The story surrounding the impending sale of the Boston Celtics has been relatively quiet since news broke in July that the Grousbeck family was looking to sell their majority stake of the 2024 NBA champions.
Rumors of John Henry and the Fenway Sports Group being interested have popped up on multiple occasions, and in both instances have been shot down by WEEI’s Rob Bradford.
The Ringer’s Bill Simmons said in August that there was “legitimate buzz” that Amazon’s Jeff Bezos was interested in purchasing the team. But one day later, the tech outlet The Information reported that there was “zero truth” to the rumors posited by Simmons.
On Sunday night, Simmons was back in the Celtics-sale-rumor-business, saying on his podcast that Philadelphia Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie is among the finalists in the bidding for Boston’s 18-time world champion.
“By the way, the Celtics - here’s a little tidbit,” Simmons said to wrap up his “Guess The Lines” segment with “Cousin Sal” of Jimmy Kimmel Live. “The Celtics - it was the first round of the buyers, that they had to cut down all the prospective buyers, and like five people made the first round, four or five people. One of the people was the Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie, who’s apparently from Massachusetts.
“Because there’s been a couple, like, ‘Hmm, I wonder who these guys are?’ And there was a couple I couldn’t figure out. But that’s one that’s in the mix.”
“Do you like that? I mean, that happened with your Red Sox, too, right?” asked Sal, referencing Fenway Sports Group owning a conglomerate of professional sports teams, which is what the Celtics would be a part of if Lurie's reported bid is successful.
“So the precedent is Josh Harris owned the Sixers, and then bought Washington’s football team,” said Simmons. “The Kroenkes own the Nuggets and they own the Rams. So there’s been a couple NBA-NFL things.
“But, I mean, I always thought the Eagles were one of the best run football teams, right? So if he bought the Celtics, that’s a decent outcome. There’s a couple decent outcomes in this.”
“It’s so funny how there’s only, like, a few owners, there’s only a few quarterbacks to get, and there’s only a few coaches,” said Sal. “And if you don’t get them, you’re kind of screwed.”
Simmons added some more context to his Lurie scoop on X.com later that night.
“Mentioned this near the end of tonight’s podcast: Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie is in the running to buy the Boston Celtics,” said Simmons. “He’s a Boston native w/ degrees from Clark, Brandeis AND B.U. His first big company was called Chestnut Hill Productions. Huge Celts fan obviously.”
The timing of Simmons receiving this type of information makes sense, as The Boston Globe’s Michael Silverman reported earlier this month that the “first round” of bids for the Celtics would be closing on January 23. A few days after Silverman’s report, NBC Sports’ Kurt Helin reported there would be “at least four and maybe five bids from prospective new owners - with an ultimate sale price higher than $6 billion.”
As Simmons mentioned on his podcast, Lurie has been among the best owners in sports since purchasing the Eagles in May of 1994 for $195 million. Since then, the team has been to the playoffs 19 times, advancing to the NFC Championship Game during eight of those trips. They’ve won the Halas Trophy four times under Lurie (2004, 2017, 2022, 2024), and went on to win the franchise’s only Super Bowl in 2017 against the Patriots. On Sunday, they defeated the Commanders 55-23 to win the NFC, setting up a Super Bowl LVII rematch with the Chiefs for February 9, when Super Bowl LIX will take place in New Orleans.
Lurie’s love for Boston teams is well-documented, as he’s on the record saying he used to fall asleep as a kid listening to the Red Sox on the radio while growing up in the city. His family had been season ticket holders for the Boston Patriots since their inaugural season in 1960, leading Lurie to have interest in buying the franchise when they were for sale in 1993. Lurie’s family reportedly dropped out of the bidding for the Pats once the price went past $150 million, paving the way for another former season ticket holder to ultimately complete the sale and keep the team in New England.
22 years later, Lurie’s Eagles are worth a reported $8.3 billion, making them the most valuable team in the NFL according to The Wall Street Journal.
If the 73-year-old still wants a piece of the Boston sports landscape, it would appear money won’t be an issue this time around.