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A Boston-based group led by Celtics minority owner Steve Pagliuca has reached a record deal valued at $325 million to buy the Connecticut Sun from the Mohegan Tribe and move the team to Boston by 2027, a league source confirmed to Front Office Sports.
The news was first reported by The Boston Globe.
The Globe also reported that the deal includes a future $100 million commitment for a practice facility.
Though Pagliuca plans to move the team to Boston, the WNBA says no such move has been approved yet.
“Relocation decisions are made by the WNBA Board of Governors and not by individual teams,” a league spokesperson told FOS in a statement.
“As part of our most recent expansion process, in which three new franchises were awarded to Cleveland, Detroit and Philadelphia on June 30, 2025, nine additional cities also applied for WNBA teams and remain under active consideration.
“No groups from Boston applied for a team at that time and those other cities remain under consideration based on the extensive work they did as part of the expansion process and currently have priority over Boston.
“Celtics prospective 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,” the statement said.
Pagliuca and Chisholm both bid for the Celtics when the team was up for sale, with Paglicua criticizing the financing of Chisholm’s bid when he won out.
Pagliuca issued his own statement Sunday evening in which he confirmed that an investor group led by his own PagsGroup, with the support of the governors of Massachusetts and Rhode Island, has offered to buy the team. “No transaction has been agreed to yet,” he said. He added the group aims to have the Sun “play in larger capacity arenas in New England.”
The Sun hired investment bank Allen and Company to search for a potential buyer earlier this year. In July, the Sun sent out an email to season ticket holders pledging to remain at Mohegan Sun for the 2026 season.
After the end of last season the Suns saw a mass exodus of star players and head coach Stephanie White. Despite still being under contract, White left the organization to coach the Fever. In the new year, the Sun lost all five starters in free agency.
The team is currently last in the league with a 5-21 record under first year coach Rachid Meziane and general manager Morgan Tuck.
The Mohegan Tribe purchased the Sun—originally the Orlando Miracle—in 2003 and relocated the team to Uncasville, Connecticut. They were the first Native American tribe to own a professional sports team. But over the years, the franchise has drawn stark criticism from players for failing to provide a satisfactory training environment.
The Sun played a game at TD Garden in 2024 against the Sparks and again this season against the Fever on July 15, selling out both games. Players from all three teams expressed their appreciation for the Boston fan base and the environment. Sun rookie Saniya Rivers told reporters, “If it was up to me, we might relocate here.”
Rivers went on to praise the city, saying, “I love Connecticut. It’s fine, but I think the marketing here itself is just going to be better for a women’s basketball program.”
The sale, pending approval by the WNBA’s board of governors, could land the team in Boston by 2027, sooner than some of the WNBA’s planned expansion teams will launch.
In a statement to FOS, Mohegan Tribe leadership said they are continuing “to run their process of looking at different avenues of investment opportunities for the Connecticut Sun.”
Regarding news of the sale to Pagliuca, they said they could not comment on the specifics of a sale, which would be subject to non-disclosure terms.
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