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Fenway Sports Group Not Making Effort to Buy NBA Champion Boston Celtics

A report early on Monday indicated that the Fenway Sports Group was making a run at the Celtics, but that's been disproved.

Brady Farkas

Boston Celtics owner and governor Wyc Grousbeck sits with Boston Red Sox principal owner John Henry during the first half in a game against the Toronto Raptors at TD Garden in 2019.
Boston Celtics owner and governor Wyc Grousbeck sits with Boston Red Sox principal owner John Henry during the first half in a game against the Toronto Raptors at TD Garden in 2019. / Bob DeChiara-Imagn Images
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UPDATE, 12:40 p.m. ET: According to a report from Chris Cotillo of MassLIVE, Fenway Sports Group will NOT be making a run at the Celtics.

According to an industry source, FSG is not involved in the bidding for the Celtics.

This was always the case but there appears to have been an aggregation/story out there with bad info this morning.

11:20 a.m. ET: The Fenway Sports Group, which owns the Boston Red Sox, is expected to make a bid for the Boston Celtics of the NBA, according to reports.

Per @CelticsCLNS, with a nod to NBC Sports:

TRENDING: John Henry and Fenway Sports Group are expected to make a bid for the Celtics.
Per @NBCSports
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"The Fenway Sports Group — which owns the Boston Red Sox of the MLB, the Pittsburgh Penguins of the NHL, and the Liverpool Football Club of the English Premier League—is also expected to make a bid."

The notion of Henry's group buying the Celtics makes some sense, as there is an obvious regional tie-in with the Red Sox, but this is something that is likely to make fans of both teams upset.

First off, Red Sox fans already feel like Henry doesn't give enough attention to the organization, focusing too many of his resources on his other entities. After all, the Red Sox traded Mookie Betts for financial reasons and then let Xander Bogaerts go in free agency. Furthermore, the Sox have refused to be big players in free agents over the last several years, which rankles the fan base further. If Henry didn't have the Penguins and Liverpool, would he handle things differently with the Sox?

If Henry gets controlling interest in the Celtics, his attention, and his pocketbook, will be stretched even thinner.

On the Celtics side, fans are bound to be upset as well. The C's, coming off an NBA championship run, have a bloated payroll in the form of Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Kristaps Porzingis, Derrick White and Jrue Holiday. If Henry applies the same financial principles he has with the Red Sox to the Celtics, then he could end up trading stars or not paying top dollar for talent in the future.

The Celtics were announced as up for sale following the NBA championship win over the Dallas Mavericks.

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Brady Farkas
BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is a baseball writer for Fastball on Sports Illustrated/FanNation and the host of 'The Payoff Pitch' podcast which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Videos on baseball also posted to YouTube. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. You can follow him on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady. 

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