The WNBA’s hesitation to allow the Sun to be sold and relocated “reflects the strange place professional women’s basketball finds itself,” according to Ian Prasad Philbrick of the BOSTON GLOBE. Enthusiasm from fans and investors “has surged,” but many teams “will struggle financially, making the league wary of overextending.” The BOSTON GLOBE’s Katie McInerney said the league is still cautious because it “doesn’t turn a profit” and is “still heavily subsidized by the NBA.” The WNBA has thus far frowned on a bid to relocate the Sun to Hartford and another to move the team to Boston, and an ESPN.com report yesterday noted the team’s owner, the Mohegan Tribe, is attempting to salvage a sale for $325M to one of the two parties. Philbrick wrote the league “seems to want to keep Boston in reserve for a future expansion team rather than giving it a team now.” McInerney said the tribe is “looking for the highest bidder.” McInerney: “They’re going to have to decide what their limit is and whether to fold. But broadly it’s a good thing for the WNBA to have that bidding war, because it shows what a high-profile asset the Sun is” (BOSTON GLOBE, 8/20).
BAD BUSINESS: In N.Y., Madeline Kenney writes the sale saga of the Sun is “not only a bad look” for the WNBA, but also “bad business” as the league seeks to “manipulate the market by trying to dictate to whom the Mohegan Tribe” sells the team. The report yesterday stated that the WNBA is trying to “strong-arm the Sun into selling the franchise for less than” Celtics minority owner Steve Pagliuca’s offer. According to ESPN, the league offered to “buy the Sun for a whopping” $250M and “not charge the buyer an additional relocation fee.” This process would allow the WNBA to “control where the Sun go,” and Commissioner Cathy Engelbert has not “been shy about her interest in bringing a team to Houston.” Keep in mind that moving the team to Boston -- keeping it within the New England territory -- makes “total sense” (N.Y. POST, 8/19). USA TODAY’s Nancy Armour wrote the “money has gone to the WNBA’s head.” Rather than doing the “right thing,” Engelbert and her NBA “overlords are seemingly acting like mob bosses, shaking people down in hopes of stuffing even more cash into their pockets.” Armour: “That isn’t good business. It’s a racket. And the Mohegan Tribe, the Sun and WNBA fans deserve better.” The Mohegan Tribe have two offers, both of which “would give the tribe a massive payout, boost franchise valuations across the WNBA and maintain the Sun’s fanbase.” By any metric, that “seems like a fantastic deal.” Armour: “Prioritizing outside investors over its own owners is a bad way for the WNBA to do business. And it’s going to make prospective owners think twice about wanting to do business with the WNBA” (USA TODAY, 8/19).
MURKY FUTURE: In Hartford, Dom Amore noted season tickets for the 2026 season at Mohegan Sun Arena are “on sale” despite the future of the Sun remaining “in limbo.” The WNBA, which has shown throughout this Cailtin Clark-inspired “growth spurt” that it “just can’t stand prosperity, seems convinced it has the duty and obligation to keep New England’s franchise from moving within its own territory, and instead abandon an established fan base and force a sale and move to Houston.” Amore added for the Sun and its fans, “the past is prideful, the future is murky” (HARTFORD COURANT, 8/18).
