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.
Advertisement
The group is reportedly led by former Milwaukee Bucks owner Marc Lasry, who grew up in West Hartford, Connecticut 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.
[Join or create a Yahoo Fantasy Football league for the 2025 NFL season]
As a result, the exclusivity period expired, reportedly opening the sale back up to other groups, including the bid led by Lasry.
Advertisement
The Mohegan Tribe purchased the team, then the Orlando Miracle, in 2002 for $10 million and moved the team to Uncasville, Connecticut. 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 to a new state. 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 Massachusetts governor Maura Healey 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.
Advertisement
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.
Advertisement
“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 toward a potential in-state deal, saying that his administration will “do what it takes to keep the Sun in Connecticut.”
On the other end, Massachusetts 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.
Advertisement
“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.
