Adam Silver Defends WNBA Involvement in Sun Sale

The Connecticut Sun sale is at a standstill. 

Among the proposals are a pair of $325 million offers from Steve Pagliuca and Marc Lasry, both former NBA minority owners. 

But Pagliuca wants to move the team to Boston and Lasry wants to move it to Hartford, Conn. NBA commissioner Adam Silver—the league owns a significant stake of the WNBA—said Tuesday that if relocation is on the table, the league will be involved.

“They have every right to sell the team in their market,” Silver said at the Front Office Sports Tuned In summit. “But then we started to be contacted by people in Boston and elsewhere saying that there was a suggestion that they could buy a team in one market and take it to another. That’s sort of black-letter law in sports leagues: You can’t do that. You’re buying that market. Teams have different values in different markets, and we view those other markets as expansion markets.”

Sources with direct knowledge of the sale told FOS the Mohegan tribe—owners of the franchise since 2003—has not yet met with the league to discuss a path forward, but a meeting is scheduled. 

When the tribe bought the Orlando Miracle in 2003, becoming the first Native American tribe to own a professional sports team, and subsequently relocated it to Uncasville, the league was short on willing buyers for teams. Franchises repeatedly folded when they couldn’t find a new owner.

The Portland Fire, Miami Sol, Cleveland Rockers, Charlotte Sting, Houston Comets, and Sacramento Monarchs all folded in a seven-year span. The Utah Starzz, Detroit Shock, and Sun were all sold and relocated in that window. In 2002 the Starzz became the San Antonio Silver Stars and eventually the Las Vegas Aces. In 2009 the Detroit Shock became the Tulsa Shock and eventually the Dallas Wings. 

The Miracle became the Sun and over two decades later are going through another franchise shift. 

“We just went through expansion in the WNBA,” Silver said. “We expanded to three cities. We ran a process that went for almost a year and cities came to us and said ‘Here’s our operational plan for how we’ll operate. Here’s where the practice facility will be. Here’s how we’re going to market the league. Here’s who ownership is going to be.’ We ended up in Philadelphia, Cleveland and Detroit. Boston did not apply at that time for an expansion team and frankly neither did Hartford.”

Houston’s expansion bid was led by Rockets owner Tillman Fertitta. 

“Before he was the current owner of the Houston Rockets, the Comets were one of the most successful WNBA franchises back in the day,” Silver said. “They very much want a team.”

The league offered to buy the Sun for $250 million, FOS confirmed, matching the expansion fees paid by Cleveland, Detroit, and Philadelphia. In that scenario, the path would be cleared to move the team to Houston.

In the weeks since Pagliuca’s record offer was first reported, both of Connecticut’s senators and its attorney general have pushed to keep the team in the state.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal wrote a letter to WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert criticizing the league’s attempt to “block proposals” that would keep the team in the region. Before Blumenthal’s letter, Sen. Chris Murphy posted to social media lamenting the league for attempting to “force the [Tribe] to accept a low-ball offer from a Trump-backed billionaire.” 

Fertitta was confirmed as Trump’s ambassador to Italy in April and donated over $400,000 to pro-Trump PACs in the 2024 election.  

Last week, Connecticut attorney general William Tong sent a letter to Engelbert pressing the league to produce documents—including the membership agreement between the WNBA and the Sun, the league’s rules and regulations, and copies of any appraisals, offers, and expressions of interest for the team—in an attempt to “better understand the position of the WNBA.” Among Tong’s concerns were reports of the WNBA’s attempt to buy the Sun well below market value. 

The league’s stance is that the $325 million is not market value, because the buyers who have offered to pay that want to move the team to other cities.

“We went to the Mohegan Sun and said if you want to sell your team, that’s fine if you have a buyer to play at the Mohegan Sun,” Silver said. “Once you’re talking about moving it to another city, that’s a league matter. That’s not an individual team matter. That’s where it stands right now.”