The accountants over at Forbes might deserve a raise.
The financial news outlet is one of the most trusted sources for celebrity and institutional wealth valuations.
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During the 2010s, being on the Forbes List was a huge deal, as the list told the world which celebrities made the most money annually.
While the Forbes List no longer holds the cultural significance it once did, the organization is still very good at what it does: providing an accurate assessment of the net worth of people and organizations with large cash flows.
Related: Latest NBA team valuations are whacky
On Thursday, March 20, the Boston Celtics set a record when its ownership group agreed to sell the team to William Chisholm, the managing director and co-founder of Symphony Technology Group, for $6.1 billion.
It is the largest sports franchise sale in North American history, surpassing the $6.05 billion the Josh Harris group paid for the NFL’s Washington Commanders franchise in 2023.
And Forbes had valued the Boston Celtics at $6 billion in December, only 1.6% off the final purchase price.
Boston Celtics ownership group cashes out at the top
Boston Celtics Head Coach Joe Mazzulla yells while lifting the Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy after Boston’s 106-88 win against the Dallas Mavericks in Game 5 of the 2024 NBA Finals.
Basketball fans the world over know the Boston Celtics as the marquee franchise of the National Basketball Association.
While Los Angeles Lakers fans may take umbrage with that statement, Thursday’s sale cements the Celtics as the face of the league after the team won the NBA championship less than a year ago.
The Celtics captured their 18th NBA title in 2024, led by their two young superstars, Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, both of whom are under 30.
The Grousbeck family, the Celtics’ former owners, put the team up for sale shortly after the team parade down Tremont Street last July. The family had been the proud owners of the legendary franchise since they bought it for $360 million in 2002, meaning the team sold for nearly 17 times what they bought for it 20-plus years ago.
Not a bad return on investment.
Meanwhile, Chisolm, the new owner, said he’d been a die-hard Celtics fan his entire life. The Dartmouth College grad grew up just outside of Boston in Georgetown, Mass.
How much revenue do the Boston Celtics generate?
The NBA, like all of the other major North American sports, operates on a cooperative basis. The 30 teams pool their basketball-related revenue and distribute it evenly. And richer teams that spend above a certain threshold contribute what’s called luxury-tax money to teams that don’t spend as much.
However, the teams pool only half their basketball-related income, which includes television broadcasting rights, ticket sales, merchandise, sponsorships, and other sources.
So, if you are a marquee franchise like the Celtics — located in one of the wealthiest U.S. areas where you can charge higher ticket prices and feature a talented team that just won the championship — the sky is the limit for how much revenue your team can generate.
For the 2023-2024 NBA season, the Celtics generated gross revenue of $493 million, according to a prospectus by banks trying to evaluate the company for the just-concluded sale.
The Celtics generated $149 million just from ticketing, representing the franchises’ largest source of income. Celtics prices are among the highest in the league, with the average ticket costing $303 last season, according to Sportskeeda.
The team also received $124 million from the revenue-sharing model and another $70 million from its local television deal.
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Playoff ticket revenue is taxed at a lower rate, so the Celtics generated $102 million during their championship run before the league collected its 25% to fund the player playoff pool.
The team produced about $30 million in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, but it also had to pay a luxury-tax bill of about $40 million — again, a penalty for teams that spend above the league’s salary cap.
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