Pressure From The League And Various Buyers Has The Connecticut Suns' Future In Limbo
Earlier this month, the Boston Globe reported that Boston Celtics minority owner Steve Pagliuca had agreed to a $325 million deal to purchase the Sun from its team ownership group the Mohegan Tribe. Once bought, Pagliuca would move the franchise from its current Uncasville, Connecticut, location to the city of Boston, Massachusetts.
Once Boston bound, the team would rebrand and play all of its home games at TD Garden where the Celtics and NHL Boston Bruins host their sports matchups. Also part of the reported agreement would be a $100 million contribution from Pagliuca to build the relocated WNBA franchise a new practice facility.
Boston's new professional team would reportedly be ready to officially launch in 2027.
However, WNBA commissioner Cathy Englebert has not brought Pagliuca and the Mohegan Tribe's agreed offer to the league's board of governors. This is despite both sides coming to an agreement last month.
Since that time, Connecticut native and former Milwaukee Bucks owner Mark Larsy has allegedly matched Pagliuca's $325 million bid in hopes of moving the team to Hartford, Connecticut. Larsy also is proposing a state-funded practice facility for the team in hopes of keeping the organization in-state.
Ultimately for the sale of any WNBA team to occur, the league of governors needs to sign off on any agreement reached between the buyer and seller. Its been rumored that the league is hesitant to agree on any of the current relocation transactions, because they desire the Sun to be an expansion team for the Houston, Texas, area.
According to Front Office Sports Anne Costabile, the WNBA is prioritizing bringing women's professional basketball back to Houston under the franchise's original WNBA team namesake the Houston Comets. Ideally, the move would be done through a Connecticut Sun rebrand once the relocation terms are agreed upon by the buyer, seller and the league. Houston Rockets' owner Tilman Fertitta has been reportedly leading the charge in bringing the Comets back to Houston.
Below Costabile states:
'Houston is still the league's preferred landing spot for the Sun, according to sources familiar with the sale. Houston's expansion bid, led by Fertitta — who is currently serving as the Trump administration's ambassador to Italy — was reportedly short of the $250 million expansion fee paid by Cleveland, Detroit, and Philadelphia (all were recently awarded expansion franchises).'
However, if Fertitta is willing to pay the sale price... plus a relocation fee to expedite the process of getting a team, the league would favor that deal, one source familiar with the sale told FOS."
The reported asking price from the league to buy and relocate the Sun to Houston would be nearly half a billion dollars. It would be the largest purchase of a WNBA team in the league's history if such a relocation deal was reached.
From 1997 to 2008, the Houston Comets were the league's crowning jewel of historical league-wide dominance as one of the association's eight original teams. The Comets won the first four WNBA titles cementing themselves as one of the greatest American professional sports dynasties of all-time.
Fan interest during the Comets dormant years spelled the beginning of its end before the franchise folded altogether in 2008 during the Great Recession.
Under potential new ownership and funding, the Comets have the tools to be a prosperous WNBA franchise. The organization would feature the proper funding, state-of-the-art practice facilities and its own regional sports network called Space City Home Network which would be its primary outlet to broadcast Comets' home games in the Summer.
As of now, no purchase of the Connecticut Sun seems imminent with the organization's ownership declaring the team would still be playing in-state and inside Mohegan Sun Arena during 2026.
"We've gotten a lot of positive feelings from our fans based on the news that we'll be here next year," Sun President Jennifer Rizzotti said. "I know there's still uncertainty about the future, but our loyal fans, they're excited to be able to watch this team grow and get into Year Two of this retooling of the roster and see where we can go. And if it ends up being our last year here, we're going to make sure we blow it out."
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