Latest news with #MoheganTribe
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Celtics owner agrees to buy Connecticut Sun, wants to bring WNBA team to Boston
Steve Pagliuca is set to leave the Boston Celtics ownership group. But he's reportedly set to bring another professional basketball team to Boston. According to the Boston Globe, an ownership group led by Pagliuca has reached a deal with the Mohegan Tribe to purchase the WNBA's Connecticut Sun and move the team to TD Garden. According to the Globe, Pagliuca's group will pay $325 million for the team plus another $100 million to move the team and put together new training facilities. The Globe notes that the price tag is the highest ever for a women's sports franchise. The Sun currently play their games at Mohegan Sun in Connecticut, but the Sun have played select games at TD Garden, taking advantage of the Celtics arena's higher capacity. There is a caveat, however. 'A potential sale must be approved by the WNBA and the league's governors, and according to a source, the WNBA would rather save Boston as a potential expansion city in 2033,' Gary Washburn writes. 'A WNBA source said if the league forces the Mohegan Tribe to sell to a Connecticut-based buyer to keep the team in the state, which it has the power to do, Mohegan will cooperate, but the Tribe's choice is to sell to the Boston-based group.' Pagliuca is a minority governor of the Celtics and was one of the major bidders to purchase the team when the Wyc Grousbeck group put the team up for sale. Instead, Bill Chisholm led a group that purchased the team for $6.1 billion. More Celtics content Some Things I Think I Think: Once more, Red Sox' actions don't match their promises New Orleans Pelicans sign former Boston Celtics guard Celtics Mailbag: Trade candidates, final roster spot possibilities Red Sox trade deadline another full throttle disappointment Read the original article on MassLive.
Boston Globe
5 days ago
- Business
- Boston Globe
The WNBA all of a sudden is big on adding expansion teams. But over the years, relocating hasn't gone smoothly.
The addition of six franchises infused $925 million into the league (or 42.05 percent of the value of the league's $2.2 billion television deal) and that money will be shared among each team. Relocation, however, is another story. The last time a team relocated was 2018, when MGM Resorts International lured the San Antonio Silver Stars to Las Vegas and rebranded them the Aces. The Silver Stars moved to San Antonio in 2003, after starting in Utah as one of the league's founding teams in 1997. Before that, the Detroit Shock shuffled to Tulsa in 2010, before settling in Dallas in 2016. Advertisement Ironically, Uncasville became the second city (shortly after San Antonio) to land a franchise from its original home when the Miracle moved from Orlando in 2003, and were renamed the Connecticut Sun. Now after 23 largely successful years at Mohegan Sun Arena, the franchise could again be on the move. The Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority is weighing offers to sell the team to one suitor with plans to keep the Sun in Connecticut, and another with ambitions of bringing it to Boston, putting the notion of relocation back on the table. That has the league and the Mohegan Tribe at an impasse. Advertisement When commissioner Cathy Engelbert If the league had its way, it wouldn't add another team until 2033, when its recent round of expansion was complete. But the Mohegan Tribe's timing may be more urgent. The Tribe reported a $234.5 million loss in the 2024 fiscal year, despite generating $1.9 billion in revenue, The scenario is similar to the one former residential real estate developer Ron Terwilliger faced in 2009, two years after bringing the Dream to Atlanta as an expansion franchise. The recession of 2008 rocked the real estate industry, he stepped down as chairman of Dallas-based Trammell Crow Residential that year, and with the Dream losing $3 million, he ceded control to the WNBA. The league considered moving the team to Tulsa, but a group of Atlanta leaders rallied to keep the team in the city, and Kathy Betty emerged as a buyer. Relocations go smoothly with the league's support. Advertisement When MGM Resorts brought the Aces to Las Vegas, it had the blessing of former WNBA president Lisa Borders, who facilitated the move to Las Vegas before she stepped down in 2018. 'I see a real growth opportunity there — not just for Las Vegas but for the league in general,' Dallas Wings owner Bill Cameron was a part of two moves. In Detroit, the Shock were three-time champions. In Tulsa, they never won more than nine games. He didn't initially have unanimous support from the Board of Governors. He didn't even have the full support of his ownership group. Minority owner Stuart Price sued, claiming details of the relocation and ownership percentages weren't clear. 