The WNBA was ripped for appearing to be against the Connecticut Sun relocating to Boston after a sale of the team was announced.
The Connecticut Sun are reportedly planning to relocate to Boston within the next two years after being sold to Former Boston Celtics owner Steve Pagliuca. The 2027-28 WNBA season is the target date for a potential move to the TD Garden.
In response, the W tried to control the narrative and claim that Cleveland, Detroit, and Philadelphia are ahead of Boston on the league’s list of priorities.
“Relocation decisions are made by the WNBA Board of Governors and not by individual teams. 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 remain under active 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 league said in a statement, per the Boston Globe’s Gary Washburn.
Locked On Celtics’ John Karalis called the statement a nothingburger.
According to Karalis, the WNBA doesn’t have the gall to say no to a major market like Boston.
“This is a lot of blah blah blah from the WNBA. The league is not going to keep a team at Mohegan Sun when a major market is calling,” Karalis wrote.
Karalis is spot-on. The WNBA has no leverage in this situation.
Cathy Engelbert told me at the 2025 American Century Championship last month that partnerships and media are the most important drivers for the WNBA’s growth moving forward.
“As a sports league, one of the most important revenue sources is media and partnerships. So, on the business side of things, that would be great,” Engelbert said when I asked for her vision for the league’s growth.
There’s infinitely more sports media coverage and business opportunities to be had in Boston than in Uncasville.
We'll see if that's considered as the Sun organization faces an uncertain future in Connecticut.
Category: Basketball
