Who’ll be next to own the Celtics, how long will it take, and other thoughts

Then, wham! The Celtics announced that the franchise is for sale. The team statement said the Grousbeck family, which holds the majority stake, has decided to pursue a sale “for estate and family planning considerations.”
▪ The Celtics just won a championship, Jayson Tatum got his extension, the whole band is back for next season, and it looked like everything was coming up Green around here.
It’s seismic sports news. We’ve had ownership stability for almost the entirety of this successful century. The Bruins have been owned by Jeremy Jacobs for 49 years, Bob Kraft bought the Patriots in 1994, and John Henry’s group took over the Red Sox in 2002. Irv Grousbeck and son Wyc took control of the Celtics in December of that same year.
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So, now we wonder:
Who’ll be next to own this team and how long will it take for the transaction to shake out? Forbes magazine valued the Celtics franchise (purchased for $360 million in 2002) at $4.7 billion before this championship season. The Phoenix Suns sold for $4 billion in 2022.
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Saying goodbye to the Grousbecks is not appealing. They’ve been good owners.
In conversations with some sources close to the situation, I’ve come away convinced that soon-to-be-90-year-old H. Irving Grousbeck is the one driving this sale and that 63-year-old son Wyc (one of four children of Irving Grousbeck) — managing partner, governor, and CEO of the Celtics, and always identified as the team’s owner — actually owns a relatively small stake in the franchise.
H. Irving Grousbeck — still teaching at Stanford Business School — has been the money behind the group since the beginning and there’s every indication that the billionaire (Forbes lists “Irving Grousbeck and family’s” worth at $1.8 billion) rarely seen at Celtics games is motivating this sale in an attempt to get his affairs in order.
H. Irving Grousbeck made his fortune as cofounder of Continental Cablevision and is no doubt interested in ongoing negotiations for the NBA’s media rights. A nine-year deal is set to expire at the end of next season and the new deal (reportedly close to $76 billion) will have considerable impact on franchise values.
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I emailed the elder Grousbeck late Wednesday, requesting comment on my assertions, and he responded Thursday with a polite no comment.
When I texted Wyc with, “You OK if I say your personal stake in the team is less than 2 percent?”, he answered, “We hold as a family — all unified . . . We are a family and I also have a Celtics family is my comment. Thanks.”
This leads us to Steve Pagliuca, often identified as “co-owner” of the Celtics. Pags made his money at Bain Capital and has been Wyc Grousbeck’s wingman since the group bought the team. Pags is the one who had the idea to hire Danny Ainge, who wound up being the genius to acquire Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, Rajon Rondo (2008 champs), then Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, Brad Stevens, and Joe Mazzulla.
Many fans want Pagliuca to emerge as the next majority owner of the team and Pags made his intentions clear the day the sale was announced, issuing this statement: “Being a co-investor and managing partner of the Celtics has been a great honor and a labor of love. I hope to be part of the Celtics moving forward and will be a proud participant in the bidding process that has been announced today.”
It certainly sounds like Pags means business. According to The Athletic, Pagliuca bought up to an 8 percent stake in the team from a Celtics minority investor in 2020. He is also the most hoops-savvy member of the group, having played freshman ball at Duke and coached many of his four children’s teams locally. When I texted him for comment Thursday, Pagliuca texted back with, “I am under NDA at this point so can’t talk. Sorry.”
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There will be plenty of rumors regarding prospective buyers. Fenway Sports Group loves acquiring teams (Red Sox, Liverpool, Penguins, Roush Racing), but the Celtics pay rent to the NHL Bruins, who own TD Garden, and I’d be surprised if FSG had interest in any team that does not own its own building. John Henry (who also owns the Globe) does not like paying luxury taxes and the Celtics have whopping tax bills on the horizon.
The Celtics’ statement holds that while the team expects to sell the majority interest in 2024 or early 2025, Wyc Grousbeck is expected to remain team governor through 2028. But whether he remains as “face of the franchise” probably depends on who buys the majority interest.
▪ Quiz: Name the five players who have pitched the most games in Red Sox franchise history (answer below).
▪ The Yankees haven’t been the same since losing back-to-back, nationally televised games to the Red Sox last month. Going into this weekend’s set vs. the Sox at Yankee Stadium, the Yanks were 4-13 since the Coramen first spanked them at Fenway June 15.
▪ Please let’s have no more carping about worthy Red Sox players who were “snubbed” in All-Star voting. American baseball fans’ disregard for the fine play of Boston’s upstart achievers is the residue of a stellar franchise brand eroded by abject neglect from the top.
▪ Bob Lobel Note of the Week: Chris Sale (11-3, 2.71) is going to win 20 and has a strong case for the National League Cy Young Award. Sale won 11 games in his final four seasons with the Red Sox while being paid $120 million. Now he’s got 11 wins for the Braves before the All-Star break. Vaughn Grissom, the infielder Boston acquired in exchange for Sale, is batting .148 with no homers in 23 games and has been on the injured list (hamstrings) for most of the season.
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▪ Anybody in Foxborough feeling good about left tackle? Third round pick Caedan Wallace hasn’t played the position since high school. Patriots rookies report to camp July 19, veterans July 23.
▪ Former Revolution star Alexi Lalas discussing US coach Gregg Berhalter after our men’s national team was eliminated from Copa America: “The knives are out, and they should be.” Sad but true (even if Berhalter is Carl Yastrzemski’s godson). Hiring free agent Jurgen Klopp (nine years with Liverpool) would be a major coup for the American program.
▪ When did Celtics fans become so defensive and persecuted? Instead of enjoying the crown, a lot of Green Teamers want apologies from anyone who doubted the team or maybe got impatient with one title in 37 years. Yes, a few dopes (me, for one) picked the Mavericks to beat the Celtics. This was incorrect. Sorry. Last week, I mentioned that Payton Pritchard clearly traveled before his stunning 49-foot, buzzer-beater in the final seconds of the first half of Game 5. Pritchard did travel. It wasn’t called, as many are not called in the NBA. But it’s OK to laugh about it, no? It is not a shot at your team. Enjoy the afterglow of this championship.
▪ The selections of Baylor Scheierman and Anton Watson (both will be 24 when next season starts) tells us that Stevens likes adults who’ve experienced a full four or five seasons of college ball.
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▪ When do the Toronto Blue Jays fire manager John Schneider? The Jays have a franchise-record $225 million payroll and look likely to replace the Red Sox as last-place residents in the American League East. Toronto GM Ross Atkins, president Mark Shapiro, and Schneider are all on hot seats. Does Vladimir Guerrero Jr. get traded at the deadline? Guerrero and Bo Bichette are free agents at the end of 2025. The Jays haven’t won a postseason game since 2016.
▪ King of excuses J.D. Martinez was scratched from the Mets’ lineup Tuesday because he didn’t have the right footwear. Martinez said his new shipment of cleats was late and that he hurt himself using substitute shoes. “I woke up today [Tuesday] and my ankle was sore,” J.D. told the New York Post.