Wyc Grousbeck’s Boston Celtics are looking to win a record-breaking 18th NBA championship, while Mark Cuban, Miriam Adelson and the Dallas Mavericks are trying to score the franchise’s second title.
Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/justinbirnbaum/2024/06/06/meet-the-billionaire-owners-facing-off-in-the-2024-nba-finals/#:~:text=Wyc%20Grousbeck's%20Boston%20Celtics%20are,score%20the%20franchise's%20second%20title.
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Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/justinbirnbaum/2024/06/06/meet-the-billionaire-owners-facing-off-in-the-2024-nba-finals/#:~:text=Wyc%20Grousbeck's%20Boston%20Celtics%20are,score%20the%20franchise's%20second%20title.
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SportsTranscript
00:00 Today on Forbes, meet the billionaire owners facing off in the 2024 NBA Finals.
00:08 After the Boston Celtics defeated the Indiana Pacers last Monday and advanced to their second
00:13 NBA Finals in three years, managing owner Wick Grosbeck took a moment to acknowledge
00:18 a franchise legend who died that day.
00:21 The 61-year-old Celtics CEO told the crowd, "All I can think about right now is that we
00:26 lost a great Celtic today, Bill Walton, one of the greatest Celtics of all time.
00:31 This is dedicated to Bill."
00:34 Grosbeck may have only been in his 20s when Walton's resurgence helped the 1986 Celtics
00:40 win their 16th NBA Championship.
00:42 Yet his passion for the franchise dates back long before he led a group of investors that
00:47 bought the team for $360 million in 2002.
00:51 The native Bostonian has rooted for the Celtics his entire life, and when Grosbeck and his
00:56 family moved back to the city in the 1990s, he bought season tickets and remembers taking
01:01 his young daughter to games.
01:04 Once he took ownership of the team a few years later, his primary goal wasn't to get richer,
01:08 though the Celtics are now the fourth most valuable team in the NBA.
01:12 Grosbeck even gave his fellow owners that same pep talk.
01:15 He recalls, "I said to everybody, 'You're coming in for love, and we're going to be
01:20 paid in enjoyment.'
01:21 That was the only goal, to win a championship, not to make money."
01:26 The Celtics did just that, winning the title in 2008, and the team can add a record-breaking
01:31 18th championship to their illustrious history this year.
01:35 Right now, after a big win in the opening game of the NBA Finals on Thursday night,
01:39 107-89, they're up one game to none over the Dallas Mavericks.
01:44 Game two is tomorrow night in Boston.
01:47 But even if making a lot of money wasn't Grosbeck's intention, that hasn't stopped
01:51 the franchise from doing just that.
01:53 The Celtics are the 18th most profitable team in sports, generating an estimated $269 million
01:59 in operating income combined over the last three seasons.
02:03 By Forbes' estimate, Boston is now worth $4.7 billion, including debt, a roughly 1,200%
02:10 increase over the price Grosbeck and his partners paid.
02:13 That exponential growth has also translated into considerable wealth.
02:18 Forbes estimates the family of Irving Grosbeck, Wick's father, is worth $1.8 billion.
02:25 They're not the only ones getting rich off the NBA's rapid growth this century.
02:29 Mark Cuban bought the Dallas Mavericks for $280 million in 2000, and, in October, Forbes
02:35 valued the franchise at $4.5 billion, three spots behind the Celtics.
02:41 The 65-year-old billionaire reportedly cashed out at a considerably lower price, selling
02:46 most of his ownership stake last year to Miriam Adelson, widow of Las Vegas Sands chairman
02:51 and CEO Sheldon Adelson and her family, at a $3.5 billion valuation.
02:57 Adelson got a 68% stake in the Mavericks, with the option to buy more.
03:02 To fund the deal, Adelson sold some $2 billion worth of stock in Las Vegas Sands Corp.
03:07 Her son-in-law, Patrick Dumont, now serves as the team's governor, in addition to his
03:11 role as chief operating officer of the casino and resort company.
03:16 For now, Cuban retains a 27% stake in the team and control of basketball decision-making.
03:22 When asked why he sold out of the Mavericks, Cuban pointed to his new partner's strong
03:26 ties to the casino and hotel industry, since Texas has been wrestling with legalizing gambling
03:31 and sports betting for several years.
03:33 The Shark Tank co-host told the Dallas Morning News, "They're not basketball people.
03:38 I'm not a real estate person.
03:40 That's why I did it."
03:43 Adelson's push for legalized gambling in the Lone Star State has been anything but a secret,
03:47 and an additional plot of land purchased from Cuban across from the Mavericks' home arena,
03:51 the American Airlines Center, hints at aspirations for a Dallas-based casino and resort.
03:57 Since 1998, when Forbes started tracking the values of sports franchises, NBA teams have
04:02 appreciated some 2,200% on average.
04:06 The Celtics and Mavericks are among the 10 teams to experience the most growth during
04:10 that period.
04:11 Grosbeck says, "I'm kind of laughing at fate that everything got so appreciated.
04:16 Who knew?
04:17 I didn't know.
04:18 I would never claim that I knew the teams were going to appreciate like this."
04:23 For full coverage, check out Justin Birnbaum's piece on Forbes.com.
04:29 This is Kieran Meadows from Forbes.
04:31 Thanks for tuning in.
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