What was viewed as the last domino before the NBA would seriously entertain expansion has fallen.
The Boston Celtics have reached agreement on a sale. And now the NBA has a ballpark figure it can ask for a potential expansion fee from parties interested in bringing the league back to Seattle.
An agreement was reached Thursday that would see the Celtics sold at a valuation of $6.1 billion, according to multiple reports. At that price, it becomes the most expensive sale of a franchise in North American pro sports history.
The Grousbeck family — the majority owners of the Celtics — reached agreement with a group led by Bill Chisholm, the managing partner of Symphony Technology Group, on the intended sale that will take place in two parts. Per reports, Wyc Grousbeck will remain the franchise’s CEO and governor with the NBA through the 2027-28 season before Chisholm’s group fully takes over.
It’s massive news in Boston. It’s also significant 3,000 miles away at the other end of Interstate 90.
The sale of the Celtics has been seen as the final hurdle to clear before the NBA Board of Governors takes full consideration of expansion and the possibility of seeing the league return to Seattle.
The timing of the sale announcement is also notable as the NBA Board of Governors are expected to hold their spring meeting sometime in the next couple of weeks and, perhaps just coincidentally, on the weekend Climate Pledge Arena is hosting a major basketball event with the NCAA men’s tournament in town.
The question now will be what the NBA’s process for expansion looks like should the Board of Governors choose to give Commissioner Adam Silver the green light to start the process. Does it become a bidding war? How many cities are considered? Is it simply Seattle and Las Vegas and that’s it?
Perhaps the biggest question of all will be what is the expansion fee price? The Celtics selling at a valuation of $6.1 billion while not owning their arena would seem to indicate an expansion fee is likely going to be $5 billion or more. But at this point, the exact number is just a guess.
Additionally, the Celtics agreement should clear any remaining conflicts for Kraken majority owner Samantha Holloway and the minority interest her father, David Bonderman, had as a minority owner in the Celtics. The sale would divest the Bonderman family from any additional NBA ownership stakes as would be required in order to have ownership in another franchise.
Bonderman, who passed away in December, had been a minority investor with the Grousbeck family in the Celtics. Holloway, along with other investors, is expected to lead an expansion bid from Seattle.
