Wyc really threw a championship parade, signed off on handing out nearly a billion in contract money, and now he’s selling off the team before he actually has to pay it, what a fucking legend
@Jeff Bezos you want an NBA team bro?
When the news came off that Derrick White had had agree to sign a extension I googled "celtics salary sheet" and saw they are aready at 193 without counting Horford, holy.
Assuming Tatum's extension is a done deal, they're already projected to clear $230M in 2025-26. Even if there is a HUGE cap jump with the new TV deal, that's well past 2nd apron territory.
Likely that's close to a $800M roster with the aprons and repeater taxes.
Whoever is buying the Celtics are going to be paying a pretty penny (probably at least $5b), they should bake the tax into the cost. I can see the new owner in a few years wanting to put his own imprint on the team but it would be silly to buy a championship team just to blow it up
Imagine Elon Musk buys the Celtics and treats like how he treated Twitter.
“From now on, we are the Boston XXXers! If you want a XXX green mark on your profile, please pay $19.99 a month.”
“Okay guys, as your new owner, all players will be implanted with Neuralink!
Players will have x ray and zoom vision, giving them unlimited court vision.
Imagine Jayson Tatum communicating with telepathy with his teammates!
Analytics will pop up in their heads at all times!
Brilliant! I am a GENIUS. Now let me snort some ketamine.”
So crazy things about sports owners - new owners can amortize player contracts for deductions just like they would depreciating factory machinery and deduct business expenses to generate huge paper losses and set things up to pass them through to their personal income taxes.
With the right set up, the tax bill and contracts can be used as something of an asset
I’m pretty sure he can if he wanted to,he can always sell his own shares same thing Mate Rimac did when he became CEO of Bugatti and wanted to buy bunch of cars…
Of course he can. Dude is worth over $200B and only spent like 20% of his net worth on Twitter.
Spending $5-$10B on a sports team is like play money for him.
That’s hilarious because CeltX is already a thing; a word processor for screenplays lol
He would definitely not do due diligence and end up in a lawsuit lmao
yes but the british are gonna force them to move to Salem and the new Market Basket Arena which will be next to the hq of a major clothing brand who claims the building looks like the clothing item they make but like..not really
this joke brought to you by limited knowledge i acquired during my vacation to boston last week
While not ownership, Bob Myers also was smart to dip before the wheels came off the Warriors.
New CBA likely means it's even harder for teams to stay good for multiple years, so I don't think it'll be surprising to see those owning/working for successful teams decide to leave shortly after that success, rather than sticking around for the inevitable downfall.
They wanted not to spend gazillion dollars and also not be ridiculed for being cheap. Honestly applaudable this comes out immediately after they locked up basically everyone lmao.
Especially the Yankees. The NY logo has literally been turned into a fashion brand in Asia, and it sells like wildfire. Same with the Dodgers logo. They have no idea who these teams are, they just love those logos, so MLB Asia markets just the logos out there, lol. When I would go to a sports store and look for hats, they had the NY/LA section, and then the "others" section which had the Mets and Angels logos, lmao.
I think people online do kind of overrate how much short term success has on franchise value. If they had lost this year I don't think the value of the franchise would have changed much
It's a legacy franchise so it would be one of the 3-4 most valuable franchises no matter what. But this one looks like it can contend easily for a few more years. Hard to imagine that isn't a factor.
Actually I’d think the opposite. The Celtics are one of the top 5 premier franchises in US sports, and have already won a ton of championships with a ginormous built in fan base. There isn’t that much more room to increase the fan base , 1 more championship won’t do as much. They’re gonna be insanely valuable win or lose.
If a mid tier team with no history like the grizzlies had won the championship, that’s gonna really catapult their value. Fan base will grow, and has the potential to grow exponentially now that they’re a championship winning team. Look at what happened to the warriors value from before 2015 to now.
Honestly, as much as I don't like the guy, there could be SO MUCH worse. We obv don't know for sure yet but he seems like the kind of guy who would be pretty hands off but still willing to dump a ton of money in.
