{"id":308533,"date":"2025-11-23T07:25:28","date_gmt":"2025-11-23T07:25:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/308533\/"},"modified":"2025-11-23T07:25:28","modified_gmt":"2025-11-23T07:25:28","slug":"sold-out-td-garden-game-fuels-connecticut-sun-to-boston-relocation-talk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/308533\/","title":{"rendered":"Sold-out TD Garden game fuels Connecticut Sun to Boston relocation talk"},"content":{"rendered":"

BOSTON \u2014 If the Connecticut Sun <\/a>don\u2019t want pressure to move to Boston, they might want to stop playing games at TD Garden.<\/p>\n

New England\u2019s only WNBA team played its second annual game in the Massachusetts capital on Tuesday night in front of an energetic sold-out crowd.<\/p>\n

It was a good night for Boston. The city lived up to its reputation as a great sports town. Canal Street\u2019s bars were crowded on a Tuesday night, while fans took part in a pregame block party hours before tipoff.<\/p>\n

Other than a fourth-quarter injury to Caitlin Clark<\/a>, it was a good night for the WNBA, which had a sold-out crowd of 19,156 fans on national TV. <\/p>\n

But it had to be an uncomfortable night for the Mohegan Tribe, which has owned the Sun since 2003. The success of the event only amplified the growing chorus of voices saying Boston should be the Sun\u2019s permanent home, not just a one-night host. <\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t just fans and media. With varying degrees of subtlety, players on both teams and even the governor of Massachusetts called for a WNBA team in Boston, either by expansion or relocation. <\/p>\n

Sun rookie Saniya Rivers was direct.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf it was up to me, we might relocate here,\u201d Rivers said after shootaround at TD Garden<\/a>. \u201cIt\u2019s a great city, has great food, great shops. … I think it does a lot for women\u2019s basketball in general to get some noise around here. Get people supporting women\u2019s basketball. Hopefully, maybe they can advocate for us to, maybe even relocate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sophie Cunningham, who became the WNBA\u2019s most famous urban critic<\/a> earlier this month for slamming the league\u2019s expansion choices of Detroit and Cleveland<\/a>, raved about playing in Massachusetts.<\/p>\n

\u201cI like Boston,\u201d she said. \u201cY\u2019all need to get a team here.\u201d <\/p>\n

Indiana\u2019s Aliyah Boston, who went to high school in Worcester, backed up her belief in the region\u2019s appetite for women\u2019s sports by investing in Boston Legacy FC, the soccer team that will begin play in the NWSL next year. She thinks the city would be an ideal WNBA home.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you look at the atmosphere for the Celtics and the atmosphere for the two TD Garden games that we\u2019ve had,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s been sold out. It\u2019s been energetic. The atmosphere has been great. I think that\u2019s going to be the same all the time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Massachusetts Governor and former Harvard basketball player Maura Healey tiptoed around the idea of poaching the Sun, when she declared Tuesday WNBA Day in Massachusetts. But, in her official proclamation<\/a>, she called for the league to put a franchise in Boston. It read:<\/p>\n

\u201cWhereas, Boston is New England\u2019s capitol and hub, and would be the perfect place for a WNBA team, and we are so proud to host our neighboring Connecticut Sun.”<\/p>\n

Fever coach Stephanie White, who coached the Sun for two years, was more diplomatic before the game. She praised the Sun\u2019s tribal ownership, but it wasn\u2019t hard to read into her statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything is changing, and so being able to not just keep up, but have the foresight to see what\u2019s coming, I think it\u2019s important to evaluate, \u2026 what you\u2019re able to do to position the franchise for future success,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Boston is now 2-for-2 selling out Sun games. It would obviously be harder to sell out 20 games a season, but they don\u2019t have to. A half-full TD Garden still represents more fans than Mohegan Sun\u2019s capacity of just under 9,000. And the Sun isn\u2019t selling that out every night. <\/p>\n

The reality is that the WNBA isn\u2019t in small cities anymore. And Uncasville, Connecticut is tiny. Mohegan Sun is over 40 miles from Hartford, 50 miles from Providence and either of those would still be the smallest market the league has.<\/p>\n

From a basketball standpoint, the team has been incredibly well run and still star players have forced their way out to more attractive locations.<\/p>\n

At least publicly, the Mohegan Tribe is resisting the idea of moving or giving up control of the team. But it is working with investment bank Allen and Company. The tribe says they\u2019re doing that in hopes of adding minority shareholders. That might be true, but it could also be a quiet way to start the wheels in motion for a sale.<\/p>\n

Boston native actor Donnie Wahlberg and former NBA player Michael Carter-Williams lead a group exploring bringing a team to the city<\/a>. And they likely wouldn\u2019t be the only interested potential buyers.<\/p>\n

The Mohegan Tribe would be smart to engage or consider running the team themselves in Boston. Teams around the league are investing in facilities and amenities. The Sun are already behind and likely to fall further so.<\/p>\n

The league has outgrown Mohegan Sun. Boston should have had a WNBA team a long time ago. <\/p>\n

This talk isn\u2019t going away.<\/p>\n

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