The WNBA is wary of letting the Connecticut Sun move to Boston. This dynamic helps explain why.
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TODAY'S STARTING POINT
When then-Celtics minority owner Steve Pagliuca
The indebted Mohegan Tribe, which has owned the Sun for decades, wanted to sell. Members of the team sounded enthusiastic about leaving Uncasville for a bigger audience. And Boston seemed eager to welcome them. 'There's
But someone objected to the betrothal: the WNBA. After news of Pagliuca's bid broke, the league
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So what's going on? The WNBA's hesitation reflects the strange place professional women's basketball finds itself. On one hand, enthusiasm from fans and investors has surged. But many teams still struggle financially, making the league wary of overextending.
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The result is a WNBA that 'is still in a precarious situation,' says Katie McInerney, the Globe's senior assistant sports editor and a longtime WNBA watcher who
Ian: Just how much has the WNBA grown in the last few years?
Katie:
In 2019, league revenue was reportedly around $100 million. 2020 was a huge year because the WNBA
Given that growth, why is the league still cautious?
It still doesn't turn a profit. It's still heavily subsidized by the NBA. This year it brought on Golden State and it's bringing on Portland next year, Cleveland in 2028, Detroit in 2029, and Philadelphia in 2030. But it has to be careful. The league has seen relocations
Why doesn't Boston want to wait until 2033, when the league seems to be considering giving it an expansion team?
I think the short answer is, how can Boston call itself one of the country's best sports cities if it doesn't have a WNBA team? We've built our reputation as a sports city off of the Red Sox, the Patriots, the Celtics, and the Bruins. We've had other women's pro teams and a pro women's soccer team
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yesterday the Mohegan Tribe plans to go to the league in hopes of salvaging a sale, potentially to Pagliuca's group. Is there still hope for the Sun to come to Boston?
I think it will come down to who wants to pay up. The tribe is looking for the highest bidder. Is Marc Lasry, the former Milwaukee Bucks owner who offered over $300 million to move the Sun to Hartford, going to up his amount? Will Houston, which WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert seems to prefer, win out?
It reminds me of a poker game: They're going to have to decide what their limit is and whether to fold. But broadly it's a good thing for the WNBA to have that bidding war, because it shows what a high-profile asset the Sun is. To see owners wanting to spend hundreds of millions of dollars for one of these teams is amazing, because for a long time it felt like that wasn't possible.
Other basketball news:
The sale of the Celtics to a group led by private equity mogul Bill Chisholm is now finalized. Pagliuca, who lost out on buying the team this year,
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1 Across:
72°
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POINTS OF INTEREST
St. Stephen, New Brunswick, is seen from Calais, Maine, in 2020. Tensions between the US and Canada have challenged the towns' relationship.
Erin Clark/Globe Staff
Miss Hall's:
The private Pittsfield school failed to stop a teacher from sexually abusing five students over 20 years,
Housing:
After exceeding $1 million for the first time in June, average home prices in Greater Boston
'It's brutal':
A hiring slump thanks to tariffs and federal funding cuts
Deal:
Nurses and other staff at Butler Hospital in Rhode Island
Backtracking:
Last week,
Katherine Clark, a leading House Democrat from Revere, described what's happening in Gaza as a 'genocide.' This week, she said she
Diving in:
Graham Platner, a 40-year-old oyster farmer, former Marine, and political novice, is running as a Democrat to unseat Susan Collins, Maine's longtime Republican US senator. (
New hurdles:
Dan McKee, Rhode Island's unpopular Democratic governor,
International tensions:
The annual friendship festival between a Maine town and its New Brunswick counterpart features a parade across the US-Canada border. Trump's tariffs and threats
Trump vs. Elizabeth Warren:
Just months ago, he and the progressive Massachusetts senator were agreeing over the federal debt limit. Since then,
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Buyer beware:
The FDA is recalling frozen shrimp sold at Walmart for possible contamination with Cesium-137, a radioactive chemical. (
BESIDE THE POINT
🎨
Roadside art:
On the South Shore, corroded cars, abandoned farm equipment, and other rusted-out relics
🤫
Worst song ever?
The Globe's Christopher Muther says it's 'We Built This City,' Starship's soul-sucking pop trifle from the 1980s
❤️
Love Letters:
To a letter writer worried about an increasingly boring husband, Meredith advises
🧠
Zap!
Low-level electrical currents delivered via tiny electrodes on a person's scalp can help
🕰️
Throwback:
As Hurricane Erin barrels northward, here's a look back at when Hurricane Bob made landfall in New England 34 years ago — and
🎂
Happy birthday:
Kowloon, the 75-year-old Saugus icon on Route 1, is
🍻
Cheers:
The latest Sam Adams release is a collab with Red Sox third baseman Alex Bregman.
Thanks for reading Starting Point.
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