Monday, news broke that the Connecticut Sun had hired investment bank Allen & Company to pursue a potential sale of the franchise.
By Tuesday afternoon, team president Jen Rizzotti was deployed to meet with players and then the media.
“What is going on?” former MVP Tina Charles said was the immediate question on players’ minds. “But in the WNBA you have seen this. You have seen these types of headlines. You just trust your ownership is going to put the organization in the best position possible.”
Charles added that the players’ job is to focus on the product on the court, while they allow ownership to successfully execute a potential sale.
Ownership hasn’t spoken directly to players, according to Charles, instead using Rizzotti as a liaison. For her part, Rizzotti said she hasn’t been privy to all discussions regarding the team’s potential sale. Her explanation to players on Tuesday was that the team is exploring all options, including a potential minority ownership sale to reinvest into the franchise.
Potential majority ownership sale scenarios include groups that have bid for a WNBA expansion franchise, who would then relocate the team. The Philadelphia 76ers ownership group—Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment—offers up one of the more intriguing options. Rizzotti said there is no timetable for a potential sale.
“As far as what the future holds, I’m kind of in some ways along for the ride,” Rizzotti said. “Making sure I’m providing the best scenario that I can right now here in 2025 for these players and thinking about what [Sun coach] Rachid [Meziane] said: ‘Control what I can control.’”
The Sun became the first WNBA franchise with no NBA ownership affiliation in 2003 when the Mohegan Sun—owned by the Mohegan Tribe—purchased the Orlando Miracle and relocated the team to Uncasville, Conn. Rizzotti heralded Sun ownership’s investment over the last two decades saying “they were at the forefront of a lot of investment before a lot of other teams were there.” The tribe bought the team for $10 million.
The Atlanta Dream were the last WNBA team sold for between $7 million and $10 million in 2021, but that no longer offers the most accurate indication of a franchise’s market value. The WNBA’s recent boom has contributed to a significant increase in valuations. A 1% stake in the Dallas Wings—a team once seen as one of the league’s least valuable franchises—recently put the team’s value at $208 million. The expansion fees are expected to more than double in the latest round with a potential Cleveland expansion team fetching between $200 million and $250 million, according to reports.
The Wings will open a $54 million practice facility in 2026, and Dream GM Dan Padover told FOS the team is actively scouting locations for a facility. The Sun have said in the past they are exploring their options as it pertains to a dedicated practice facility but have made no formal announcement. A minority sale could allow the franchise to fund the development of a practice facility.
The Sun have in recent years faced heavy criticism from players. Prior to being traded to the Mercury, forward Alyssa Thomas expressed her disapproval over the team’s practice court being split with a 2-year-old’s birthday party a day before they faced the Fever in the first round.
Thomas was subsequently cored—allowing the Sun to retain exclusive negotiating rights over her—before she was dealt to the Mercury in a four-team trade that included guards Natasha Cloud and Rebecca Allen. Both players refused to play for the Sun and were traded, Cloud to the Liberty and Allen to the Sky. Sun guard Marina Mabrey publicly asked for a trade, which was denied by Rizzotti and GM Morgan Tuck.
Before the mass exodus of All-Star caliber players, the Sun were a consistent title contender, making eight consecutive postseason berths including six straight semifinals or Finals appearances between 2019 and 2024.
The question now is whether the Mohegan Sun, a subsidiary of the Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority, can afford to operate a championship-caliber organization in the WNBA’s current market. Earlier this year Mohegan Sun announced it was at risk of defaulting on several loans, with its total debt standing at $3.1 billion.
Beyond being drafted by the Sun with the No. 1 overall pick in 2010, Charles—an eight-time All-Star and two-time scoring champion in the WNBA—won two NCAA titles with UConn.
In the meantime, the Sun open the season against the Washington Mystics on Sunday.
“They have their job and our job is to put the best product on the floor,” Charles said. “We trust that they’re going to do their jobs and make the right decision that will benefit the organization, players, and the staff moving forward.”
