The recent sale of the Boston Celtics for $6.1 billion in March, followed by the Los Angeles Lakers deal pegged at $10 billion, has set a new benchmark, prompting serious talk of NBA expansion.
Insiders suggest that the impact of these record-breaking transactions could push future franchise fees as high as $6 billion per team.
The Celtics’ deal already shattered the previous high – Mat Ishbia’s 2023 acquisition of the Phoenix Suns for $4 billion, marking a 50 percent increase.
What surprised league officials most was the magnitude of the price, especially since Boston doesn’t own the physical arena of TD Garden.
The Lakers’ valuation, a staggering 65 percent increase over the Celtics, is expected to be ratified at the next NBA Board of Governors meeting, likely in July in Las Vegas.
League Commissioner Adam Silver confirmed that expansion will be on the agenda:
“There’s been no lack of interest,” Silver said. “I essentially have said to people from several different cities, ‘We’re just not engaging in that process right now.’ … So if we were to say yes, we’re now going to move into a more formal exploratory phase.”
With these booming valuations, insiders estimate that if two new clubs were added, each current team could receive an equivalent of $400 million from the expansion fees – a windfall that bypasses the NBA’s revenue-sharing rules, which typically split basketball-related income with players.
Record NBA Team Sales To Push Expansion Fees Toward $6 Billion With Existing Teams Receiving $400M Each https://t.co/QOb0ssK84C
— RealGM (@RealGM) June 19, 2025
