Asset Class: More Celtics Investors

May 23, 2025

The record $6.1 billion Boston Celtics sale is being supported by a $1 billion investment from the CEO of the world’s second-largest steel producer. All that remains before the deal is completed is a vote by the NBA’s board of governors, which is expected in July.

—Ben Horney

More Celtics Investors

May 7, 2025; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown (7) react after a play against the New York Knicks in the second quarter during game two of the second round for the 2025 NBA Playoffs at TD Garden.

Bob DeChiara-Imagn Images

The record $6.1 billion sale of the Boston Celtics to a group led by private-equity executive Bill Chisholm is all but wrapped up, with a vote by the NBA board of governors this summer the only remaining step before the deal is completed.

And Chisholm is still adding investors. On Thursday, Front Office Sports confirmed the CEO of ArcelorMittal—the world’s second-largest steel producer—is contributing $1 billion to the transaction. Sportico first reported Mittal’s investment.

In addition to Chisholm and Aditya Mittal, other investors participating in the sale include private-equity firm Sixth Street, existing Celtics minority owner Robert Hale Jr., and Bruce A. Beal Jr., president of Related Companies. (And that’s just the confirmed list so far, but there are others, a source tells FOS.)

The deal, which FOS reported has been “oversubscribed” since earlier this month, is on the “one-yard line,” a source familiar with the matter says. The last remaining step is for the NBA board of governors to vote to approve. That’s expected in July, after the NBA Finals.

While Chisholm will be the face of the new ownership group, Mittal is much more globally famous, just as Sixth Street is a household name in private equity while Chisholm’s Symphony Technology Group is not.

These are the others who’ve joined Chisholm:

Aditya Mittal

Mittal has been CEO of ArcelorMittal, the second-biggest producer of steel in the world behind China Baowu Steel Group, since 2021. He is likely to be the second-largest Celtics stakeholder, a source confirms to FOS, and may be the team’s alternate governor in the future.

His father, Lakshmi Mittal, started Mittal Steel in 1976. It became ArcelorMittal following the 2006 merger of Arcelor and Mittal Steel. Prior to assuming the CEO role, Aditya Mittal held an array of leadership positions within the company, including CFO.

Mittal’s investment in the Celtics deal is not par for the course for him. He doesn’t appear to have a wide-ranging portfolio of sports investments, although he did previously form and oversee the Mittal Champions Trust, a philanthropic effort aimed at supporting Indian athletes seeking to participate in the Olympics.

His net worth is close to $24 billion, according to Bloomberg’s Billionaire Index.

Mittal could not immediately be reached, and ArcelorMittal did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Sixth Street Partners

The private-equity firm made headlines earlier in the Celtics deal process over reports it was contributing more money than Chisholm, which would not be allowed under the NBA’s PE ownership rules. FOS can confirm it is anticipated that Sixth Street will hold a Celtics stake of about 12.5%, which is lower than its original commitment.

Sixth Street also owns a stake in the San Antonio Spurs. Under NBA ownership rules, any given private equity fund cannot own more than a 20% interest in any individual team, although it can own up to that size stake in as many as five franchises.

Sixth Street recently purchased a 10% stake in the San Francisco Giants. It has also invested in soccer teams FC Barcelona and Real Madrid, and owns a controlling share of Bay FC in the NWSL. The firm boasts more than $100 billion of assets under management.

Sixth Street declined to comment.

Robert Hale Jr.

Hale, president of Massachusetts-based telecommunications company Granite Communications, is already a minority stakeholder in the Celtics, having joined the ownership group as a limited partner in 2012. Forbes puts his net worth at $5.8 billion.

It is not clear what size stake he owns in the Celtics, nor how much he will put into the new deal. He did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In addition to his leadership role at Granite, he is a cofounder of middle market investment firm Copley Equity Partners, which invests across numerous industries. The firm previously invested in professional lacrosse team the Boston Cannons in 2013, though it has since exited. The rest of its portfolio is not sports-related.

Bruce A. Beal Jr.

Beal, president of real estate development, investment management firm Related Companies, also owns a minority stake in the Miami Dolphins, in which he serves as vice chairman and partner.

Late last year, the former majority owner of the Dolphins, Stephen Ross, who founded Related Companies, sold part of his stake to PE firm Ares Management and Brooklyn Nets owners Joe Tsai and Oliver Weisberg. Ares picked up a 10% stake, with Tsai and Weisberg collectively acquiring a 3% interest. Forbes estimates Beal’s net worth at more than $1 billion. He and his company did not immediately respond to requests for comment. It was not clear what size stake he will own in the Celtics and how much money he is contributing.

Beal, who in addition to Hale and Sixth Street were among the co-investors when the Celtics deal was first announced, received kudos then from NFL legend Tom Brady, who posted a story to Instagram, saying, “The Boston boy is an owner of his Boston team. Congratulations!”

Strava’s Buying Spree Continues With Deal for Cycling App

Kevin R. Wexler-NorthJersey.com/Imagn Images

Strava is striving to dominate the market for fitness apps, announcing Thursday its second acquisition in as many months with the purchase of a training app for cyclists called The Breakaway.

The Breakaway app provides users with personalized cycling training regimens, analysis of their rides, and other tools aimed at motivating them to remain active. Financial details were not disclosed.

The deal comes the same day that San Francisco–based Strava closed a new round of funding that values the business at more than $2.2 billion, including debt, Strava VP of global communications Brian Bell confirmed to FOS. The round was reportedly led by Sequoia Capital and included participation by TCV, Jackson Square Ventures, and Go4it Capital. A representative for TCV confirmed the firm contributed to the new funding but would not comment further. Representatives for the other firms did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Bell tells FOS that The Breakaway was an attractive target thanks to its “great ride analysis and achievement tracking tools,” which will be added to Strava’s cycling offerings. Once that integration has been completed, The Breakaway’s stand-alone app will be shut down.

