As the WNBA expands to more and more cities, officials in Boston are eager for their own franchise.
Former Connecticut Sun guard DiJonai Carrington scores against the Los Angeles Sparks during a sold-out game at TD Garden in August 2024. Danielle Parhizkaran/Boston Globe
With the WNBA more popular than ever, the league is preparing to welcome multiple expansion teams in the coming years. That, combined with reports that the Connecticut Sun are exploring a potential sale, has stirred a new wave of chatter in Boston about the city potentially getting its own professional women’s basketball team.
Now, members of the Boston City Council are adding their voices to the many that are advocating for a WNBA team in Boston.
Councilor Brian Worrell introduced a resolution Wednesday endorsing the idea, and it was unanimously adopted.
Worrell timed his resolution to coincide with the upcoming game between the Sun and the Caitlin Clark-led Indiana Fever at TD Garden. The Sun came to Boston for the first time last year, selling out a game in the home of the Celtics. This year’s game, scheduled for next week, is also sold out.
This, Worrell said, is evidence of significant excitement for women’s basketball in the city.
“Boston is ready to be home to a WNBA team, and the city doesn’t need to build anything new to make it happen. The TD Garden is ready. The fans are ready. The city is ready. This is an easy layup,” he said during Wednesday’s City Council meeting.
The WNBA expanded to the Bay Area this year, and is set to arrive in Toronto and Portland in 2026. Officials recently announced that Cleveland, Detroit, and Philadelphia would get their own expansion teams before the decade is over.
A group known as Boston Women’s Basketball Partners is working to bring a WNBA franchise to Boston. A spokesperson for that group recently told The Boston Globe that they will likely have to focus on getting an expansion franchise in the city instead of relocating the Sun. The Mohegan Tribe, which owns the Sun, is reportedly looking for investment partners or a new ownership group that would keep the team in Connecticut.
The councilors who spoke on the topic this week did not voice strong opinions on whether it would be best to relocate the Sun to Boston or to bring in an expansion franchise.
Worrell did concede that one complication could arise from a new franchise needing to find or build a practice facility. But, he said, this does not need to actually be located within Boston.
Gov. Maura Healey, a former professional basketball player herself, said earlier this year that she supports the idea of bringing a WNBA team to Boston.
Council President Ruthzee Louijeune spoke about playing basketball as a child and idolizing WNBA stars of the time.
“I just remember growing up watching the WNBA, watching Lisa Leslie, watching Rebecca Lobo, watching Teresa Weatherspoon, and really hoping one day that I could be them,” she said. “That did not happen, but it was still great that I, as a young Black girl, had other role models in sports to look up to.”
Councilor Enrique Pepén echoed the sentiment.
“As a father of a 4-year-old girl that has grown up in the city of Boston, I think it would be amazing to have a team that she can look up to,” he said.
Ross CristantielloStaff Writer
Ross Cristantiello, a general assignment news reporter for Boston.com since 2022, covers local politics, crime, the environment, and more.
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