The Philadelphia Eagles are heading back to the Super Bowl.

The Eagles punched their ticket to Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans next month’s after a blowout victory against the Washington Commanders in last Sunday’s NFC Championship game.

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The victory sets up a mouth-watering Super Bowl clash with the reigning, back-to-back world champion Kansas City Chiefs, a rematch of Super Bowl LVII, won by the Chiefs.

It’s the fourth time under billionaire owner Jeffrey Lurie’s stewardship that the Eagles have made the showpiece event, but according to reports, Lurie may have his eyes on another prize beyond a second Lombardi.

According to American sportswriter and podcaster Bill Simmons, the 73-year-old Eagles owner could be in the mix to buy the Boston Celtics, who are currently up for sale.

“Here’s a little tidbit: The Celtics, it was one of the first round of the buyers, they had to cut down all the prospective buyers. … Four or five people (made the first) round, and one of the people was the Eagles owner, Jeffrey Lurie, who’s apparently from Massachusetts,” Simmons said on ‘The Bill Simmons Podcast‘ on Sunday night.

It’s hardly surprising Lurie, who is worth an estimated $5.3billion, is reportedly interested in the Cs.

The Eagles owner is a Boston native and was reportedly a huge fan of all the city’s teams as a kid.

He also has deep ties to the area, having attended Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts for his undergrad, Boston University for his masters, and Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts for his doctorate.

Team ownership has always been high on his agenda, too.

Two years before buying the Eagles from Norman Braman for $185million in 1995, he attempted to buy the Patriots from James Orthwein but dropped out and the franchise was eventually sold to Robert Kraft.

While Lurie’s reported interest is undoubtedly an exciting development in one of America’s most stories sports teams, Simmons has been wrong about this subject before.

When the Celtics were put up for sale last year, he claimed Amazon founder Jeff Bezos was interested in buying them.

“The league wants $6billion for the team,” Simmons said.

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“They don’t own the arena, it’s a crazy price but they’re probably going to get it.

“They want the $6billion because they want expansion teams in Seattle and Las Vegas, and they want $6billion apiece for the two franchise for expansion. That would mean a check for $400million to every NBA owner, all 30.

“In the last few days there’s been some I think legitimate buzz about Jeff Bezos buying the Celtics, and I think it’s real. I think he’s gonna be one of the suitors.

“Which got me thinking, what does he want? It’s one of the crown jewel franchises – that’s why you get it.”

Bezos was quick to deny any interest in the Celtics, but it appears Boston is still not far from his mind.

“But I think it’s real that he’s in the mix.”

Simmons’ claim sent NBA circles into a frenzy, but within 36 hours Bezos’ rumored interest had been shot down and categorically denied.

The Celtics were put up for sale last June following their record 18th NBA championship.

The Grousbeck family has owned the team since 2002, paying $360m — at the time the highest price ever paid for an NBA team.

The plan is to sell 51 percent of the franchise now and the remaining 49 percent in 2028, with Wyc Grousbeck hoping to remain as the franchise’s governor until a full sale has gone through.

The Boston Globe reported earlier this month that the first round of bids were due on January 23.

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Details have been kept under close wraps, but CBS News reported that the Celtics were expecting to receive at least four bids from investment groups vying to purchase the team.

John W. Henry and Fenway Sports Group (FSG), owners of Premier League club Liverpool, were expected to be in the mix, but that was later dismissed.

It’s currently unclear if Eagles owner Lurie was one of the parties who ultimately made a bid.

What is clear, however, is that whoever buys the Celtics — the most successful franchise in NBA history — will have to have deep pockets.

The franchise is currently valued at $6bn, and could smash the record for an NBA team.

The current record for an NBA team is held by the Kevin Durant-led Phoenix Suns, who were sold to Mat Ishbia for $4bn in 2023.

However, the feeling is the Celtics, who are fourth-most valuable team in the NBA behind the Warriors ($7.7bn), Knicks ($6.6bn) and Lakers ($6.4bn), should fetch a premium given their strong brand identity, recent success, and the new NBA TV deal agreed over last summer which is worth $76bn over the next 11 years.

Boston could easily set the benchmark mark across all sports, currently held by NFL franchise the Washington Commanders, who sold for $6.05bn in 2023 to Josh Harris and a minority group including Magic Johnson.

After the first round of bids are received, the Celtics will whittle that group down to two, which should wrap up sometime in February.

Then it’ll be on to the final bids, with a new owner expected to be announced within the next few months.

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