Fenway Sports Group, the ownership group that oversees operations at Liverpool, has previously revealed ambitions to purchase an NBA team.
Those dreams and ambitions may soon become a reality as current NBA Champions Boston Celtics is now seeking new owners, with current ownership group Boston Basketball Partners L.L.C. placing all shares up for sale. FSG, formerly known as New England Sports Ventures (NESV), was renamed once the investment group started to branch out of the Boston area.
The first major sports team purchase made by the group was MLB team Boston Red Sox, which today has a valuation of $4.5 billion, per Forbes. It has since gone on to add Liverpool to its portfolio and most recently NHL team Pittsburgh Penguins, but an opportunity back in Boston has opened up.
Forbes currently estimates the Celtics to be worth $4.7 billion, a major increase on the $360 million that Wyc Grousbeck, Robert Epstein, Irving Grousbeck, and Stephen Pagliuca bought it for in 2002 under Boston Basketball Partners L.L.C. According to Axios, when FSG was acquiring the Penguins in 2021 it was made clear that the next step was to own an NBA team, and the opportunity has now presented itself
As money in sports continues to rise, so does the valuation of major teams. FSG has done well to acquire three of them, but ownership clubs are more exclusive than ever unless billions are invested through a rich ownership group.
FSG is yet to push for an NFL team, and after the Washington Commanders was bought for $6 billion last year, it’s clear to see why. NBA franchises are also headed that way, but founding FSG member John W Henry has a major passion for basketball and has been looking to get involved for three decades.