'Bill Cameron is a huge liar,' Price said. 'He's ripping out the hearts of our children, our organizations, and our community. They've all been there for the Shock in the good times and the bad. The timing of the loss of the Shock is so sick on many levels.' Cameron made it happen regardless, then he made it happen again with a move to Dallas that went more smoothly with the support of then-WNBA president Laurel Richie. In the case of the Sun, support from the league to relocate doesn't appear to be a certainty. There is evidence that support can be fragile. In 2023, ZoomInfo co-founder Kirk Brown had a deal in place to bring an expansion team to Portland. He was willing to fund the reported $50 million fee, his bid made it to the Board of Governors, and an official announcement was set for October of that year. In the week leading up to that announcement, Advertisement Brown and Engelbert had different visions for how the team should be branded (Engelbert took exception to the proposed name, Rose City Royalty). The league also saw his ownership stake in basketball training company Shoot 360 as a conflict of interest. Brown ended up pulling his offer. While the league has been eager to expand — and also reap the benefits — relocation hasn't been a consideration in years, until now. At a news conference Sunday, Connecticut Sun president Jennifer Rizzotti, said the 'whys' were questions for the league and the Board of Governors. 'I can't really comment on what the league may or may not want for the Connecticut Sun,' she said. 'I will reiterate that they've been thoughtful about where they wanted the league to go and having ownership groups that are invested at the right level. I can't imagine that if there is an investment group at the right level in a great city why anyone would not consider that to be a viable option.' After two years of testing the waters in Boston, the Sun put themselves in position to make a possibility a reality. 'You guys were there, right?' Rizzotti said. 'I can't speak to where the team's going to go, but if Boston was an option, it's hard to argue that they're not a city that's viable for a WNBA franchise.' Advertisement But in Connecticut's case, the distinction between relocating and expanding is critical. 'We're not considered an expansion team, so we would be an acquisition,' Rizzotti said. 'That's a very different process than expansion.' Julian Benbow can be reached at
Reuters
6 days ago
- Business
- Reuters
Report: Sun deal never presented to WNBA board
August 5 - A $325 million offer to purchase the WNBA's Connecticut Sun was agreed to by both buyer and seller in July but the league never presented the details to the WNBA board of governors for approval, Front Office Sports reported Tuesday. The prospective purchase of the Sun by Boston Celtics minority owner Steve Pagliuca, from Connecticut's Mohegan Tribe, remains in limbo. Pagliuca has expressed the desire to move the team to larger arenas in New England and vowed to invest in a $110 million practice facility. The desired relocation site is believed to be Boston. Details of the agreed-to sale reportedly made their way to WNBA commissioner Kathy Engelbert but never to the board, which signs off on all ownership changes. With the deal not approved during an "exclusivity" time period of less than a month, at least one other party has emerged as a potential buyer of the franchise, which the Mohegan Tribe purchased for $10 million in 2023 and relocated from Orlando to Uncasville, Conn. After Pagliuca made his interest in purchasing the Sun known, Front Office Sports reported this week, through a statement from the WNBA, that nothing has been approved and that relocation is decided by the board "and not by individual teams." The WNBA also noted that in the recent process to select Cleveland, Detroit and Philadelphia as future cities for expansion, there was no interest from a potential ownership group in Boston. Based on that lack of interest, the league seemed to suggest that Boston is not a target market at the current time. "No groups from Boston applied for a team at that time and those other cities remain under consideration based on the extensive work they did as part of the expansion process and currently have priority over Boston," the league's statement said. In June, Engelbert expressed a hope for the league to move back into the Houston market saying, "Houston would be up next for sure." Sun president Jen Rizzotti spoke about the team's potential sale on Sunday. "I can't speak to where the team is going to go," Rizzotti told reporters. "But if Boston was an option, it's hard to argue that they're not a city that's viable for a WNBA franchise." --Field Level Media
Forbes
6 days ago
- Business
- Forbes
Seneca Nation Acquires Rochester Knighthawks Pro Lacrosse Franchise
