for $360 million in 2002.
The $6.1 billion figure would also top — by a big margin — recent NBA franchise sales. In 2023, the Phoenix Suns were purchased by mortgage firm owner Mat Ishbia for $4 billion, the Milwaukee Bucks were sold to Cleveland Browns owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam for $3.5 billion, and Mark Cuban agreed to the sale of the majority of his Dallas Mavericks’ ownership shares to Miriam Adelson and son-in-law Patrick Dumont, who operates the Las Vegas Sands casino company, for $3.5 billion.