William Chisholm is the front man of a $6.1 billion bid to buy the Celtics, which current owners Wyc and Irv Grousbeck accepted Thursday.
William Chisholm is the front man of a $6.1 billion bid to buy the Celtics, which current owners Wyc and Irv Grousbeck accepted Thursday.Symphony Technology Group
This story first appeared in Court Sense, a biweekly Celtics newsletter from Boston Globe Sports.Click here to join the fun.
Welcome back to Court Sense š A newsletter that really shouldāve bought a basketball team in 2002
You know how many Costco hot dog and fountain drink combos $6 billion would buy? A lot!
In case you missed it, the long-awaited Celtics sale finally came through Thursday. The ownership group led by Wyc Grousbeck agreed to sell the franchise to a consortium led by private equity exec Bill Chisholm (can we call him Bill?).
The final price? A cool $6.1 billion, making it the most lucrative sale of a sports team in history. (North American sports history, at least, though I canāt figure out why itās being reported with that qualifier. If you have any idea, let me know!)
Chisholmās group, which includes current Celtics co-owner Robert Hale, president of Related Companies Bruce Beal Jr., and the global investment firm Sixth Street, beat out a bid led by another current Celtics co-owner, Steve Pagliuca, who seemed pretty bummed about it.
Now the question on everyoneās mind: What does this mean for the future of the franchise?
The answer: I have no idea!
Chisholm isnāt exactly some high-profile billionaire with a lengthy track record to draw on. We know heās a self-described lifelong Celtics fan who originally hails from Georgetown, Mass., up on the North Shore (or near the North Shore, depending on who you ask, Iām not here to argue). He has a house on Nantucket, and despite his firm, Symphony Technology Systems, calling California home, he intends to buy a place in the Boston area if the sale goes through.
Chisholm said the right things, telling the Globeās Adam Himmelsbach: āI watch every game or Iām at the games, and I love it. just absolutely love it.
āIām all about winning championships and raising banners, and doing that now, and also doing it over the long term. I think [Wyc Grousbeck] has done an incredible job of balancing that, and I think thatās the path weāre on and thatās the path we should stay on.ā
Are there concerns? Sure. The looming specter of private equity has long been discussed as sports franchise values have ballooned in scale from millions to billions, with very few individual people possessing the resources to spend multiple billions on a sports team. You know who does have that kind of capital? Private equity firms. Sixth Street, for example, boasts $75 billion in assets under management, which is, you know, a lot.
Less than a year after winning Banner 18, the Celtics are being sold.
Less than a year after winning Banner 18, the Celtics are being sold.Danielle Parhizkaran/Globe Staff
The concern for most sports fans is that private equity firms are inherently and purely profit-driven. They exist to make money on large scales and to make financial plays ā not emotional or competitive ones, which doesnāt always square with the competitive and emotional nature of sports.
And in the profit-sharing world of sports, where the revenue gap between contenders and bottom-dwellers isnāt all that big, winning championships isnāt always the most profitable play. The Celtics are about to get very, very expensive as a second-apron team with some huge contracts.
Who knows. Being bankrolled by a single billionaire backer isnāt always a perfect route either (see: the Phoenix Suns).
Time will tell, and all that.
The very future of the franchise aside, there was some actual basketball this week, with the Celtics finishing off a sweep of a home-and-home over the Nets which featured a pretty incredible Baylor Scheierman highlight.
The rookie banked in an incredible shot in the final seconds of the third quarter, just to have his moment stolen by a Joe Mazzulla timeout before the shot went up.
Scheiermanās response? Hit the same shot from the same spot moments later.
It was some night for Scheierman, who poured in a career-high 20 points (he had 30 all season before Tuesday) on a scorching 6 of 7 from deep. Iām glad he had his moment in the sun before a $6.1 billion transaction stole the weekās news cycle.
Letās get into it.
ICYMI šļø
Steve Pagliuca (left) was always in the background behind Wyc Grousbeck.
Steve Pagliuca (left) was always in the background behind Wyc Grousbeck.Danielle Parhizkaran/Globe Staff
Why not Pags? It seems odd that Steve Pagliucaās Celtics ownership bid was turned down, and other thoughts.
By Dan Shaughnessy
Why not Pags?