The Seneca Nation, a federally recognized Indian tribe based in western New York, has acquired the Rochester Knighthawks, a National Lacrosse League franchise. Seneca bought the franchise from the Pegula family, which announced in June that it would sell the team team after owning it since 2019. The Seneca Nation is believed to be just the second Indian tribe to own a professional sports franchise outright, joining the Mohegan Tribe, which has owned the WNBA's Connecticut Sun since 2003. The Boston Globe reported on Saturday that a group led by Boston Celtics minority owner Steve Pagliuca had agreed to acquire the Sun for $325 million and move the team to Boston, but Pagliuca said a day later that the WNBA Board of Governors still needed to approve the transaction. The Hartford Courant reported on Monday that another investment group offered more than $300 million and would move the franchise to Hartford, Conn. The Mohegan Tribe also owned a stake in the New England Black Wolves of the NLL before selling the franchise in 2021. Terms of the Rochester deal were not disclosed, but NLL commissioner Brett Frood said 'from a league perspective, we are pleased with the trajectory of the enterprise value of our member properties.' The NLL consists of 14 franchises (eight in the U.S. and six in Canada) that play so-called box lacrosse, an indoor version of the sport that has different rules than the outdoor version. The Seneca Nation purchased the professional franchise through Seneca Holdings, LLC, a subsidiary formed in 2009 that invests in non-gaming businesses. Seneca Holdings' largest business focuses on federal government contracting. It also recently acquired CI Azumano, a travel agency, and operates Seneca Environmental, a renewable energy project company. The Seneca Nation also owns the Seneca Allegany Resort & Casino in Salamanca, N.Y., the Seneca Niagara Resort & Casino in Niagara Falls, N.Y., and the Seneca Buffalo Creek Casino in Buffalo through its Seneca Gaming Corp. subsidiary. J. Conrad Seneca, president of the Seneca Nation, said in an interview that the Knighthawks are the tribe's first sports investment. However, he added that the Nation has deep roots in lacrosse and has numerous leagues for its more than 8,600 enrolled members, ranging from youth organizations to competitions for older adults. Several members of the Seneca Nation have gone on to play in college, including Zed Williams, a former University of Virginia star who now plays in the NLL for the Colorado Mammoth. 'This is a new avenue for our Holdings team,' Seneca said. 'They've done a great job with regards to vetting this, doing our due diligence, working with our business council and preparing in negotiations with everybody involved. I think it's a great opportunity.' Seneca said the Knighthawks will retain their name, uniforms, colors and other marks for this season, which begins in late November and runs on weekends through April, followed by the playoffs that last through May. While Seneca said that 'we'll decide on what kind of changes we may make' after the season, he emphasized that the team will remain in Rochester. The Seneca Nation is about 100 miles southwest of downtown Rochester. The original Knighthawks had played in Rochester before moving to Halifax, Nova Scotia in 2019. That year, the Pegulas acquired the team's intellectual property and re-launched the team in Rochester. Terry Pegula, who has a net worth of $7.6 billion according to Forbes, and his family will continue to own the Buffalo Bills and Buffalo Sabres as well as the Rochester Americans' minor league baseball franchise and the Buffalo Bandits of the NLL. 'The league has worked closely with the Pegula's management team on ideal targets to take over ownership of this franchise,' Frood said. 'It became clear that the Seneca Nation, with its myriad of synergies, quickly became a priority conversation for us. We have spent the last couple months nurturing the relationship, walking through the potential of partnership, and ultimately agreeing that the Nation is a phenomenal fit for the NLL and the community of Rochester.' J. Conrad Seneca, who once owned a stake in a semi-pro indoor lacrosse team, said it was important for him and the Seneca Nation to acquire the franchise due in part to keeping the franchise in Rochester. He remembers the NBA's Buffalo Braves leaving the city in 1978 and relocating to San Diego, where it became known as the San Diego Clippers. 'It was a tough thing to fathom,' he said. 'It was a tough thing to accept that our team was gone. I know the feeling of that, and I think this opportunity that's presented itself to the Seneca Nation and with our commitment to the game of lacrosse, we have a lot to bring to the table…We look forward to being a part of that community and building our relationships in the community of Rochester.'