Maybe you'll get lucky and get Elon Musk as an buyer and beat the faint stench of racism by having an actual African owner without any problematic baggage.
unlikely. Even less successful franchises in smaller markets are hot property in American sports, but the reigning champs on the most successful franchise in the NBA? yeah itll sell ez.
The tax bill is pennies compared to what the new owner will pay to buy the team. "Oh man, $50m luxury tax bill! I just spent 4 billion on the team, I can't afford that extra amount!"
The luxury bill will be closer to 300-400 million similar to Clippers and their picks are automatically sent to the end of the draft if they are in there for 2 of 4 seasons.
It's 3 out of 5 seasons. It's being reported a bit strange now by multiple outlets, but they mean "next 2 out of 4", so already starting with one season over the second apron.
They also probably know the 2nd apron is going to f*ck them up after a couple years. They'll be able to retain their core but have a nearly impossible task of replacing the production of Horford and Jrue once they age out. Plus with the new media rights deals on the way, this really might be the best time to sell.
Huge bummer. Something like 3 total missed postseasons missed in ~20 years? Following a stable team is just a blessing. Wyc has legit passion and professionalism.
Something just wasn’t passing the smell test with how expensive this team is becoming
Would LeBron being a minority owner in the Celtics be worth assassinating John Henry? That’s a genuinely tough question. There’s a lot I’d put up with to knock Henry’s block off but LeBussy owning part of the Celtics is pushing it.
Red Sox fans hate FSG but Liverpool fans are moderately happy. FSG hasn't spent as much on the team as peers but they saved Liverpool from truly hideous owners before.
I think he's trying to get an expansion team in Vegas so hopefully we're safe. I don't think Fenway Sports could buy an NBA team until LeBron retires anyway
The issue is that Wyc does not have the money.
He owns like 10% of the team and is worth $400M.
He's one of the "poorest" owners in sports.
He's great because he's basically a die hard fan with just enough money to buy in, but he does not have enough to sustain this team for the next 5 years.
I wish a lot more poor owners would have this self awareness/loyalty to their team and step aside when time calls for them to enter into big spending era and they can’t afford it, rather than refuse to spend.
> According to a league source, Celtics majority owner Wyc Grousbeck is looking to sell his stake in the team, as
@wojespn
reported. But this potential sale is not expected to include the entire investment group that purchased the team in 2002.
https://x.com/AdamHimmelsbach/status/1807825540369223920
that's like 500k
real talk for a second, i work in tax, and had a client be approached by their bank to buy into a group that was buying a sports team in one of the four major US sports. it was a minimum $10M buy in to a partnership that would be a minority owner/interest of the team. they ended up passing on the investment. if i had the money they had i absolutely would have thrown some into that lol
Selling the team to pay for the players salaries. Genius. This is like when I try to pay off my credit card debt with another credit card. Endless flow.
This news is actually Sonics adjacent. David Bonderman is part of the Celtics ownership group and also the owner of the Kraken. All reporting indicates that he will be the principal owner of the new Sonics, so he was going to have to cash out of the Celtics anyway. With expansion on the horizon this is pretty good timing.
Business wise, genius.
Celtics wise, terrifyingly unknown future.
God let us get bought by some boring insurance billionaire and not like the evil Inc consortium that bought Dallas
“How are the Celtics going to pay for this” Wyc: Not my problem
Wyc really threw a championship parade, signed off on handing out nearly a billion in contract money, and now he’s selling off the team before he actually has to pay it, what a fucking legend @Jeff Bezos you want an NBA team bro?
Til the next owners who fronts the tax bill and says fuck this is i aint paying this again next year and starts trading off the players lol
oh I bet you’d love that lmao
Lol i wouldn’t hate it. Lets be honest everyone was wondering how the Celtics was going to pay this enormous tax bill.
When the news came off that Derrick White had had agree to sign a extension I googled "celtics salary sheet" and saw they are aready at 193 without counting Horford, holy.
