NBA champion Boston Celtics to be sold for a record $6.1 billion historic deal led by Bill Chisholm.

— Private equity mogul William Chisholm agreed to buy the Boston Celtics on Thursday in a deal that values the NBA’s reigning champions and the most-decorated franchise in league history at a minimum of $6.1 billion — the largest price ever for American professional sports team.

If the deal is approved by the NBA’s board of governors this summer, the sale would top the $6.05 billion paid for the NFL’s Washington Commanders in 2023.

A Massachusetts native and graduate of Dartmouth College and Penn’s Wharton School of business, Chisholm is the managing partner of California-based Symphony Technology Group. The new ownership group also includes Boston businessmen Rob Hale, who is a current Celtics shareholder, and Bruce Beal Jr.

Wyc Grousbeck, whose family leads the ownership group that bought the team in 2002 for $360 million, said Chisholm asked him to stay on as CEO and Governor for the next three seasons, “and I am glad to do so.”

The agreement calls for a two-part sale in which Chisholm would acquire at least 51% of the team upon approval by the NBA’s board of governors, which could come as soon as this summer. Current owners would have the option to retain the remainder of their shares until 2028, when they would be sold at a price that could be up to 20% higher, based on a formula determined by league revenue growth.

That would value the team at $7.3 billion. Sportico and ESPN were among those first reporting the agreement for the sale.

The record price for an NBA team was the $4 billion mortgage firm owner Mat Ishbia paid for the Phoenix Suns in 2023. But the Celtics are one of the league’s flagship franchises, winning their unprecedented 18th NBA title last June and among the favorites to win again this season with young stars Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown — .

The $6.1 billion sale is the largest of a North American sports franchise, topping the previous record set by Josh Harris and a group who paid $6.05 billion for the Washington Commanders in 2023.