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Steve Pagliuca deal to purchase, relocate Sun reportedly challenged by Connecticut-based group led by Marc Lasry
One day after reports about a deal led by Steve Pagliuca to purchase and relocate the Connecticut Sun, another competing bid appears to have emerged. Pagliuca, a minority owner of the Boston Celtics, confirmed Sunday that an investor group led by him has extended an offer to buy the Sun from the Mohegan Tribe, with reports that the $325 million deal includes plans to relocate the team to Boston. But additional reports on Monday show that the deal is far from over. A new, Connecticut-based bid is looking to challenge Pagliuca's bid and keep the team in Connecticut, per multiple reports. The group is reportedly led by former Milwaukee Bucks owner Marc Lasry, who grew up in West Hartford, CT and still has ties to the area. Lasry sold his stake in the Bucks to the Haslam family in 2023, and is now looking to break into the WNBA. The Lasry-led group is reportedly only in the running due to some potential league intervention to slow down the sale process. Per Front Office Sports, a deal with Pagliuca was initially agreed on in early July, and was presented to WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert. But it never went before the WNBA Board of Governors, who has to approve the sale. As a result, the exclusivity period expired, reportedly opening the sale back up to other groups, including the bid led by Lasry. The Mohegan Tribe purchased the team, then the Orlando Miracle, in 2002 for $10 million and moved the team to Uncasville, CT. The Sun have played in Mohegan Sun Arena, located inside the Mohegan Sun Casino, since the relocated team began play in 2003. Part of the Lasry-led bid would relocate the Sun, in-state, to play in PeoplesBank Arena in Hartford, per the Hartford Courant. The arena is currently host to New York Rangers AHL affiliate Hartford Wolf Pack, as well as the UConn men's and women's basketball and men's hockey. Pagliuca, on the other hand, plans to move the team. Though his primary target seems to be Boston, Pagliuca said in a statement Sunday that the investment group has "the objective of keeping New England's WNBA team in New England," adding that the group had the support of both Massachussetts governor Maura Healy and Rhode Island governor Daniel McKee. As a result, Providence, Rhode Island appears to be in the running as another potential landing spot for the team. The Pagliuca group's $325 million price tag also reportedly includes a commitment to spend $100 million on a new practice facility, wherever the team ends up. But any team relocation would need to be approved by the WNBA. Additionally the WNBA can reportedly force a sale to a Connecticut-based group, with The Boston Globe reporting that the Mohegan Tribe would cooperate if that were to happen. The league has not explicitly said that it wants the team to stay in Connecticut, but did release a statement following reports on the sale to Pagliuca. In the statement, the WNBA pointedly noted that Boston had not applied for one of the expansion bids, which were eventually awarded to Detroit, Cleveland and Philadelphia, and that the cities that did apply would receive "priority" over Boston. "Relocation decisions are made by the WNBA Board of Governors and not by individual teams," the statement began, firmly setting the boundary. The Connecticut-based group has the backing of Connecticut governor Ned Lamont, who told reporters on Monday that he was doing everything he could to keep the team in the state. "Can't believe everything you read," Lamont said, via CT Insider. "When it comes to the Connecticut Sun, we're late in the fourth quarter, we still have some catching up to do, but it's not over until it's over. We're fighting like heck. Connecticut is the home of women's basketball. The Sun ought to be right here." Lamont also seemed inclined to kick in public money towards a potential in-state deal, saying that his administration will "do what it takes to keep the Sun in Connecticut." On the other end, Governor Healey told The Boston Globe on Sunday that "it would be great for Boston" to get a WNBA franchise. Healey mentioned that the Sun have played in Boston's TD Garden for two straight years, with both games recording sellout crowds. "I've been at this for a couple of years. It would be great for the Connecticut Sun to move to Boston and represent all of New England. We are the hub of New England and the place that basketball was invented," Healey said. "I think it makes a lot of sense." With multiple bids competing for the team, it is unclear how long the sale would take. The reported $325 million in the Pagliuca would be the largest sale in WNBA history, but it's possible that the Lasry-led group would be able to match that number, and that it would come down to the WNBA Board of Governors — who are already preoccupied with ongoing negotiations for the new collective bargaining agreement — for the final decision, rather than the Mohegan Tribe.
