Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever beat the Connecticut Sun at TD Garden on July 15, the second straight year the WNBA sold out the Celtics' home arena.
Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever beat the Connecticut Sun at TD Garden on July 15, the second straight year the WNBA sold out the Celtics' home arena.Danielle Parhizkaran/Globe Staff
WNBA basketball could be in Boston permanently by 2027 as a Boston-based group led by Celtics minority governor Steve Pagliuca has reached a deal with the Mohegan Tribe to move the Connecticut Sun to TD Garden, according to multiple sources involved in the transaction.
Pagliuca will pay a record $325 million for the team, according to those sources, then contribute $100 million for a new practice facility in Boston for the Sun to relocate from Uncasville, Conn. Sources said the Tribe has been looking to sell the club and the record offer expedited the process.
The sale price would be the highest ever for a professional women’s sports franchise.
A Sun source said the Tribe has been looking to move on from the WNBA team, and two sellout games at TD Garden the past two years encouraged ownership to look for a Boston group. Several Sun players lauded the atmosphere, TD Garden amenities, and the city during their visits.
A potential sale must be approved by the WNBA and the league’s governors, and according to a source, the WNBA would rather save Boston as a potential expansion city in 2033. The league has already announced expansion teams in Portland, Toronto, Cleveland, Detroit and Philadelphia over the next five years.
Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey has long campaigned for a WNBA team in Boston and told the Globe she supports any efforts to move the Sun here.
“I’ve been pushing for years for Boston to get a WNBA team; I think it would be great for Boston,” she said. “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.”
The Sun have played in Connecticut since 2003, when they relocated from Orlando. The franchise has emerged as one of the WNBA’s models, reaching the Finals four times (most recently in 2022), but enthusiasm has declined in recent years. Mohegan Sun Arena is the league’s fourth-smallest venue and the Sun lack a dedicated practice facility, instead conducting workouts at the gym inside the Tribe’s community and government center. Often, the Sun are forced to share space with summer camps and other local events.
This past offseason, the team opted for a major rebuild, allowing its entire starting five to sign elsewhere while coach Stephanie White departed to coach the Indiana Fever. The Sun, despite Friday’s win over the defending champion New York Liberty, have a league-worst 5-21 record with new coach Rachid Meziane.
Last week, the Sun sent a letter to season ticket-holders ensuring the club will play at Mohegan Sun Arena in the 2026 season. The Boston group is targeting a 2027 move and would potentially play early season games in Providence to avoid any conflict with Bruins and Celtics playoff games.
The WNBA has yet to comment on the potential sale.
According to an NBA source, the Celtics would have no issue with the Sun moving in. Several Celtics players have attended the Sun games at TD Garden and have expressed support for a team in Boston.
Healey said she has had conversations with WNBA and NBA officials over the years about a Boston team. With the entries of Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese, and former UConn star Paige Bueckers, the WNBA is in a surge of unprecedented success. The expansion Golden State Valkyries have sold out all 11 home games at Chase Center, also home of the NBA’s Golden State Warriors.
“I know the quickest way to get a team to Boston is for the Sun to move to Boston,” Healey told the Globe. “And I don’t want to wait [until 2033]. I don’t want Boston or New England to have to wait that long. We’ve got an incredibly enthusiastic, energized base here that wants to see a ‘W’ team in Boston and to me this seems to be in everybody’s best interests.”
Pagliuca, whose bid to buy the Celtics from the Wyc Grousbeck group fell short, has sought to bring a WNBA team to Boston for the past few years. His group aggressively pursued the Sun when the Tribe indicated it was open to a sale.
A WNBA source said if the league forces the Mohegan Tribe to sell to a Connecticut-based buyer to leep the team in the state, which it has the power to do, Mohegan will cooperate, but the Tribe’s choice is to sell to the Boston-based group. That source said the Tribe has determined selling the franchise would be the most financially lucrative, and it could then concentrate on running its casino and hotel.
Gary Washburn is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at gary.washburn@globe.com. Follow him @GwashburnGlobe.