So much for all the talk of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos as the next owner of the Boston Celtics.
Longtime basketball scribe Bill Simmons of The Ringer stoked the flames of a potential purchase by Bezos earlier this week on his podcast, saying there was “legitimate buzz” around the deep-pocketed tech mogul paying a premium for the Celtics.
But a new report has poured cold water on any talk of Bezos being the one to open his wallet for the legendary franchise.
According to Nick Wingfield of The Information, Bezos has “no plans” in taking part in a bidding war for the Celtics, who are in the process of fielding offers amid a seismic change in leadership in the coming years.
On July 1, Celtics majority owner Wyc Grousbeck announced that Boston Basketball Partners L.L.C. — the ownership group for the team — was selling its shares of the team, just weeks after Boston defeated the Dallas Mavericks in the 2024 NBA Finals.
Considering the surge in the Celtics’ value since Boston Basketball Partners L.L.C. purchased the team for $360 million in 2002, it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that someone with Bezos’ spending power was linked as a viable candidate to take over operations.
“The league wants $6 billion for the Celtics,” Simmons noted on his podcast. “They don’t own their arena. It’s a crazy price but they are probably going to get it. There’s that. They want the $6 billion because they want expansion teams in Seattle and Vegas. They want to get $6 billion a piece for the two franchises for expansion, which would mean a check for $400 million dollars for all 30 NBA owners.”
If the NBA was searching for at least a $6 billion payout for the Celtics, Bezos would have fit the bill. According to Forbes, Bezos is currently the second-wealthiest person in the world with a net worth of $198.5 billion
