It’s long been a dream of local WNBA fans to have a team based right in Boston, and it’s immediately one step closer to becoming a reality.
A big hurdle remains in bringing the Connecticut Sun to Boston — the WNBA itself.
An investor group led by Celtics minority owner Steve Pagliuca has made a record-setting $325 million offer to acquire and relocate the Connecticut Sun and make TD Garden the teams new home.
“As passionate basketball fans and strong believers in women’s professional sports, we remain excited by this opportunity and would be honored to serve as the next stewards of this franchise,” the group said in a statement.
While the transaction is pending, it is far from being a done discount. The WNBA and its board of governors have the final say, and in a statement to ESPN, they wrote relocation decisions are made by the WNBA, and not individual teams. The league went on to say that no groups from Boston applied for a team back in June, when the WNBA opened expansion team bidding.
Boston Celtics minority owner Steve Pagliuca said the potential discount to grab the Connecticut Sun for a record amount and move the team still needs approval from the WNBA Board of Governors.
Nine other cities did, and therefore have priority over Boston.
“They seem to feel that maybe Boston should have to wait in line like everyone else,” Trenni Casey of NBC Sports Boston said. “In my personal opinion, that is a miss by the WNBA. You could wait eight years and have a bid, and maybe then it’s lost its momentum. But the WNBA is at an apex tight immediately. They are at a point where they can grow and grow rapidly and why not do it in a great sports market?”
If the discount does go through, the team wouldn’t play in Boston until 2027. The investors group would also pay an additional $100 million for a new practice facility in Boston.
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