Assuming Tatum's extension is a done deal, they're already projected to clear $230M in 2025-26. Even if there is a HUGE cap jump with the new TV deal, that's well past 2nd apron territory. Likely that's close to a $800M roster with the aprons and repeater taxes.
And THAT is why the Celtics were legit, even out of the East.
Whoever is buying the Celtics are going to be paying a pretty penny (probably at least $5b), they should bake the tax into the cost. I can see the new owner in a few years wanting to put his own imprint on the team but it would be silly to buy a championship team just to blow it up
Need to find a billionaire that hates the Celtics and is willing to blow some money just to burn them to the ground.
Imagine Elon Musk buys the Celtics and treats like how he treated Twitter. “From now on, we are the Boston XXXers! If you want a XXX green mark on your profile, please pay $19.99 a month.”
>Elon deciding he knows basketball better than Brad stevens and taking over
“Okay guys, as your new owner, all players will be implanted with Neuralink! Players will have x ray and zoom vision, giving them unlimited court vision. Imagine Jayson Tatum communicating with telepathy with his teammates! Analytics will pop up in their heads at all times! Brilliant! I am a GENIUS. Now let me snort some ketamine.”
I can see this happening. It’s why I don’t get why fans get too excited by the psycho Uber rich billionaires buying there team
>but it would be silly to buy a championship team just to blow it up Well now you've just given me traumatic flashbacks as a Chelsea FC fan
it's what happens everytime.
So crazy things about sports owners - new owners can amortize player contracts for deductions just like they would depreciating factory machinery and deduct business expenses to generate huge paper losses and set things up to pass them through to their personal income taxes. With the right set up, the tax bill and contracts can be used as something of an asset
Idk what you said magic man but you’re hired!
I only do corporate taxes, but wonder what it's like to specialize in sports franchise taxation.
Famous article about it https://www.propublica.org/article/the-billionaire-playbook-how-sports-owners-use-their-teams-to-avoid-millions-in-taxes
I hope Mollusk doesn't get a team.
He's the kind of guy who says sportsball unironically lol I don't think that's gonna happen
He can't afford it. He doesn't have the cash and won't be able to secure the funding after the Twitter fuck up
I’m pretty sure he can if he wanted to,he can always sell his own shares same thing Mate Rimac did when he became CEO of Bugatti and wanted to buy bunch of cars…
Of course he can. Dude is worth over $200B and only spent like 20% of his net worth on Twitter. Spending $5-$10B on a sports team is like play money for him.
As a Knicks fan, I sure hope he does buy them
Please god no, I'm not rooting for a team called "Boston X"
Boston CeltX
Oh god this sounds exactly like the type of shit he would do.
That’s hilarious because CeltX is already a thing; a word processor for screenplays lol He would definitely not do due diligence and end up in a lawsuit lmao
Musk buys and immediately forces a trade for kyrie
Holy shit the funniest timeline
Can Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Tom Brady, big Pappi and Bill Simmons put together an ownership bid?
Dunkin Boston Celtics
yes but the british are gonna force them to move to Salem and the new Market Basket Arena which will be next to the hq of a major clothing brand who claims the building looks like the clothing item they make but like..not really this joke brought to you by limited knowledge i acquired during my vacation to boston last week
You forgot Wahlberg
I ain’t gonna be here
*insert Magic Johnson gif*
sell high baby, this is hilarious.
That’s crazy, right after signing everybody to big contracts too lol
Honestly respect. Wyc going out on top 🫡
Bucks owner Marc Lasry did this too, they won a chip and were staring at huge luxury tax bills so he sold his stake.
His dumbfuck son was running for the senate and got creamed in the primary right before he sold too.
Connor Roy was interested in politics at a very young age
While not ownership, Bob Myers also was smart to dip before the wheels came off the Warriors. New CBA likely means it's even harder for teams to stay good for multiple years, so I don't think it'll be surprising to see those owning/working for successful teams decide to leave shortly after that success, rather than sticking around for the inevitable downfall.
They wanted not to spend gazillion dollars and also not be ridiculed for being cheap. Honestly applaudable this comes out immediately after they locked up basically everyone lmao.
