The post Connecticut government cites UConn in push to keep Sun appeared first on ClutchPoints.
The WNBA’s Connecticut Sun was born back in 2003 when the Mohegan Tribe bought the Orlando Miracle franchise and shifted it to Uncasville, Connecticut. Since then, the team has won two conference titles and is still looking for its first WNBA Championship. However, recent developments may result in that dream staying merely that, with The Sun’s future hanging in the balance as state officials ramp up efforts to prevent a potential relocation.
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Connecticut Attorney General William Tong has formally intervened, sending a letter to the WNBA and commissioner Cathy Engelbert demanding that the franchise stay in the city.
The letter also referenced the UConn Huskies and the influx of players into the WNBA from the college program as a reason why the team should stay in the city. Tong’s letter talked about the WNBA’s proposal to buy out the Sun at a $250 million valuation, stating that the offer is well below the actual valuation. The Sun’s ownership group has reportedly received two offers, both of which would move the team away from the city.
The letter suggested that the WNBA is intent on blocking any offer received from the ownership group that would allow the team to stay in Connecticut. Instead, the attorney general suggested that the league is looking to buy the team and later sell it to an owner who shifts the Sun to a city that is part of the league’s plan for expansion.
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The letter concludes by demanding the WNBA to produce various documents that will help the government of Connecticut better understand the rights and responsibilities of the league and the team in the current situation. In response to the two offers that will result in the team being moved to Boston and Milwaukee, respectively, Connecticut’s government has pitched a state-backed deal that would keep the team local, using pension funds to take a minority stake at a valuation higher than the WNBA’s own $250 million offer.
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