National Basketball Association

Celtics ownership will make franchise available for sale after winning title

Published Jul. 1, 2024 1:54 p.m. ET

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Two weeks after the Boston Celtics won their 18th title in franchise history, the future of the organization is in question.

Celtics majority owner Wyc Grousbeck is planning to make the franchise available for sale, the team announced Monday.

"Boston Basketball Partners L.L.C., the ownership group of the Boston Celtics, announced today its intention to sell all the shares of the team," the team said in a statement. "The controlling family of the ownership group, after considerable thought and internal discussion, has decided to sell the team for estate and family planning considerations.

"The managing board of the ownership group expects to sell a majority interest in 2024 or early 2025, with the balance closing in 2028, and expects Wyc Grousbeck to remain as the Governor of the team until the second closing in 2028."

Not only does the move come on the heels of Boston's latest NBA title, but it also comes as the Celtics are prepared to have one of the largest payrolls in league history. They currently have $191.8 million committed in salary for the 2024-25 season, according to Spotrac. Their payroll for the 2025-26 season is expected to be at $225 million, per ESPN, after reportedly agreeing to terms on a four-year, $125.9 million extension with Derrick White on Monday and the expectation that they're giving superstar Jayson Tatum a five-year, $315 million extension later this offseason, 

The Celtics' increase in spending also comes as the league's new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) is set to impose harsher penalties on teams that spend into the luxury tax. If the Celtics are able to extend Tatum and keep the rest of their roster intact, they could approach paying nearly $450 million in salary and in repeater tax payments for the 2025-26 season, according to ESPN. 

Grousbeck admitted to The Boston Globe in June that the Celtics were "losing money," but he was "unconcerned by that."

"We're fans who bought the team," Grousbeck previously told The Boston Globe. "We're doing this for love. We're doing this for Celtic pride, and we're going to put everything we can into the team to win a banner, to win a championship."

Grousbeck, a 63-year-old native of Massachusetts, led the new ownership group to buy the team from previous owner Paul Gaston for $360 million in 2002. The sales of NBA franchises have exploded since then, with teams being sold for billions of dollars over the last 10 years.

The Celtics were listed as the fourth-most valuable franchise in the NBA by Forbes at $4.7 billion in October 2023. 

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