Over two decades after the Mohegan Tribe brought the WNBA to Connecticut, it has been actively pursuing a sale. But the league appears to be intervening in the process.

The record $325 million offer for the Sun made by a Boston group led by Celtics minority owner Steve Pagliuca was already agreed to by the Tribe in early July, multiple sources familiar with the deal told Front Office Sports. 

The offer, which also included a future $110 million investment into a practice facility, was subsequently presented to WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert, but never to the league’s board of governors. The exclusivity period expired after nearly a month, opening the door back up to other interested groups, including one led by former Milwaukee Bucks owner Marc Lasry, sources said. 

The Lasry-led group, which is pursuing keeping the team in Connecticut, is considered to be in active competition with Pagliuca’s bid at this stage.  

The WNBA has the power to force a sale to a Connecticut-based buyer, in which case the Mohegan Tribe would cooperate, according to The Boston Globe. The WNBA did not respond to an email from FOS asking why the league would force the team to stay in Connecticut.  

Ahead of the Sun’s game against the Liberty on Sunday, team president Jen Rizzotti spoke to the media at a press conference on the status of the team’s potential sale. 

“I can’t really comment on what the league may or may not want for the Sun,” Rizzotti said. “I will reiterate that they’ve been thoughtful about where they’ve wanted the league to go, and having ownership groups that are invested at the right level. I can’t imagine that if there is an investment group at the right level in a great city, why anybody would not consider that to be a viable option.” 

The tribe paid $10 million to purchase the Orlando Miracle. They subsequently relocated the team 1,200 miles north to Uncasville, Conn., in 2003 marking the beginning of professional basketball in the state. Both the sale and the relocation were subject to approval by the WNBA’s board of governors, as is the case now with the Pagliuca-led group. 

The WNBA released a statement following reports that the PagsGroup had a deal to buy the Sun, which emphasized Boston was not one of the 12 cities to bid for an expansion team in the most recent process. Cleveland, Detroit, and Philadelphia were granted expansion teams for a fee of $250 million apiece. The other nine teams, the league said, “remain under consideration based on the extensive work they did as part of the expansion process and currently have priority over Boston.” 

Multiple FOS sources criticized the WNBA’s statement because it appears to suggest the league might force the Sun to sell to a buyer of the league’s choosing. 

During the press conference announcing Cleveland, Detroit, and Philadelphia as the WNBA’s next three expansion cities, Engelbert made it a point to call out Houston directly. 

“Houston would be up next, for sure,” Engelbert said in June in response to a question about the timeline for evaluating bids. “There might be opportunities there.”

Based on prior operational standards as they pertain to expansion and the sale of individual franchises, the league’s statement—which conflates the two processes—is confounding. While the league has control over expansion, individual owners and ownership groups have always had control over the sale of their franchises, aside from them being subject to approval from the board of governors. 

“I can’t speak to where the team is going to go,” Rizzotti said on Sunday. “But if Boston was an option, it’s hard to argue that they’re not a city that’s viable for a WNBA franchise.” 

The league office did not immediately respond to a request from FOS for comment.

There’s still more than two months remaining in the WNBA season, but another women’s professional basketball league—Unrivaled—has already secured most of its roster for next season.

Alex Bazzell, cofounder of the 3-on-3 women’s basketball league composed exclusively of WNBA players, told Front Office Sports that the league has signed nearly 90% of its player pool for the 2026 season.  

“We have a few spots left open to fill and then we’re pretty much ready to go,” Bazzell said Saturday from Miami as the league hosted the 14 college stars for its The Future is Unrivaled summit. 

The percentage includes the six additional players Unrivaled intends to add next year, which will bring the total player pool from 36 to 42. While Bazzell did not reveal the exact number of players signed, around 90% would mean around 35–37 slots have been filled.

Unrivaled will not add more teams in 2026 and will instead include six players in a developmental pool. They will sub in for any injured players throughout the season.

It’s unclear who the new players are coming to Unrivaled next season, if any. Notable WNBA stars who were not part of the league’s inaugural season include Caitlin Clark, A’ja Wilson, and Kelsey Plum. 

Paige Bueckers was also not part of the 2025 season since she was still in the NCAA, though she is expected to join this year. She will reportedly receive more than $350,000 in her first season.

More Money for the Players

With the WNBA’s CBA negotiations taking the spotlight, Unrivaled has served as an example of how much women’s basketball players can be compensated without playing overseas.

Unrivaled, which was cofounded by WNBA stars Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart, reportedly paid its players an average salary of $220,000 last season, with no player making less than six figures. The average salary in the WNBA is under $150,000, with the minimum at around $66,000.

Collier told Sue Bird and Megan Rapinoe on the podcast A Touch More last week that Unrivaled will raise the salaries for players next season. Bazzell, who is married to Collier, confirmed the salary increases to FOS.

“The numbers are going up because the business outperformed every metric that we had,” Bazzell said. “It’s part of our business model that we built from the ground up, which is that as the business continues to drive more revenue, the revenue is going to get funneled back into the players.”