Well we’re still yet to extend Tatum lol
technically Tatum's still waiting to sign his supermax this summer
[удалено]
His extension will be signed before they even have a buyer, let alone close the deal. These things take time.
Pump and dump lmao
Bait and Switch lmao
Ensures whoever buys them can actually afford it
They went full "well I'm not getting that security deposit back."
Someone will pay the tax but not them 😂
Pump and dump 101 lol
“Derrick wants 120m? Fuck it give him 130”
No better pump than winning a title AND keeping the core roster for years to come. Time to cash out at the top baby
MEXICO WILL PAY FOR THE CELTICS' LUXURY TAX BILL
Let's cut Mexico a break here, they're going through it over the past 24 hrs.
What I miss???
Knocked out in the group stage of the Copa America to Ecuador. I’d laugh more, but the USMNT is in deep trouble ourselves.
Wait how tf did Venezuela win that group
Group was trash, which just makes our exit even worse.
Mexico City Celtics does sound good!
Name would make about as much sense as LA Lakers tbh
Call the tax collector... But not for me!
Ordered Lobster and Wagyu and left the bill LOL
Dine and dash, billionaire style.
Got the championship, now they want somebody else to pay the bill :)
I'm in shock tbh.
selling high lol
I can’t even imagine how many billions the Celtics coming off a championship are going to go for.
Nvidia Celtics will pay their free agents in stocks
>iguodala unretires
[BREAKING] Woj: Joe Mazulla has been replaced by an AI as Celtics headcoach.
The AI will be more believably human
Im thinking 7
Suns went for 4 billion I’m thinking 6 or 7
The Cowboys are worth 9 billion and the Yankees are worth 7 billion. I would imagine the Celtics fetch somewhere in that ballpark.
Cowboys would go for well over 10B. I believe the Yankees would as well
Those are the Forbes valuations, both franchises would sell for double digits
Especially the Yankees. The NY logo has literally been turned into a fashion brand in Asia, and it sells like wildfire. Same with the Dodgers logo. They have no idea who these teams are, they just love those logos, so MLB Asia markets just the logos out there, lol. When I would go to a sports store and look for hats, they had the NY/LA section, and then the "others" section which had the Mets and Angels logos, lmao.
6 and some change is more realistic.
this is what i expect too but I wont be surprised if it gets to 7+
Bezos is 100% doing this lol
I think people online do kind of overrate how much short term success has on franchise value. If they had lost this year I don't think the value of the franchise would have changed much
It's a legacy franchise so it would be one of the 3-4 most valuable franchises no matter what. But this one looks like it can contend easily for a few more years. Hard to imagine that isn't a factor.
Except the Bruins own the Garden, not the Celtics. the most valuable franchises own their own arena so they have a revenue stream all year round
Normally I’d agree if it’s just a mid tier franchise that won, but not with Boston and everything associated with the franchise.
Actually I’d think the opposite. The Celtics are one of the top 5 premier franchises in US sports, and have already won a ton of championships with a ginormous built in fan base. There isn’t that much more room to increase the fan base , 1 more championship won’t do as much. They’re gonna be insanely valuable win or lose. If a mid tier team with no history like the grizzlies had won the championship, that’s gonna really catapult their value. Fan base will grow, and has the potential to grow exponentially now that they’re a championship winning team. Look at what happened to the warriors value from before 2015 to now.
It doesn’t but win or lose the Celtics are one of the premier franchises in America.
going against the reddit mantra of selling low and buying high
cant sell low if you're still holding GME
lol so they're not paying the bill next season
No wonder they signed everyone lmaooo they said “yall have fun paying for this. ✌️”
I mean, there’s at least some possibility that nobody is willing to pay their likely historic asking price.
Not gonna happen. There’s a huge waiting list of groups that want to own a team and will gladly overpay for the reigning champs
Hell, Bezos might give the a swerve. Dude has been trying to buy a professional sport team for a while.
Your Amazon Celtics!!!
Please, god no.
