Team Valuations Are Pushing Pro Sports Into the Arms of Private Equity
The $6.1 billion Celtics deal is only the latest example.
The worlds of sports and private equity become more intertwined every day. The sale of the Boston Celtics in late March for $6.1 billion to Bill Chisholm, managing partner and co-founder of STG Partners LLC, is the most recent evidence. Chisholm closed the deal with $1 billion in help from Sixth Street, which also owns a stake in the San Francisco Giants and has partnerships with Real Madrid and FC Barcelona soccer clubs. (The sale is pending approval from the NBA Board of Governors.)
No matter where you look, franchise valuations are booming. That’s mainly because of increasingly lucrative deals for media rights, plus the reality that there’s a limited supply of pro sports teams. In 2011, Forbes valued the Celtics at $452 million. The Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles, which were then valued at $1.16 billion, are now worth $8.3 billion, while the Los Angeles Dodgers, winners of last year’s World Series and previously valued at $800 million, are now worth $6.9 billion.