Reaction to the news Monday that the Connecticut Sun WNBA team is officially being moved to Houston was of sadness and regret in Connecticut, especially amongst those who had tried to keep the professional women’s basketball team in the state over the last year.
“It’s incredibly disappointing,” Hartford Mayor Arunan Arulampalam said Monday. “We just had an incredibly exciting day of basketball (Sunday) with the men’s and women’s Huskies making it to the Final Four and this is the basketball capital of the world– I still believe that.
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“The thought of losing our one professional basketball franchise, a franchise that based on the sale price grew in market value more than 10 times since they came to this state, is just really disappointing as a fan and as mayor of the city.”
City and state officials had worked to try to keep the team in state after it was announced that the Mohegan Tribe was looking to sell last year. Marc Lasry, a former Milwaukee Bucks owner, put together a $325 million bid and planned to relocate the team to Hartford, where it would play in People’s Bank Arena. In Boston, a group led by Stephen Pagliuca, a former Celtics shareholder, also put in a $325 million bid.
Mohegan Tribe confirms Connecticut Sun sale to Tilman Fertitta, relocation to Houston
Both were rejected by the WNBA in favor of a $300,000 offer from Houston, which has a bigger media market than Hartford, as well as an NBA team. WNBA commissioner Cathy Englebert said last June that Houston was next in line for an expansion team.
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The team will spend the upcoming season in Uncasville before moving before the 2027 season. The sale still needs approval from the WNBA’s Board of Governors.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) said Sunday he was unhappy about the move as a basketball fan, and he also raised the possibility that the sale could be a violation of anti-trust laws.
“We have one of the best and most spirited fan bases in the country for basketball,” Blumenthal said. “It’s a loss economically, as well sports-wise.
“On the legal issue, the question really is whether the WNBA in effect interfered with the free market choices of the interested parties, in effect putting their thumb on the scale for one side or another in a way that could violate federal anti-trust laws, specifically Sect. One of the Sherman Act, which prohibits anti-competitive activity. I’m far from reaching any conclusions or alleging illegality but there certainly should be a review and likely some investigation by the Department of Justice.”
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Asked if he thought that would happen, he said, “Doubtful. This DOJ is hardly pro-active or aggressive. I am very clear eyed about the prospects for an investigation.”
William Tong, Connecticut’s Attorney General, said in a statement: “I am aware of concerning reports regarding a sale that would move the Sun out of Connecticut at a price far less than what was on the table to keep them here at home. The Office of the Attorney General previously requested relevant documents and we have reviewed portions of certain documents requested of the WNBA.
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“We are consulting with our partners in state government and local leaders regarding this disappointing news.”
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Connecticut’s State Comptroller Sean Scanlon did not hide his disdain for how the process of selling the team played out over the last year. Last year, he made a TikTok video about how, he said, the WNBA was trying to “steal the team” from the state and was stalling on a deal to keep the franchise in Connecticut.
Monday, he said his video “went about as viral as a comptroller can go on TikTok. The comments were from people all over the country that you should keep your team here.”
He added: “I think we need to be really clear about this: there was never a chance of keeping the Sun here. Because the NBA rigged this process from Day 1 so the league and its billionaire owners could make more money. The governor and a host of people in the state put legitimate offer after legitimate offer in front of the WNBA, which is really controlled by the NBA, only for them to put up roadblocks. I think it just became clear over the course of the last year, they had no intention of considering the interest of the fans or considering anything we put before them.
“At the end of the day, this was really all about money; it was never about the fans. I don’t think the fans of either league should ever forget that. It really shows where their interests are and it’s not with the people who love the sport and watch it every day.”
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Governor Lamont was asked by reporters at an event in Shelton Monday what he thought of the news about the team moving.
“We stepped up and put in place a really good proposal which matched what the other guys were able to do with a strong private investor,” Lamont said. “That said, Houston is much bigger TV market. And sometimes we didn’t speak with one voice, sometimes folks in the legislature stepped in, saying, ‘I don’t like the way the deal is structured,’ and that cast a bit of a shadow over what we were trying to do.
“I think it was always an uphill climb for us but I think we gave it a good shot.”
Connecticut Sun president Jen Rizzotti said on a Zoom call Monday that there are mixed emotions for the people who have been part of the Sun organization for a long time. The Sun moved to Uncasville from Orlando in 2003.
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“There’s emotion around our fans losing their WNBA team, but also for myself as a former Houston Comet, understanding Houston is a great media market, it’s a professional sports town,” she said. “I think I can have some compassion for the fans here and what they’re losing but also be excited for the staff and the players, that they’ll be going to a market with a larger infrastructure and additional resources and the ability to grow in the future.”
Asked if she had a message for Sun fans, she said, “I want them to know how grateful we are, they’re the reason we’ve been successful for 23 years. I want them to know this season matters; we’re going to make it matter.”
