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Afternoon Edition

May 1, 2025

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After reports of private-equity complications and some scrambling, FOS has learned that Bill Chisholm’s group now has enough money to cover the cost of the record Celtics purchase, and the deal will be done in the next week or so.

— Ben Horney [[link removed]], Eric Fisher [[link removed]], and David Rumsey [[link removed]]

Celtics Buyer Has Secured Enough Funding to Close Deal [[link removed]]

Bob DeChiara-Imagn Images

The record $6.1 billion Boston Celtics sale will be finalized within the next week or so and the deal structure will be compliant with NBA private-equity ownership rules, Front Office Sports has learned.

Lead buyer Bill Chisholm’s group now has enough money to cover the cost of the deal and is in fact “oversubscribed,” two sources tell FOS. The group will acquire more than 51% of the franchise in the first tranche of the deal, one source says. The exact size stake Chisholm will end up owning is still unclear.

Rumors about potential issues with the transaction sprouted [[link removed]] almost as soon as it was announced in late March, including reports [[link removed]] that private-equity firm Sixth Street Partners was contributing more money than Chisholm. The NBA’s private-equity ownership rules stipulate that a PE firm cannot be the largest stakeholder in a team and that the controlling owner must contribute at least 15% of the purchase price.

It wasn’t just media speculation. Steve Pagliuca, a minority owner since 2002 who lost to Chisholm’s group in the battle to buy the Celtics, wrote a fiery public letter [[link removed]] to fans last month that said his proposal was “fully guaranteed and financed” and had “no debt or private equity money that would potentially hamstring our ability to compete in the future.” Pagliuca even said: “If the announced transaction does not end up being finalized, my partners and I are ready to check back into the game…”

In a highly unusual move, even though Chisholm will become [[link removed]] the controlling owner upon approval of the agreement, Grousbeck will remain in his roles of CEO and governor through the 2027-28 season.

The full sale will still take place in two parts, one source says, and existing minority owners will have the ability to retain their positions until 2028.

Those minority owners will get to sell their stakes for up to 20% more than the original deal price, in accordance with a revenue-based formula set by the league, and when all is said and done that will bring the final blended value [[link removed]] of the deal close to $7.3 billion.

NBA owners are expected to vote on the deal at some point in June. The NBA declined to comment.

On the court, the Celtics eliminated the Orlando Magic earlier this week and await the winner of the New York Knicks-Detroit Pistons series. Boston has the second-best odds in Vegas to repeat as NBA champions.

For all the latest in sports finance, investment, and transaction activity, subscribe to Ben’s twice-weekly [[link removed]] Asset Class [[link removed]] newsletter [[link removed]].

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The Future of TV Ratings Is Here, and Sports Is the Big Winner [[link removed]]

James Lang-Imagn Images

The next big wave in television audience measurement is beginning in earnest and is poised to deliver another sizable jolt to sports programming.

Nielsen received accreditation in January [[link removed]] for its new Big Data + Panel measurement, a method that combines viewership data from set-top boxes and smart TVs with the company’s usual panel-based tabulation. As each of the major broadcast networks and streaming services this spring hold their upfronts for the forthcoming year—with sports content standing at the center of many of them [[link removed]]—the expanding methodology will be a focal point as it becomes more established.

“This year, as part of the upfronts and going forward, we pretty much know that all our clients will be using Big Data + Panel for the upcoming [television] season,” Nielsen CEO Karthik Rao said Thursday. “It’s such a massive change in measurement, at scale.”

Sports programming dominates the entire U.S. media landscape, and this new measurement will, in many instances, produce bigger audience totals. For the NFL in particular, the league delivered 70 of the top 100 broadcasts [[link removed]] across all genres in 2024, and the league has publicly cheered the introduction of Big Data + Panel, calling it a move to “modernize measurement.”

Amazon has been among the early adopters of Big Data + Panel, and said its 2024 audience for Thursday Night Football with it amounted to an average viewership of 14.2 million, 8% higher than the traditional, panel-based audience count of 13.2 million [[link removed]]. The methodology was also the basis of an expanded unique reach of 182.8 million [[link removed]] for February’s Super Bowl LIX, which built on the game’s record-setting average audience of 127.7 million [[link removed]].

Those types of lifts are likely to be frequently seen as Big Data + Panel could become the industry standard in short order.

Other networks, however, will need to agree to use Big Data + Panel. Among the issues Nielsen is currently working through is reducing the turnaround time for reporting results. The enhanced numbers typically take several days to tabulate for each broadcast as the company ingests the additional data sources. Efforts are underway to reduce that to around one day, similar to how quickly traditional viewership totals now arrive.

Out of Home, In the Count

Big Panel + Panel, meanwhile, supplements the newly expanded methodology for counting out-of-home television audiences, with Nielsen adding in harder-to-reach rural areas earlier this year. That also benefits sports in a disproportionate way, given the communal viewing inherent to live games, particularly major ones.

“Affinity to a team often outweighs the size of the market, and that’s where you often see the big benefit,” said Nielsen SVP Brian Fuhrer. “For markets that were not measured before [in out-of-home tabulations], they’re there now and it’s where you saw the big bumps. And teams that are popular in those markets really saw the lift. But it’s just a better view of the market overall.”

