Expansion and relocation remain ever-present parts of the WNBA's rolodex of quirks and tricks. The former has become increasingly common in recent seasons, with San Francisco, Portland, Toronto, Cleveland, Philadelphia, and Detroit all having or landing franchises in the near future.
On Saturday, Aug. 2, another city appeared destined to receive similar treatment. Boston, known for chowder, baked beans, and raucous sports fans, could be in line for another professional sports franchise in the coming few years.
Such a move would come at the expense of another Northeast city: Uncasville, Conn., home of the Connecticut Sun. Nearly two weeks after the initial reports, however, various roadblocks have appeared, indicating Boston's chance at the WNBA may not be coming as soon as initially believed.
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Connecticut Sun sale, explained
Celtics minority owner Steve Pagliuca reached an agreement to purchase Connecticut's WNBA franchise for $325 million on Saturday, Aug. 2, per the Boston Globe's Gary Washburn.
While Pagliuca reached an agreement to purchase the franchise from the Mohegan Tribe, commissioner Cathy Engelbert never presented the deal to the WNBA's Board of Governors, per Front Office Sports' Annie Costabile.
Further complicating matters is that Marc Lasry, co-owner of the NBA's Bucks, reportedly matched Pagliuca's offer. Lasry, a Connecticut native, hoped to purchase the franchise and keep it from relocating, but the WNBA is reportedly blocking the sale, according to Connecticut Post columnist Dan Haar.
Costabile's report adds that the WNBA is eying a larger market like Houston for either relocation or expansion.
Before the recent roadblocks, Pagliuca provided clarity on the pending transaction, taking to X (formerly Twitter).
"An investor group led by PagsGroup, and supported by Massachusetts Governor Maura Healy and Rhode Island Governor Daniel McKee, has offered to acquire the Connecticut Sun with the objective of keeping New England's WNBA team in New England," Pagliuca stated.
"Central to our proposal is enabling the Sun to play in larger capacity arenas in New England," he continued. "Our offer is subject to obtaining the required league approvals, as is the case for all such transactions. The approval has not been obtained thus far, and we cannot proceed without it."
Here’s an important update on our possible acquisition of the Connecticut Sun. pic.twitter.com/GA1Q2tqwNP
— Steve Pagliuca (@pagsceltics) August 3, 2025
These roadblocks may indicate that the move is not imminent, and it may not happen as Pagliuca intended.
The league still has to approve the sale and relocation plan. The latter could prove especially challenging for Pagliuca and Co., as, according to Washburn, the league hopes to save Boston for a future relocation, possibly as soon as 2033.
A league spokesperson issued a statement to The Athletic, appearing to confirm Washburn's report.
"Relocation decisions are made by the WNBA Board of Governors and not by individual teams," the statement read. "As part of our most recent expansion process, in which three new franchises were awarded to Cleveland, Detroit, and Philadelphia on June 30, 2025, nine additional cities also applied for WNBA teams and consideration.
"No groups from Boston applied for a team at that time, and those other cities remain under consideration based on the extensive work they did as part of the expansion process and currently have priority over Boston. Celtics' prospective owner Bill Chisholm has also reached out to the league office and asked that Boston receive strong consideration for a WNBA franchise at the appropriate time."
The Sun have played some games at Boston's TD Garden, selling out the stadium twice in the past two seasons.
Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey indicated that the city is interested in hosting a WNBA side on a permanent basis.
"I've been pushing for years for Boston to get a WNBA team; I think it would be great for Boston,” Healey told Washburn. "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."
Still, it remains to be seen when that will happen — and who would bankroll such an expenditure — remains to be seen.
According to ESPN, the WNBA is offering to buy the Sun for $250 million and waive its relocation fee to sell the team to an expansion city. The league's concern with the Sun relocating to Boston is that the TD Garden may not be able to host all home games, forcing the team to play some games in Providence, Rhode Island, and that Boston did not apply for an expansion franchise.
The biggest issue the league has raised with the tribe with a relocation of the Sun to Boston, sources said, was Boston's failure to submit an expansion proposal in any of the three rounds of expansion the league has held the past three years.
— Ramona Shelburne (@ramonashelburne) August 19, 2025
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Who is the Sun's owner?
The Sun are currently owned by the Mohegan Tribe. They also own the Mohegan Sun Casino, the namesake of Connecticut's current arena.
The franchise has routinely paid homage to its indigenous roots, hosting Indigenous People's Night during its contest with Wings in August 2023. Its most visible tribute to the tribe — and to the broader indigenous communities that exist across the country — is its alternate jerseys, designed by Nike, which include the word "Keesusk," a Mohegan term for "Sun."