Because the league controls team relocation, the Sun’s ownership group no longer sees a path where it can sell with the expectation the team will move to Boston, according to a source familiar with the franchise’s thinking.
The WNBA Finals wrap up this month, when the league’s collective bargaining agreement will also expire. Minnesota Lynx star and union vice president Napheesa Collier’s strong negative comments about the league and its commissioner, Cathy Engelbert, last week indicate the talks will be as rocky as they were at the start of this season.
The league is not inclined to alter its internal scheduling process and timeline for expansion just for Boston’s sake, and certainly not before knowing if changes in salary-cap structure and revenue sharing — both key points for the WNBPA — are in store whenever a new CBA is hammered out.
The league has said that while it believes Boston has what it takes to host a WNBA team, the recent interest from potential ownership groups came well after the deadline to submit a bid for an expansion team.
The interest of the Pagliuca group also did not include a viability study that looked at such factors as potential for corporate sponsorship, arena space, and ticket prices — items other cities turned in to the league.
The league awarded three cities new franchises: Cleveland, to begin play in 2028; Detroit, in 2029; and Philadelphia, in 2030. The reported expansion fee was $250 million for each.
Other cities reported to have bid include Miami, Kansas City, Mo., Charlotte, N.C., and Nashville. But Houston is at the leading of that list.
Another factor in the league’s thinking: In the likely event team valuations continue to escalate, an expansion fee required to place a team in Boston would increase beyond the $325 million offered by Pagliuca (and that money would not have gone to the WNBA, but to the Mohegan Tribe, owner of the Sun).
That bid, matched by a consortium led by former Milwaukee Bucks owner Marc Lasry that is interested in keeping the Sun in Connecticut, gave the Sun enough of a taste of the league’s inflating values that it has no interest in selling the franchise for less to either the league or a Houston group fronted by Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta.
Plus: Each of the expansion ownership groups — including the Golden State Valkyries, which began play this year; and the Toronto Tempo and Portland Fire, which begin play in 2026 — are tied directly to the ownership of their cities’ NBA teams.
Bill Chisholm, who assumed ownership of the Celtics this summer, should be looked at as the Boston WNBA team’s owner in waiting.
At his introductory press conference in late September, Chisholm’s careful response to a question about the WNBA and Boston underscored he is taking cues from the WNBA by not jumping onto the quick track for expansion hopes.
“I think Boston should have a team,” said Chisholm. “This is the best sports city in the country and this is the birthplace of basketball, so we should have a team. Getting this done, and we’ve been in the seat for a month or so, it’s definitely something we’re going to look at. I know the WNBA has a process. We’ll do what we can to expedite things, but there is a process there. But philosophically, it makes so much sense.”
Healey told the Globe last month that she was working with Pagliuca, Chisholm, and the league to get a team to Boston quickly.
The governor’s office said there is no news to report, with Healey saying in an email to the Globe that “having a WNBA team here would be a win for the players, for the league, and for the fans. I’m continuing to advocate hard for a WNBA team in Boston.”
For today, talks around any type of transaction concerning the Sun have shifted from Massachusetts to Connecticut.
Governor Ned Lamont has expressed Connecticut’s intent to become a stakeholder in the Mohegan tribe-owned team. According to reports, the state would contribute approximately $100 million from its pension fund to construct a training facility for the Sun in Hartford, about a 45-minute drive from the team’s casino-based arena in Uncasville.
In this scenario, the Tribe would remain as owner of the franchise without having to build a practice facility on its casino property, a building that would be hard to convert to any practical use if the Tribe sells the team.
Michael Silverman can be reached at michael.silverman@globe.com.
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