EXCLUSIVE

Belichick PR Nightmare a Product of Losing Longtime Confidante

Sources tell Front Office Sports that Bill Belichick’s biggest problem is the absence of his secret weapon: Berj Najarian, the coach’s confidante and PR chief for 24 years in New England. Read Michael McCarthy’s full story [[link removed]] on the relationship between the two—and how 24-year-old Jordon Hudson has stepped into many of the responsibilities once overseen by Najarian.

For all of our sports media news, insights, and interviews, you can subscribe to the Tuned In newsletter [[link removed]].

Caitlin Clark Breaks Another Record—This Time in Ticket Prices [[link removed]]

HawkCentral

The WNBA season is drawing near, and the Caitlin Clark Effect is back.

Demand for the Indiana Fever’s preseason game Sunday against the Brazil national women’s basketball team has reached record levels.

With tickets to the exhibition contest being played at the University of Iowa’s 15,500-seat Carver-Hawkeye Arena sold out, the average resale price on the secondary market has hit $440. That’s the most for any game Clark has ever played professionally or collegiately, according to data that ticketing technology company Victory Live provided to Front Office Sports.

Clark’s return to her alma mater ahead of her second WNBA season is topping several major moments from her basketball career:

$440: Brazil–Fever in Iowa City on May 4 $411: Ohio State–Iowa on March 3, 2024; Clark set the NCAA’s all-time scoring record on senior night. $309: Michigan–Iowa on Feb. 15, 2024; Clark broke the NCAA’s all-time women’s scoring record. $289: USC–Iowa on Feb. 2; Clark was in attendance to have her jersey retired.

The Fever recently released [[link removed]]—and subsequently sold out of—a T-shirt that read “EVERY GAME IS A HOME GAME,” in reference to the support Indiana gets on the road, including many opponents moving their games against the Fever to bigger arenas [[link removed]] to accommodate more fans who want to see Clark play.

It won’t be cheap to see Clark play this season, though.

The average ticket resale price for Fever away games is $272, which is up from $171 in 2024, per Victory Live. Fever home games are averaging $197 on the secondary market, more than double last season’s $92 home average.

Clark Ready for Year 2

Clark said the Fever have championship expectations this season, following some major offseason moves [[link removed]] after failing to advance [[link removed]] out of the first round of the playoffs last year.

“I’m just really excited,” Clark said [[link removed]] Wednesday during the Fever’s media day. “I’m lucky to be here and to have been drafted here last year. For this franchise to put so many great resources in front of us, whether it’s building the new practice facility or how much they invest into us, and all the resources that they provide us—really just fortunate and excited for our roster.”

Since last season ended, the Fever hired a new chief operating officer and GM in Amber Cox, a new coach in Stephanie White [[link removed]], and unveiled plans for a $78 million downtown training center [[link removed]].

FRONT OFFICE SPORTS TODAY Prank Calls, LeBron’s Future, More

FOS illustration

Shedeur Sanders wasn’t the only player who received a prank phone call on draft night. NFL insider Ian Rapoport weighs in on that, and what the Browns’ new quarterback room could mean for Deshaun Watson, Deion Sanders, and more.

Plus, deals reporter Ben Horney has a scoop on the $6.1 billion sale of the Celtics. Next week, Ben launches his FOS newsletter Asset Class; make sure you subscribe [[link removed]].

Watch the full FOS Today episode here [[link removed]].

STATUS REPORT Two Up, Two Down

Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images

Florida Panthers ⬆ The reigning Stanley Cup champions defeated their in-state rivals, the Lightning, Wednesday night, needing just five games to eliminate Tampa Bay from the NHL playoffs for the second consecutive year.

NFL ⬇ The fallout continues from Shedeur Sanders being prank-called during the NFL Draft. After the Falcons and defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich were fined [[link removed]] for allowing Ulbrich’s son, Jax, to access Sanders’s phone number, Pro Football Talk reported that nearly 2,000—and potentially more— were sent an email [[link removed]] by the league with Sanders’s number on April 23.

Tyler Collet ⬆ The club pro from Vero Beach, Fla., won the PGA Professional Championship on Wednesday by a record 10 strokes, to lead the group of 20 club pros who earned spots in this month’s PGA Championship at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte. Collet earned $66,700 and exemptions into six PGA Tour events over the next 12 months. Michael Block, who rose to stardom [[link removed]] during the 2023 PGA Championship, earned his way back into the major with a third-place finish this week.

Inter Miami ⬇ Lionel Messi’s MLS club was eliminated from the Concacaf Champions Cup on Wednesday night, following a 5–1 aggregate loss to Vancouver in the two-legged semifinal. Vancouver will face the winner of the other semifinal, featuring Liga MX clubs Cruz Azul and Tigres UANL, for the $5 million first-place prize.

Editors’ Picks Stephen A. Smith for President? Trump Says He’d ‘Love to See Him Run’ [[link removed]]by Michael McCarthy [[link removed]]Smith has publicly flirted with an Oval Office run for months. Allyson Felix on Olympic Pay, Nike, and Track’s Big-Money Era [[link removed]]by Annie Costabile [[link removed]]Felix talked to FOS about her push to help Olympic parents and more. The Lakers Failed to Cash In on Luka Dončić Heist [[link removed]]by Alex Schiffer [[link removed]]After winning the trade of the century, the Lakers were bounced early. Advertise [[link removed]] Awards [[link removed]] Learning [[link removed]] Events [[link removed]] Video [[link removed]] Shows [[link removed]] Written by Eric Fisher [[link removed]], David Rumsey [[link removed]] Edited by Matthew Tabeek [[link removed]], Or Moyal [[link removed]]

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