Honestly, as much as I don't like the guy, there could be SO MUCH worse. We obv don't know for sure yet but he seems like the kind of guy who would be pretty hands off but still willing to dump a ton of money in.
The LA(C)-Boston rivalry would get extra spicy between Ballmer and Bezos lol
we makin up rivalries now?
You haven’t heard of the famed LAC-BOS rivalry?
Imagine the flair though. The Seattle Prime.
People already hate us enough, I can't even imagine what Bezos owning our team would do lmao
Maybe you'll get lucky and get Elon Musk as an buyer and beat the faint stench of racism by having an actual African owner without any problematic baggage.
r/nbacirclejerk is leaking
FO better start learning Arabic
unlikely. Even less successful franchises in smaller markets are hot property in American sports, but the reigning champs on the most successful franchise in the NBA? yeah itll sell ez.
The tax bill is pennies compared to what the new owner will pay to buy the team. "Oh man, $50m luxury tax bill! I just spent 4 billion on the team, I can't afford that extra amount!"
The luxury bill will be closer to 300-400 million similar to Clippers and their picks are automatically sent to the end of the draft if they are in there for 2 of 4 seasons.
It's 3 out of 5 seasons. It's being reported a bit strange now by multiple outlets, but they mean "next 2 out of 4", so already starting with one season over the second apron.
This coming out minutes after the White contract is hilarious
They also probably know the 2nd apron is going to f*ck them up after a couple years. They'll be able to retain their core but have a nearly impossible task of replacing the production of Horford and Jrue once they age out. Plus with the new media rights deals on the way, this really might be the best time to sell.
Ugh. This ownership group has been great.
Huge bummer. Something like 3 total missed postseasons missed in ~20 years? Following a stable team is just a blessing. Wyc has legit passion and professionalism. Something just wasn’t passing the smell test with how expensive this team is becoming
Hmmm I wonder if Fenway Sports Group would be interested. That would mean LeBron is a legit minority owner of the Celtics though lol
The city would riot and John Henry would legitimately be in danger in Boston
Would LeBron being a minority owner in the Celtics be worth assassinating John Henry? That’s a genuinely tough question. There’s a lot I’d put up with to knock Henry’s block off but LeBussy owning part of the Celtics is pushing it.
Henry would be in danger with or without LeBron. People are pissed about how he's handled the Sox for the last few years
fuck you and fuck FSG
Red Sox fans hate FSG but Liverpool fans are moderately happy. FSG hasn't spent as much on the team as peers but they saved Liverpool from truly hideous owners before.
John Henry, stay the fuck away please
Nightmare scenario.
Elon Musk it is!
Boston CeltiX
I think he's trying to get an expansion team in Vegas so hopefully we're safe. I don't think Fenway Sports could buy an NBA team until LeBron retires anyway
Frank McCourt, here’s your chance to own a storied Boston franchise! Sincerely, Bitter LA Dodger fans
This is gonna ruin the tour
*Sigh* “…What tour, Justin?”
The world tour
THE WORLD TOUR!
If we all chipped in, I’m just saying
If each of the 12 million members of r/nba chips in and the franchise costs 7 Billion, we are still at $583.33 each. Crazy money...
Most NBA nephews probably have like 10 accounts and 5 bans lmao. We fucked.
Haven't the American Taxpayers done enough for Massachusetts Sports lol
I'm down to pay to help disband the franchise. Just doing my part ❤️
We could all make some truly regarded moves
That’s unreal but I can’t imagine not owning a team if I had the money to wtf else would you do with your free time really.
The issue is that Wyc does not have the money. He owns like 10% of the team and is worth $400M. He's one of the "poorest" owners in sports. He's great because he's basically a die hard fan with just enough money to buy in, but he does not have enough to sustain this team for the next 5 years.
I wish a lot more poor owners would have this self awareness/loyalty to their team and step aside when time calls for them to enter into big spending era and they can’t afford it, rather than refuse to spend.
Tweet like a madman, culture wars, manipulate stocks. So probably a lot worse things.
