Jeff Bezos is reportedly involved in a purchase of the Celtics; should fans be happy? originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
The Boston Celtics are for sale and one of the richest people in the world is reportedly interested in buying the legendary NBA franchise.
There are “justified rumors” that Amazon founder Jeff Bezos could buy the Celtics, said Bill Simmons of The Ringer in his podcast on Monday. With a net worth of almost $200 billion, Bezos would be by far the richest NBA owner.
While Bezos’ deep pockets would make Celtics fans feel good about the team’s finances, some may prefer to keep ownership of the team local. In this case, Celtics co-owner Steve Pagliuca, who has announced he plans to enter the bidding process, would be a desirable candidate.
Should Celtics fans be excited about the possibility of Bezos owning the team? Our Tom E. Curran and Phil Perry were joined by the Boston Globe’s Andrew Callahan as they shared their views on Monday’s report. Early edition.
“It will be harrowing and will make the Garden – or Amazon.com Stadium, whatever it becomes – a destination for the world in some ways,” Curran said. “It will be different.”
“Does this kind of retrorocket even need to be applied to the region to get it out of its provincial nature? I don’t know, I kind of like it here, but maybe that’s what people think. … I have concerns, but I see the benefits.”
Perry is in line with Bezos and calls the luxury tax an issue that does not matter to the richest sports owner.
“It’s really hard to find an owner that has so much money that the luxury tax isn’t an issue,” Perry said. “It’s just the combination of wanting the Celtics, understanding the Celtics and being, you know, an NBA fan for a long time, like I assume Jeff Bezos, I really don’t know. But at least it’s not a foreign company that we don’t know anything about, which I think will come into play at some point because they’re so damn valuable and so hard to buy.”
“Maybe the best way to find the best solution for the region is to bring together a group of people – and it sounds like that’s going to happen – who have a lot of money and can collectively own the Celtics. They can be a group of locals and not just one billionaire. But Bezos’ idea is exciting.”
Callahan is not as convinced by the idea as Perry is, pointing out that while Bezos has enough financial flexibility to deal with the luxury tax penalties, there is no guarantee that he would be willing to pay the high price every year.
“First of all, I think the luxury tax penalties wouldn’t be as bad for him as they would be for the other 29 owners in the league. Second, I don’t think paying the money hurts as much as the ego. The money goes to the competition. And after a while, you can pay $300 million. When it’s five (hundred million), you say, ‘What are we doing this for again?’ Like, ‘Why don’t we play a little smarter, a little better, like I run my other businesses?'”
The sale of the Celtics is expected to begin later this year or in early 2025. Wyc Grousbeck will end his term as governor when the sale is completed in 2028. According to Simmons, the NBA wants to sell the Celtics for $6 billion.
Watch the whole Early edition Segment below or on YouTube:
