Relocation may be on the horizon in the WNBA. Pending league approval, the Connecticut Sun will move to Boston by 2027, according to the Boston Globe. The potential move is part of a looming acquisition by Boston Celtics minority governor Steve Pagliuca, who reached an agreement with the Mohegan Tribe to purchase the Sun for a record $325 million — the highest price tag for a women’s sports franchise in U.S. history.
Pagliuca also intends to spend $100 million on a new practice facility in Boston. The Sun would play its home games at TD Garden, where they played two games over the last two years and sold out the arena on both occasions. According to Washburn, the Celtics have “no issue” with the Sun becoming co-tenants at TD Garden, but the Sun may have to play early-season games in 2027 in Providence, Rhode Island, to avoid scheduling conflicts.
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The Boston Globe also reports that the Mohegan Tribe has been looking to sell the team and that the $325 million offer sweetened the deal. The success of the Sun’s two games in Boston also made the Tribe more inclined to sell the team to a Boston-based ownership group. The move would send the franchise just over 100 miles away to the bordering state of Massachusetts.
“I’ve been pushing for years for Boston to get a WNBA team; I think it would be great for Boston,” Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey said to the Globe. “And that would be great for the WNBA and we saw that for a second year in a row, a sellout crowd at TD Garden. I’ve been at this for a couple of years. I also think 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. I think it makes a lot of sense.”
A couple of hurdles remain in these early days of the Sun’s potential move to Boston. The WNBA and its governors must first approve the sale. If the league prioritizes keeping the franchise in Connecticut and targets Boston as an expansion site instead, that could throw a wrench in the plan. Washburn reports that the Mohegan Tribe will cooperate with the league if it forces a sale to an in-state buyer.
If the sale and move go through, Boston will be part of a wave of new WNBA cities. The league announced Portland, Toronto, Cleveland, Detroit and Philadelphia as expansion cities in an upcoming wave of growth, which will unfold over the next five years.
