HARTFORD – With no deadline set for either selling the Connecticut Sun professional women’s basketball team or keeping them in the state, the State of Connecticut has announced it is submitting its own proposal that includes current owner Mohegan Tribe based in Uncasville.
There have been reports the state is mulling a $250 million-plus offer with the tribe that does not include a reported $325 million proposal from Westport billionaire Marc Lasry, who runs global investment company Avenue Capital Group, to keep the team in the state and a similar deal by Boston Celtics minority owner Steve Pagliuca, to relocate the team to Boston.
“It’s something completely different,” Lt. Gov . Susan Bysiewicz told the Fairfield County Business Journal Sept. 5. “There have been a whole number of proposals that have been floated to bring the Connecticut Sun outside of Connecticut, Boston, for example.
“The State of CT really wants to keep the team in our state. We are also partnering with the Mohegan Tribal Nation, who have been great partners with us all along.”
It has been reported a state-sponsored deal would include some games being played at a renovated Peoples Bank arena in Hartford and a new training facility in the city.
The lieutenant governor, who is the head of the Governor’s Council of Women and Girls in Connecticut, explained that state’s thinking behind becoming a minority stakeholder in the Sun.
“Even before they brought the Sun to Connecticut, the state and the Mohegan tribe have been partners,” she said. “(Besides) We are the collegiate basketball capital of the world. We love the (UConn) Huskies, and the Sun. One of the reasons the Connecticut Sun has such a loyal and large fanbase in our state is because so many of the great women basketball Huskies go on to play for the Sun.”
She added that keeping the team in Connecticut – Uncasville as well as Hartford – is good for tourism and our economy.
While Bysiewicz would not reveal any particulars of the state bid, she did confirm that Gov. Ned Lamont wants the team to play games in the capitol city.
“If you would like to talk about deal-specific particulars, I would refer you to our DECD Commissioner Dan O’Keefe,” she said. “There is this continuing negotiation and conversation going on about what it would take to keep the Sun in Connecticut.”
O’Keefe could not be reached for comment.
The latest on the possible sale of the team is that no matter what bid is put up, the ultimate decision is up to the NBA board of governors. That’s because the WNBA is owned by the NBA. Nearly all of the 13 teams in the league are attached to an NBA team, with the only exceptions being the Sun, Seattle Storm, and Las Vegas Aces.
So far, the WNBA has reportedly blocked a relocation to Boston, offered to broker a deal with an Ohio investor to buy the team from the Mohegan Tribe and relocate to Cleveland, where there is an NBA team. The latest plan being floated as an alternative to the tribe’s sale of the team to a Connecticut investor is that the league buys the team for $250 million and relocates it to Houston.
In a Sunday, Sept. 7 TV show hosted by WTNH’s Dennis House, UConn sportscaster and former player Meghan (Pattyson) Culmo was optimistic about the governor’s bid to keep the Sun in the state.
“There seem to be a good group of wealthy folks and politicians – a really powerful group that wants the team to stay here,” Culmo told House. “Now the sticking point is will the league let them do it because they are not going through proper (league) channels.
“It would be a sin if a team left here and went to Houston.”
She reminded House and the TV audience that the tribe saved a failing franchise in Orlando years ago and bought it for $10 million.
“And now there are two offers for $325 million to buy the team,” she said in astonishment.
When reports of a possible sale and relocation of the Sun to Boston first surfaced, the Mohegan Tribe said they could not comment on any specific negotiations.
“Any sales agreement with relocation of the team to a different market would need to be approved by the WNBA and would also be subject to non-disclosure terms,” Mohegan leadership told the Fairfield County Business Journal. “Therefore, we cannot comment on any specifics of who, if anyone, has submitted offers or seeks investment in the Connecticut Sun at this time.”
Lt. Gov. Bysiewicz ended her conversation with the Fairfield County Business Journal on Sept. 5 with a little bit of enthusiastic optimism.
“I think we are in a great position to keep expanding the fanbase with this proposal,” she said.