This is the takeaway after Thursday morningās news bomb, fan agita, official corporate statements, and private equity high-fiving that went on after the Globeās Adam Himmelsbach broke the story that the Celtics have been sold to an investor group led by complete unknown William Chisholm ā a North Shore native who went to Dartmouth and has pledged to āwork to bring more championships home to Boston.ā
Swell. So hereās just one little question: Why not āPagsā?
āPagsā is Steve Pagliuca, a Bain Capital billionaire, local philanthropist, basketball insider, and managing general partner and co-owner of the Celtics since Irving Grousbeck and his family led a group that purchased the Celtics for $360 million in December 2002.
When it was announced last summer that the Celtics were for sale, Pags immediately stepped forward. He put together a group that was named one of the four finalists two weeks ago. But Pagliucaās group was not the winner. So after two NBA championships and 23 seasons working with the Grousbecks, he is out.
Continue reading
Other top stories weāre watching ...
Private equity investor Bill Chisholm is acquiring the Celtics for $6.1 billion. The Globeās Adam Himmelsbach broke the news, then sat down with the new man in charge.
So you say youāre a Celtics lifer, eh, Bill Chisholm? Read Chad Finnās open letter to the new owner.
The trouble for new ownership? The Celtics are about to get very, very expensive. Gary Washburn breaks it all down.
The Joe Mazzulla Quote of the Week
Congrats to Wyc Grousbeck, a first-time winner of the Joe Mazzulla Quote of the Week.
It was a big day for Grousbeck, who took the first step toward clearing $6.1 billion on a team purchased for $360 million (a return on investment of approximately āmamma mia thatās a lot of moolahā percent) with Thursdayās agreement to sell the team.
Grousbeck was quick to advocate for incoming owner Bill Chisholm, whom Grousbeck described much in the way I would describe, I donāt know, the love of my life, or something.
āBill is spectacular,ā Grousbeck told the Globe. āHe checks every box as far as Iām concerned. Heās passionate about the team and he can make it happen. I feel that he really can be a great owner and thatās what he burns to be.ā
Spectacular. Passionate. Burning. What more could you want?
This week in basketball š
Big week for wild 3-pointers at the buzzer. I occasionally poke fun at my, uh, more seasoned colleagues about their aversion to the 3-point shot, and this is not a segment for them. Look away, Dan and Bob!
A few ridiculous shots from range over the last week or so that Iād like to share with you all, starting with the Pacers' Obi Toppinās fading 3-pointer to beat the Timberwolves, a truly absurd shot from a guy that isnāt exactly known for hitting tough triples.
A couple days later, New Yorkās Mikal Bridges drew a rare double āBang!ā call from commentator Mike Breen with an overtime buzzer-beater against the Blazers.
Then came perhaps my favorite shot of the week, with Jordan Poole (you may remember him from the 2022 NBA Finals) hitting the most Jordan Poole shot you can imagine: an ill-advised 35-foot heave to beat the Nuggets.
He followed it with a ... strange celebration, holding his nose and waving his arm in the air, which I think is him simulating drowning (because the opponents are drowning in the āPoole,ā I guess?) with a couple seconds still on the clock and a live ball. Jordan Poole, everybody.
Detroitās Cade Cunningham decided to get in on the action on Wednesday night, banking in the game-winner against the Heat. An incredible shot, but also, Cunningham getting the ball with 5 seconds left in a tied game and opting for contested fadeaway 3-pointer is exactly the kind of thing that Dan and Bob are complaining about!
We started this segment with a wild Pacers shot, and weāll end it with a potentially wilder one: Tyrese Haliburtonās genuinely unbelievable 4-point play against the Bucks.
Down by 3 in the final seconds, the Pacers threw the ball to Haliburton running toward the corner, and their star guard delivered with a sensational triple, then converted the ensuing free throw to win the game. Tough loss for Milwaukee, I must say.
Do I always love the sheer volume of 3-pointers that teams throw up these days? Maybe not. But I still love a buzzer-beater from downtown, and I probably always will.
Up next āļø
The Celtics are on the road Friday to face the Jazz (9:30 p.m., NBC Sports Boston). Hereās your preview.
See the full Celtics schedule here.
This story first appeared in Court Sense, a biweekly Celtics newsletter from Boston Globe Sports.Click here to join the fun.
Amin Touri can be reached at amin.touri@globe.com.