Bazzell did not confirm how much the average salary would be, though he said the number will increase even though the league is adding six more players.

Unrivaled has faced criticism for a conflict of interest in the WNBA collective bargaining agreement negotiations since Collier and Stewart are also board members of the Women’s National Basketball Players Association. However, Unrivaled has maintained that there is none.

Brock Lesnar made a shocking return to the WWE months after he was officially identified in a federal lawsuit by the wrestling promotion’s former employee, Janel Grant against former head Vince McMahon.

Lesnar returned Sunday at SummerSlam, the WWE’s second-biggest premium live event next to WrestleMania. The 48-year-old arrived following the main event between John Cena and Cody Rhodes. He would enter the ring and deliver the F5, his finishing move, on Cena to close the show. 

His last WWE appearance was at SummerSlam in 2023.

Grant’s lawsuit, which was originally filed in January 2024, accused McMahon and former WWE executive John Laurinaitis of “physical and emotional abuse, sexual assault and trafficking.”

An amended complaint filed in January cited Lesnar by name. The lawsuit alleged that in 2021, Grant was used as a “sexual pawn” to keep Lesnar signed with the WWE. Grant allegedly created “personalized sexual content” for Lesnar at the behest of McMahon.

The two were also allegedly set to have an in-person encounter in December 2021, though Grant was able to “back out” after Lesnar’s travel plans were altered by a snowstorm. 

Lesnar is not a defendant in the lawsuit. 

A spokesperson for Grant shared a statement to Front Office Sports following Lesnar’s return:

“For far too long, abuse was allowed to thrive under WWE’s leadership. Instead of righting this wrong, WWE has done nothing to ensure those responsible are held accountable. This attempt to sweep misconduct under the rug will backfire. We look forward to the full set of facts, including those about Mr. Lesnar, coming out in a court of law where they belong but, in the meantime, we refer you back to Janel Grant’s updated complaint, which outlines, in detail, the abuse she endured by McMahon and others while employed at WWE.”

The WWE did not respond to a request for comment.

According to Dave Meltzer of the “Wrestling Observer,” WWE’s legal team cleared Lesnar to return “four weeks ago.”

“Either they’re confident that things are going to arbitration and Lesnar’s not a factor at that point, or they’re close to a settlement and then, at that point, Lesnar’s not a factor, or somebody there just had a change of mind, and I don’t know which one of those it is,” Meltzer said.

John Cena’s Request?

While it’s not uncommon for WWE talent to take extended breaks, it was unclear whether Lesnar, a 10-time WWE world champion, would return to the promotion following the lawsuit.

WWE chief content officer Paul Levesque (also known by his in-ring name Triple H) suggested on the SummerSlam postgame show on Peacock that Lesnar’s return was a request from Cena.

“This is John Cena’s wish list. It’s him writing the last chapter of his book. … “One of the very first things I said to [Cena] is, ‘Who do you want? And how?’ and we’re working through that.” Levesque said. 

Cena is in the middle of his WWE retirement tour, which started Jan. 6 and runs through 2025. Following SummerSlam, the 48-year-old has 12 more WWE appearances remaining.

The PGA Tour’s playoffs begin this week, but first—thanks to a new FedEx Cup bonus money structure—the top 10 players from the regular season are getting even bigger paydays than in recent years.

Scottie Scheffler leads the pack, pocketing $18 million from finishing first in the FedEx Cup standings at season’s end. Scheffler earned $10 million from the FedEx Cup’s new bonus money distribution system, and $8 million from the Comcast Business Tour Top 10 program that has been in place since 2024.

Rory McIlroy came in second, earning a combined $10 million ($4 million from FedEx Cup bonus and $6 million from Comcast), while Sepp Straka rounded out the top three, cashing $6 million ($1.2 million and $4.8 million).

Overall, $60 million in bonus money was distributed to the top 10 players at the end of the regular season ($20 million from the FedEx Cup and $40 million from the Comcast initiative).

FOS graphic

Last year, the Comcast Business Tour Top 10 paid out an equal $40 million, but there were no FedExCup bonuses at the end of the regular season. That is a new system that was implemented midseason after the Tour Championship altered its format, eliminating starting strokes from the playoff finale. 

More changes to the FedEx Cup are likely on the way in 2026, so the separate bonus payout programs this year could be consolidated into one next year.

This year’s FedEx Cup changes mean there will be another bonus payout following the second playoff event, the BMW Championship. The top 30 players in FedEx Cup standings at that point (the same 30 that advance to the Tour Championship) will split $22.93 million in bonus money, on top of the $20 million purses that are up for grabs at the first two playoff tournaments. 

At the Tour Championship, season-long FedEx Cup points go out the window, and a standard 72-hole stroke-play tournament will decide the FedEx Cup champion, who will win $10 million (down from $25 million in 2024), and the rest of the $40 million purse at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta.