Steve Pagliuca’s planned acquisition of the Connecticut Sun is not a done deal.
Pagliuca, a longtime minority owner of the Celtics, released what he called an “important update” Sunday night on his reported plan to purchase the WNBA franchise from the Mohegan Tribe and move it to Boston.
“While it is the PagsGroup policy to decline to comment on transactions until they are completed,” Pagliuca said in a statement posted on social media, “out of respect for the WNBA and NBA, we feel compelled to clarify the status of a possible acquisition of the Connecticut Sun.
“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. No transaction has been agreed yet. … Our offer is subject to obtaining the required league approvals, as is the case for all such transactions. This approval has not been obtained thus far, and we cannot proceed without it. We will respect, cooperate with, and abide by all league rules and decisions on these matters.”
The Sun have played at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn., since the franchise relocated from Orlando in 2003. It’s the fourth-smallest of the league’s 13 home venues, with a capacity of 9,323. Seven WNBA teams currently play in arenas that also house NBA or NHL clubs.
The Boston Globe on Saturday reported Pagliuca had reached an agreement to buy the Sun for $325 million, move the team to TD Garden in 2027 and construct a new $100 million practice facility in Boston.
Connecticut played one game at TD Garden in each of the last two seasons and sold out both — including an 85-77 loss to Caitlin Clark’s Indiana Fever last month — fueling optimism that the city would embrace and support a WNBA team.
Pagliuca’s mention of the Rhode Island governor suggests the Sun also could play games at Providence’s Amica Mutual Pavilion, the 12,410-seat home of Providence College hoops.
“Central to our proposal is enabling the Sun to play in larger capacity arenas in New England,” Pagliuca said. “We believe our record-setting offer and deep commitment to growing the WNBA in the region that is home to the most passionate basketball fans in the nation will significantly benefit the league, the team, and all its fans.”
But, as Pagliuca noted, his offer and relocation plan must be approved by the WNBA. The league has not granted such approval, and it said in a statement Saturday that “nine additional cities … currently have priority over Boston” because they applied for teams during the most recent expansion process and Boston did not. New WNBA teams in Toronto and Portland are set to debut next season, with Cleveland, Detroit and Philadelphia following in 2028, ’29 and ’30, respectively.
Additionally, according to the WNBA, incoming Celtics majority 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.”
“Relocation decisions are made by the WNBA Board of Governors and not by individual teams,” a league spokesperson said in a statement to multiple outlets.
Pagliuca, who has been part of the Celtics’ ownership group since 2002, made a bid to buy Boston’s NBA franchise earlier this year but was beaten out by Chisholm, whose group’s $6.1 billion offer was accepted and is pending league approval. Wyc Grousbeck will remain in his role as the Celtics’ CEO and governor through the 2027-28 season, and Chisholm’s new ownership collective also includes current minority owner Robert Hale.
“We have felt it was the best offer for the Celtics,” Pagliuca said in a statement in March. “It is a bid of true fans, deeply connected to Boston’s community, and we’ve been saddened to find out that we have not been selected in the process.”
Originally Published: August 3, 2025 at 10:53 PM EDT