Strava has been focused on growth as the fitness app industry explodes. The total value of the global fitness app market is expected to balloon to $23.21 billion by 2030, according to Grand View Research. In 2022, it was valued at about $8.21 billion.

Strava, which offers an exercise-tracking app, boasts more than 150 million users across 185 countries, according to its website. Last month, it acquired U.K. tech company Runna, a move meant to give Strava users feedback and insights on their activities in real time. That deal followed a few other relatively recent transactions; in 2023, Strava bought 3D mapping platform Fatmap, and before that it purchased injury prevention app Recover Athletics.

The COVID-19 shutdowns led to a casual running boom, which has not yet slowed as participation in running continues to grow. Strava and its competitors, including MyFitnessPal, Fitbit, Nike Run Club, and Runkeeper, are trying to capitalize on running’s increasing popularity.

A representative for The Breakaway did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

SPONSORED BY E*TRADE FROM MORGAN STANLEY

George Pyne on Sports As a Durable Asset Class

Bruin Capital launched in 2015, before the current gold rush, because founder George Pyne knew what has become obvious to other investors today: Sports is a resilient, appreciating asset class. In a recent episode of “Portfolio Players,” presented by E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley, Pyne talked about Bruin’s global investments and why he thinks sports is like reality TV.

World Cup Infrastructure Company Sells to PE for $1 Billion

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From turf to turnstiles, one company is helping build the 2026 FIFA World Cup from the ground up—and it just got purchased in a deal worth more than $1 billion.

Private-equity firm Providence Equity Partners on Wednesday acquired a majority stake in Global Critical Logistics (GCL), parent of Rock-It Cargo, which last year was selected to be the official logistics provider for next year’s World Cup.

Financial details were not disclosed, but a person familiar with the matter confirmed to Front Office Sports that the deal is worth more than $1 billion.

“FIFA is a game-changer for us, no question,” GCL president and CEO Dan Rosenthal tells FOS. “Next year’s World Cup will be the largest event in sports history.”

What exactly will Rock-It Cargo be doing for the World Cup? Well, everything. The expansive event will feature a record 48 teams and have more than one host country for the first time since 2022; games will be held in 16 stadiums across three nations: the U.S., Canada, and Mexico.

“If you take any of those stadiums and turn them upside down, anything that shakes out, we will have assisted in getting into place,” Rosenthal says.

That includes turnstiles, the pitch itself, ref uniforms, player kits, weights that the teams will use in training, and more.

“Everything brought in to be used across the cities and in the venues, we will be assisting in importing, storing things in warehouses, transporting them to the venues, everything,” he says. “This event will set the stage for our growth to come.”

GCL landed the gig after a “highly competitive process,” and Rosenthal says FIFA ultimately selected his company due to its commitment to its craft, culture, and experience helping with major international events.

“We have uniquely different customs expertise compared to competitors,” he says.

Providence doesn’t only invest directly in sports, but it has a healthy history of investing in areas surrounding sports leagues and franchises. Its first sports-related investment was the YES Network, and other investments have included the business behind the Ironman Triathlon events, the marketing arm of Major League Soccer, and college sports marketing company Learfield.

Recent acquisitions for Providence included the 2022 purchase of sports agency Wasserman—which represents players from the NBA, WNBA, NFL, MLB, and more—as well as the 2023 deal for a minority stake in Missouri-based sports and entertainment architectural and design firm Populous.

“We invest in the services ecosystem surrounding sports,” Scott Marimow, managing director at Providence, tells FOS. “GCL fits perfectly in with that strategy.”

The seller, ATL Partners, will retain a minority stake in GCL.

Deal Flow

Most Valuable Women’s Franchise

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The New York Liberty got a capital injection valuing the franchise at $450 million, FOS can confirm. The investment, first reported by The Athletic, represents a record valuation for a professional women’s sports franchise. The team declined to comment on identities of the investors and how large a stake they will receive in the team. The money is expected to go toward the development of a new practice facility in Brooklyn scheduled to open in 2027.
Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay passed away at 65 years old, the team announced Wednesday; the cause was not announced. He took over the team from his father, Robert Irsay, when he died in 1997, and ran it for roughly 28 years. The Colts declined to comment on succession plans, but the team’s website states Irsay’s daughters, Kalen, Carlie, and Casey—who are all part of the current ownership—are the “next generation of Colts ownership.” A representative from the NFL confirmed to FOS that teams are required to have succession plans filed with the league but said “we do not comment on those plans.”
The New York Giants are receiving plenty of interest in the minority stake they put up for sale in February, with Julia Koch, the widow of David Koch—who owned a majority stake in Koch Industries—the most recent potential buyer linked to the NFL team. Former Giants quarterback and two-time Super Bowl MVP Eli Manning has also been linked, as has a group featuring ex-Giants defensive standout Michael Strahan and billionaire investor Marc Lasry. The Giants and Moelis, the investment bank working with the team on the stake sale, declined to comment.
President Donald Trump’s tax and spending bill—which passed the House in a razor-thin 215–214 vote early Thursday—takes aim at team owners. The bill extends corporate and individual tax cuts passed in 2017 and curbs spending on Medicaid and student loans, among other things. The package also includes a change to the tax treatment of sports franchises, which would effectively function as a tax hike for team owners. The measure would limit 15-year deductions for the cost of sports franchises to just 50% of the cost of those franchises. Effectively, half of the cost would be treated as under current law, and the remaining half would likely have no depreciation deductions at all, says Garrett Watson, director of policy analysis at the Tax Foundation. The bill now heads to the Senate.