BOSTON — Connecticut Sun guard Saniya Rivers spent almost her entire life in North Carolina before she was drafted into the WNBA, but the rookie truly became a New Englander on Monday when she tried her first lobster roll ahead of the Sun’s game against the Indiana Fever at TD Garden.
“It was so fire,” Rivers said with a grin. “I can’t even eat lobster in North Carolina anymore.”
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Rivers had only been to Massachusetts twice before, once for a brief trip to face Boston College during her junior season at NC State and most recently to throw out the first pitch at a Red Sox game last week. The capital city has grown on the rookie quickly after spending the last three months with the Sun in Uncasville, and amid swirling reports that the Mohegan Tribe is interested in selling the team, Rivers said she wouldn’t mind calling Boston home in the future.
“If it was up to me, we’d probably relocate here,” Rivers said. “Just being able to come into a neighboring city and play, I think it does a lot for women’s basketball in general. It gets some noise around here, gets people supporting women’s basketball, and hopefully maybe they can advocate for us, maybe even to relocate. I love Connecticut, it’s fine, but I think the marketing here itself is just going to be better for a women’s basketball program.”
Questions about the future of the Sun loomed large over the now-annual game at TD Garden, which sold out for a second straight season after the team made its Boston debut in 2024. Sun president Jennifer Rizzotti confirmed in May that the Mohegan Tribe ownership group was going through a strategic review of its investment in the team, which included exploring a potential sale. The tribe hired investment bank Allen & Company to help facilitate that review, the same firm that is overseeing the WNBA’s expansion process.
Connecticut Sun ownership exploring ‘options’ including sale amid demand for major investment
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There has long been speculation that an ownership group in Boston could purchase and relocate the franchise after 22 years calling Mohegan Sun home. But AJ Gerritson, the spokesperson for Boston Women’s Basketball Partners, told the Boston Globe on July 5 that the tribe has expressed preference for a buyer that would keep the Sun in Connecticut, and that his ownership group intends to pursue bringing a team to the city via an expansion franchise. WTNH-TV also reported Tuesday that Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont is supportive of an investor group that includes “a former owner of an NBA team” which would keep the Sun based in the state and have then play at least a portion of their games at Hartford’s PeoplesBank Arena (formerly the XL Center).
The WNBA announced plans on June 30 to bring three more expansion teams into the league over the next five years: Cleveland in 2028, Detroit in 2029 and Philadelphia in 2030. Two new teams, the resurrected Portland Fire and the Toronto Tempo, are set to debut in 2026 after the Golden State Valkyries became the league’s first new addition since 2008 this season. But amid the WNBA’s rapid push towards expansion and an unprecedented boom in popularity, commissioner Cathy Engelbert confirmed Tuesday that the league never received an official bid from a Boston ownership group during the latest round of evaluations.
Engelbert said she’s unsure whether a team in Connecticut and a team in Boston could coexist in the league’s current landscape, but she said it’s something the WNBA is open to considering.
“I’m a bit of a data geek, so I’d have to do a little more research on the data of the fanbases in both: How many people tonight are Connecticut Sun fans that came from that area, that are normally your season-ticket holders and normally would go to a Connecticut Sun game?” Engelbert said. “You don’t want to dilute. Like, people say just because the Liberty are drawing really well at Barclays Center, let’s put another team in New York, or let’s put another team in Los Angeles or Chicago. We’re not ready for that yet. So you’d have to look at the data on the fanbases and make sure that both could thrive.”
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Engelbert had no updates on the Mohegan Tribe’s intentions for the future of the Sun, but she said there is a fairly universal understanding among owners of the professional-caliber resources and investments that players are beginning to expect in the league’s new era. The Sun currently practice at the tribe’s community center when the arena is unavailable, and they occasionally have to share that space with workout classes or other events — the team infamously had to split the gym with a child’s birthday party during the 2024 WNBA Playoffs.
“I think there’s a lot of competitiveness among owners, so I don’t think we have to do a ton of talking to owners that may not have separate practice facilities that are state-of-the-art,” Engelbert said. “Obviously that was an important part as we made expansion decisions on those three teams we just named that they would have state-of-the-art facilities, because we know how free agency works now in the WNBA. It’s a very active period when maybe it wasn’t six or seven years ago, and I think owners are figuring out that the player experience is a really important part of that. Practice facilities, arenas, locker rooms, housing, all of that I think is important to players as they make their free agency decisions.”
Sun star Tina Charles was drafted by Connecticut and spent the first four seasons of her career with the team, but she left to play for her hometown squad, the New York Liberty, from 2014-19. For most of that time, the Liberty’s home court was at the iconic Madison Square Garden — and though the night at TD Garden was special, Charles was quick to clarify that nothing will hold a candle to Manhattan in her eyes. The 13-year veteran believes having more WNBA teams competing consistently in NBA arenas will help set a new standard for the kind of stages that the league belongs on.
“I think it’s more than ready, and I think it would definitely put the pressure on other cities and other franchises to see experiences such as that,” Charles said. “For me, I was fortunate to always see that playing at Madison Square Garden, and when Kobe Bryant was around, he was the one that kind of started that, being an NBA figure really supporting women’s basketball, and then NBA players started to come out and support us as well. So I look forward to the teams that are able to be in NBA cities being able to have that support, because it really goes a long way.”
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A Connecticut team will never have the sheer population power of New York or Boston, whether it’s in Uncasville, Hartford or elsewhere, but Engelbert said she still sees a path for small-market franchises to thrive in the WNBA moving forward with the right investment.
“Since I came into the league, other than this year, the Connecticut Sun have thrived both on the business side and the basketball side. This year is a little tougher because of losing the starting five (from 2024), and I’m sure they’ll build that back up,” Engelbert said. “Look no further than the NBA with Oklahoma City winning the NBA Championship (to show) that small markets can thrive. Milwaukee won it one year, so I think it’s good to have a mix. But I do think … that it’s important to have state-of-the-art facilities and other player experience items in order to attract free agents and to build a roster.”
Connecticut Sun suffer late collapse in showdown with Indiana Fever at sold-out TD Garden
