Red Sox Ownership Group Reportedly Holding Firm On Lack Of Celtics Interest

As Boston Red Sox fans anxiously await something resembling a noteworthy free-agent signing, word began to spread that their team's ownership group had designs on something outside the sport entirely.

The Red Sox's principal owner since 2001, John Henry, has since grown his empire far beyond his baseball team. Under the umbrella of Fenway Sports Group, Henry has a controlling interest in Liverpool Football Club and the Pittsburgh Penguins, the New England Sports Network, and several other ventures.

For a moment, it appeared that Henry was setting his sights on one of the other sporting giants in the New England region: the Boston Celtics.

The Celtics have been up for sale since July, but previous reports suggested that Fenway Sports Group was not expected to enter the bidding. A Sunday report from Kurt Helin of NBC Sports, however, claimed that FSG was expected to be among four or five bidders for the Celtics.

On Monday, however, Chris Cotillo of MassLive reported that according to multiple sources, FSG still had no interest in buying the Celtics, while postulating that the pursuit of an NBA expansion team in Las Vegas remains on the table in the future.

"A story on NBC Sports’ Basketball Talk page characterized FSG as a group “expected to make a bid,” fueling rampant social media speculation," Cotillo wrote. "But nothing has changed since Red Sox president — and FSG CEO — Sam Kennedy threw cold water on the idea in September."

"Industry speculation is that FSG, with (LeBron) James in tow, has its eye on owning an NBA expansion team in Las Vegas down the road. James, who just turned 40, has long been linked to that possibility as a post-playing career option."

James, the four-time NBA champion and all-time scoring leader, became a minority owner in FSG in 2021. The 40-year-old future Hall of Famer has said in the past that his "ultimate goal" is to bring "my team" to Las Vegas one day.

Though Red Sox fans may still have misgivings about the way their team has pursued free agents this winter, it sounds as if at least for now, their ownership group isn't actively trying to buy other major sports franchises in the middle of a pivotal offseason.