Connecticut officials are breathing fire over the WNBA’s Sun being sold and relocated to Houston to become the Comets, and Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D., Conn.) is calling for a federal investigation—but experts say it’s unlikely the move will be blocked.
The sale of the Sun from the Mohegan Tribe to Tilman Fertitta’s Fertitta Entertainment—the company that owns the NBA’s Houston Rockets—was announced Monday. Under the agreement, reportedly worth $300 million, Fertitta, who is also the U.S. ambassador to Italy, intends to move the franchise from Connecticut to Houston after this upcoming WNBA season.
Local officials, including Blumenthal, are not happy, especially because there was at least one option that would have kept the team in Connecticut; former Bucks co-owner Marc Lasry reportedly made a $325 million offer as part of a proposal that would have moved the team from Uncasville to Hartford.
“What’s really frustrating is that the team is moving without any apparent caring about the fans,” Blumenthal tells Front Office Sports. “I’m really angry about it, because clearly the WNBA put their thumb on the scale and exerted pressure—in fact, they virtually blocked any deal that would have kept the team here in Connecticut.”
The senator posted on social media that the Department of Justice should launch an investigation and “stop such anticompetitive interference.”
“There seems to be a lot of evidence that they engaged in anticompetitive, monopolistic conduct that could violate the Sherman Act,” he says, referring to a law in place since 1890 that prohibits businesses from entering into agreements that unfairly limit competition.
Blumenthal is not the only lawmaker trying to protect local fans from sudden relocations. Last week, Rep. Greg Casar (D., Texas) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) introduced a bill that would require pro team owners to give local communities a chance to buy the teams before relocating.
‘Limited Ability to Block a Relocation Outright’
Brian Anderson, who co-leads the sports practice at law firm Sheppard, says Blumenthal might not have much authority to back up his bluster.
“Connecticut has limited ability to block a relocation outright,” Anderson tells FOS. “The Sun are a privately owned WNBA team operating under league rules, and if the league approves a sale and move, that’s the key decision.”
Blumenthal, previously Connecticut’s attorney general for 20 years, says there are levers the state could pull. The current AG, William Tong, could sue to keep the team in state, for example—although Blumenthal says that decision would have to come from Tong. “I’m not saying he should or must.”
Tong has also voiced dismay about the Sun’s move. He issued a statement Sunday, before the deal was announced, expressing concern about the transaction and saying the reported price tag represented “a price far less than what was on the table to keep them here at home.”
In September, Tong’s office demanded documents from the WNBA that it believed would shed light on the league’s plans for the Sun. In December, the attorney general’s office told FOS it had “recently reviewed portions of certain documents requested of the WNBA” and was “assessing that information.”
In Sunday’s statement, Tong reiterated those documents had been reviewed and said his office is now “consulting with our partners in state government and local leaders regarding this disappointing news.”
Blumenthal says there are other potential options, pointing to the fact that he is the ranking member of the permanent subcommittee on investigations, which has “some subpoena power.” However, he acknowledged that getting Congress to take action—especially with Republicans holding the majority—is a long shot.
“I’m not raising hopes or expectations,” he says. “But my feeling is maybe Congress should look at this.”
As to the possibility that the DOJ opens an investigation, the senator says he’s “very clear-eyed about the fact that a normal Justice Department reaction would be ‘yes, we certainly should investigate this.’”
“In this Justice Department, which is so far from normal as to be beyond words, I am doubtful they are going to take a serious look at a deal that benefits an ambassador to Italy who is also a major Trump contributor,” he says.
Connecticut Could Sue for Damages
Mit Winter, an attorney at Kennyhertz Perry whose practice focuses on intellectual property and college sports, says the state could try suing for damages after the fact, something that’s happened a few times.
In 2018, the city of Oakland, Calif., sued the Raiders, the NFL, and the league’s other teams. Among other claims, it was alleged the defendants violated antitrust law by letting the Raiders move to Las Vegas in 2020 while not negotiating in good faith. Oakland lost, and the U.S. Supreme Court later declined to take up the case.
In 2017, St. Louis sued the NFL and the Rams over the latter’s 2016 relocation to Southern California to become the Los Angeles Rams. The suit claimed the league broke its own rules with that move, and in the end the two sides reached a $790 million settlement.
While suing for damages is one option, Blumenthal says that’s not the route he would take if he were still the AG.
“I’d be suing to keep the team here,” he tells FOS. “I would care less about the money than about keeping the team here.”
