The Boston Celtics are sparking a bidding frenzy in January 2025—but not for players. Instead, the 18-time champions are up for sale. After Mark Cuban and Michael Jordan, Celtics owner Wyc Grousbeck is following suit, tapping into the league’s golden era. With team values soaring, everyone’s keen to get a piece. Since Jan 23, the first round of bidders has rolled in, including LeBron James’ partners, Fenway Sports Group.

Interestingly enough, a new name has emerged among the many known and unknown ones. And, according to Bill Simmons of the Ringer, Philadelphia Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie is one of the finalists to buy the team. Simply put, FSG now has a big competition in their $6 billion Boston Celtics pursuit.

“The Celtics, it was their first round of buyers, they had to cut down their perspective buyers,” Simmons said on his podcast Sunday night. “Four or five people made the first round. One of the people was the Eagles owner, Jeffrey Lurie, who is apparently from Massachusetts. There’s been a couple of ‘Hmm, I wonder who these guys are?’ There are a couple I couldn’t figure out but that’s one.”

At 73, Jeffrey Lurie isn’t just a football mogul; he’s a Massachusetts native through and through. He bought the Eagles in 1994, but his roots run deep in the Bay State. Lurie’s academic journey took him from Clark (B.A.) to BU (Masters) and Brandeis (Ph.D. in social policy). With a family fortune of $5.3 billion, Forbes has him sitting pretty at No. 625 on the global wealth list.

It looks like LeBron James and John Henry may be out of the running for the Celtics. FSG, owner of Liverpool FC, the Boston Red Sox, and the Pittsburgh Penguins, was once seen as a top contender. But reports now say they’ve backed away from the bid.

John Henry’s Fenway Sports Group to take a step backward from claiming the Boston Celtics

As an active player in the NBA, LeBron James wouldn’t have been able to use the ‘owner’ tag on himself, even if Fenway Group bought the Boston Celtics. The regulations of the league wouldn’t have allowed it unless Bron retired of course. But now, Red Sox insider Chris Cotillo has reported: “According to an industry source, FSG is not involved in the bidding for the Celtics.”

Fenway Sports Group will 

not be involved in the bidding for the Boston Celtics. Meanwhile, WBZ-TV’s Dan Roche has also confirmed Cotillo’s report that FSG isn’t going to make a bid for the team. Early reports had FSG eyeing the Celtics, but that idea quickly fizzled. Then, Kurt Helin from NBC Sports stirred things up, claiming FSG was ready to jump in. But just a day later, Cotillo shot that down, revealing FSG was backing out. So, the bidding drama continues. Meanwhile, Jeffrey Lurie’s entry into the scene adds the spice element. Bill Simmons also believes that the 73-year-old’s ventures would be a “decent outcome.” The Grousbeck family took charge of the Boston Celtics in 2002 for $360 million, and are now expected to land somewhere between $5-6 million for the franchise. The Boston Celtics’ sale will happen in two stages. The first 51% should wrap up in 2025, with the rest completed by 2028. Wyc Grousbeck plans to stay on as Team Governor until it’s all done.

Thus adding a twist to the story, the Philadelphia Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie has entered the fight to acquire the Celtics. He might be risking the wrath of Philly, but then entering the NBA scenes through a team would be beneficial business-wise. On the other hand, FSG and LeBron James most likely are out of the show. Now, it’ll be interesting to see who wears the green crown of the C’s at the end of the sale.