Group led by Steve Pagliuca acquires the Connecticut Sun for a record sum
A group led by Steve Pagliuca, a minority owner of the Celtics, has reached an agreement to buy the Connecticut Sun for a record $325 million. According to reports, the team would move to Boston. The franchise would not play in Boston until the 2027 season. Pagliuca would also contribute $100 million for a new training facility in Boston for the team. The sale is pending approval from the league and its Board of Governors. The WNBA issued a statement regarding this.The Sun have played regular season games at TD Garden in the last two years, including one against Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever in July. The league has announced five expansion teams that will begin playing in the next five seasons: Portland (2026), Toronto (2026), Cleveland (2028), Detroit (2029), and Philadelphia (2030) will join the WNBA. Each paid a record expansion fee of $250 million. Nine other cities submitted bids for expansion teams, including Houston, which the league highlighted as a future team when it announced Cleveland, Detroit, and Philadelphia in June. Boston was not mentioned.Relocation decisions are made by the WNBA Board of Governors and not by individual teams.
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No Boston group applied for a team at that time and those other cities are still being considered based on the extensive work they did as part of the expansion process and currently have priority over Boston. The prospective ownership team of the Celtics has also contacted the league office and requested that Boston receive strong consideration for a WNBA franchise at the appropriate time.
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The Sun are owned by the Mohegan Tribe, which runs the casino where the team has played since 2003. The Tribe bought the franchise for $10 million and moved it from Orlando that year. The Connecticut franchise was the first in the league to be run by a non-NBA owner and also became the first to turn a profit.
The WNBA has experienced rapid growth in recent seasons and ownership groups have been investing more in their teams, including player experiences. This has manifested in the form of training facilities. The Sun are one of the few teams in the league that have not announced any plans for a new training facility. Connecticut trains at the casino stadium or at a local community center.Despite the lack of facilities, the Sun have been one of the league’s most successful teams, reaching the postseason in 16 seasons, including six consecutive semifinal appearances. But the team was hit hard this offseason with the departure of the entire starting five from last season, either through free agency or trade.
Connecticut currently holds the last place in the WNBA with a record of 5-21. The team sent a letter to season ticket holders last week saying they would continue to play at the casino next year. The last team sold in the WNBA was in 2021, when real estate investor Larry Gottesdiener led a group that bought the Atlanta Dream for less than $10 million. A year earlier, Mark Davis paid approximately $2 million for the Las Vegas Aces.
