For many decades, plenty of pundits have erroneously claimed that sports franchise sale prices cannot rise any higher. The record-setting, $6.1 billion sale of the Celtics to a group led by private equity executive Bill Chisholm again puts the maxim of ever-rising team values to the test. 

The two-stage Celtics deal, while containing no shortage of hurt feelings, also reveals the complex nuances of several industry trends colliding at once. 

In just beating out the 2023 sale of the Commanders for $6.05 billion, the Boston deal again shows the particular scarcity of major league franchises, as well as the deep appeal of marquee teams such as the Celtics and Commanders to high-net-worth individuals. The agreement in Boston is also fundamentally underpinned by soaring NBA media-rights revenue as the league last summer more than doubled its national-level bounty with $77 billion worth of new deals with Amazon, ESPN, and NBC Sports. 

“We expected a big number, obviously now have it, and I think this price certainly could be a motivating factor for other team owners that may be approaching similar decision points,” as current Celtics governor Wyc Grousbeck and his partners, Michael Rueda, partner and head of the U.S. sports and entertainment practice group at the Withers law firm, tells Front Office Sports. “There’s clearly no shortage in investor groups looking to get in and acquire teams. … This also likely will be an influence on an expansion process and what it takes to get access into the league, which is essentially what expansion offers.”

There are, however, elements where the Celtics deal could still represent an overpay. The agreement notably does not include the TD Garden, the team’s home arena but a venue owned and controlled by Delaware North, also the owner of the NHL’s Bruins. The Celtics have a lease there through the 2035–2036 season, but a long-term solution will need to be determined there—a situation that could ultimately result in a new arena.

The team also has just a minority equity interest in regional sports network NBC Sports Boston, and like every other pro franchise, is trying to navigate historic levels of disruption across that part of the media business. 

Influence Out West?

Ultimately, MLB’s Dodgers—another marquee team across North American pro sports—could be a critical lesson for Chisholm and his partners. When the Mark Walter–led Guggenheim Baseball Management bought the club in 2012 out of bankruptcy for a then-record $2.15 billion, the deal was also considered a significant overpay. 

Walter and his partners, beating out rival bidders by several hundred million dollars, were inheriting a Dodger Stadium that needed significant upgrades, as well as a club that hadn’t won a World Series since 1988 and had been previously consumed by the continued drama surrounding former club owners Frank and Jamie McCourt. 

Now, that $2.15 billion purchase price seems like an absolute bargain given the Dodgers’ estimated value of nearly triple that original figure and the club’s growing economic dominance over the rest of the league. 

The Celtics, the league’s defending champions, are hardly in the type of state the Dodgers were in 2012. The MLB club, however, is now flexing its might with unprecedented strength—combining big-market resources with smaller-market scrappiness—and offers a template for Chisholm and the Celtics.

North Carolina’s controversial March Madness selection helped deliver record TV ratings for the opening night of the First Four in the men’s NCAA tournament.

TruTV drew 3.6 million combined viewers for Tuesday night’s games, led by 2.2 million who watched UNC beat San Diego State 95–68 to earn the No. 11 seed in the bracket’s south region. This marked the first time that the Tar Heels competed in a First Four play-in game.

Earlier in the night, 1.4 million viewers tuned in to the battle for the south region’s No. 16 seed—Alabama State beat Saint Francis 70–68 with a dramatic, last-second shot.

All of those numbers represent all-time records for First Four coverage on a Tuesday (traditionally the opening night), relative to the combined audience and in each broadcast window. 

The 2.2 million viewers for UNC’s victory are up 26% from last year’s late Tuesday night slot, which featured Colorado State–Virginia. The 3.6 million Tuesday total is up 21% from 2024.

Tar Heels Tuning In

With UNC already cashing in big time for the ACC via an extra $2 million March Madness unit, the tournament’s media-rights holders are set to benefit from the program’s blueblood pedigree, too.

TNT will air UNC’s first-round matchup against No. 6 Ole Miss at 4:05 p.m. ET on Friday. 

Should the Tar Heels advance, they would play the winner of No. 3 Iowa State vs. No. 14 Lipscomb on Sunday. Second-round TV broadcasters have not decided yet, but that would likely be a coveted matchup for CBS.

Advancing to the Sweet 16 would also seal at least a $50,000 bonus for UNC athletic director Bubba Cunningham, the NCAA tournament selection committee chairperson, who will receive a separate $67,905.66 bonus for the Tar Heels making the field.

A new and historic era in the Olympic movement is beginning as the International Olympic Committee has elected Kirsty Coventry as its next president.

The Zimbabwe native is just the 10th IOC president since its founding in 1894, and also the first woman and first African in the post. At 41, she also will be the youngest in the post since Pierre de Coubertin, founder of the modern Olympics. She will succeed the resigning Thomas Bach and will take over the reins of one of the sports industry’s largest and most influential organizations at a key precipice of change. 

The Olympics, though enjoying a significant resurgence last year in Paris, are attempting to become more inclusive and sustainable—particularly in the face of accelerating global conflict and climate change. As a result, the election of Coventry is seen as a mandate to embrace greater inclusion and athlete engagement, and pursue that in a highly complex organization that combines elements of athletics, politics, philanthropy, and the core business concerns common to any large company. 

The selection of Coventry surprisingly required just one vote, a marked divergence from the multiple rounds that had been expected going into IOC meetings this week in Greece. 

“This is an extraordinary moment,” she said in an address to IOC members after her election was announced. “As a nine-year-old girl, I never thought I’d be standing here one day getting to give back to this incredible movement of ours.”

The IOC election featured a wide-open, seven-person field—representing one of the most competitive leadership slates ever for the organization—and the proceedings bore numerous similarities to a papal conclave.

Coventry is a former champion swimmer, winning three medals including a gold at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, and most recently served in the Zimbabwean cabinet. She will begin her IOC leadership June 24. 

American Influence

Intersection with the U.S. was a notable component of the election. The U.S. is critical to the entire Olympic movement in numerous respects, including Comcast recently extending its domestic media rights that bankroll much of the competition, and two upcoming games to be held between the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles and the 2034 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.

Several candidates for the IOC presidency, notably Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr., openly sought closer ties with U.S. President Donald Trump, despite a brand of White House politics that is alienating many leaders around the globe. 

Coventry, for her part, has taken something of a more cautious approach regarding the volatile U.S. politics, stressing that communication and early engagement with American leaders will be key.