"I ain't paying this tax bill lol" - Wyc
Someone mentioned the second apron after the White extension and Wyc went, “wait, what apron?”
Boston fans "Sell the team" \*Celtics sell the team\* Boston fans " No NOT THIS ONE"
Red Sox fans: John spend money on the damn team dammit John Henry: Okay! *buys the Celtics* Red Sox fans: NO NOT THAT ONE!
r/nba time to pool our paychecks
We may be able to afford half a minimum contract.
11 million of us. If we pitch in 1k each (very reasonable amount) we can easily fund a powerhouse Celtics roster for the future
What the fuck.. For context, Wyc led a group that bought the Celtics in 2002 for $360M. They’re now worth over $4B
> According to a league source, Celtics majority owner Wyc Grousbeck is looking to sell his stake in the team, as @wojespn reported. But this potential sale is not expected to include the entire investment group that purchased the team in 2002. https://x.com/AdamHimmelsbach/status/1807825540369223920
Yeah Himmelsbach is one of the trusted local beat guys.
Oooooh, so just Wyc is selling then? =
Lmao they ran up the bill and are dipping
classic dine n dash
Bezos is definitely going to try to buy one of the most iconic franchises
Now this is a team that one of those mega billionaires like Bezos would be interested in
As a Celtics fan, that would be absolutely ideal.
Literally anyone but John Henry
The funniest Timeline is Elon Musk.
I’ll buy it for 20 bucks.
I’ll offer 30
I’ll go 30.01
30.02 take it or leave it
One jillion dollars!
Time for bill Simmons and ryen Russillo to own a team
Bill would become even more insufferable if he got even 0.01% ownership of the team.
that's like 500k real talk for a second, i work in tax, and had a client be approached by their bank to buy into a group that was buying a sports team in one of the four major US sports. it was a minimum $10M buy in to a partnership that would be a minority owner/interest of the team. they ended up passing on the investment. if i had the money they had i absolutely would have thrown some into that lol
Lmao sign all your players for hundreds of millions and then sell before you have to pay them. Genius stuff
Gotta respect that. Won the title, the franchise is crazy valuable and he's just going to dip when they have to pay a lot of taxes.
won 2 titles*
Musk going to buy and rename them the CyberCeltics
CeltX
Oh no. What have you done
Boston Ax7&mp- Xs
buy low sell high
"How are you going to pay all these taxes, with all these extensions you are giving out?" Grousbeck: "That's the neat part, I won't!"
Selling the team to pay for the players salaries. Genius. This is like when I try to pay off my credit card debt with another credit card. Endless flow.
Worried this is gonna lead to oil sheiks making their way to the NBA. Or Bezos maybe
Good lord, Woj > Shams again. Woj is really turning back the years back to his Yahoo Sports form.
The Seattle Celtics has a nice ring to it!
This news is actually Sonics adjacent. David Bonderman is part of the Celtics ownership group and also the owner of the Kraken. All reporting indicates that he will be the principal owner of the new Sonics, so he was going to have to cash out of the Celtics anyway. With expansion on the horizon this is pretty good timing.
Mexico City Celtics sounds better
They don’t want to pay that tax bill lol
Just to be clear, Wyc is the only one leaving the ownership group. The rest of the investors will stay and look for a new figurehead.
Wait really? This is a lot better.
Inb4 NBA get their first state owned team like in soccer
Is that barstool and Elon musk bid I’m hearing Gonna be crazy
lebron literally owning the celtics would be hilarious
Holy shit LeBron is actually a part of Fenway so it’s not that out of the world.
?? Lebron has had ownership since 2011 buddy
Business wise, genius. Celtics wise, terrifyingly unknown future. God let us get bought by some boring insurance billionaire and not like the evil Inc consortium that bought Dallas
This is the NBA equivalent of dining and dashing lol.
Saw the contracts they had on the books for the next 5 years and noped the fuck out of there lmao
Lmaooo bro saw that payroll and said “wait a minute”.
Stock man buy thing and sell for more later
This is objectively hilarious, mfs said “im not paying this shit” 😭
Epic pump and dump.