Dom Amore: Sun departure would be sad, but WNBA's growth may make it inevitable

UNCASVILLE, Conn. — This is that time of year for bitter sweetness. Graduation ceremonies and parties are everywhere, with their hugs, tears, excitement, pride and vows of forever friendship when, deep down, we know we are saying goodbye.

There may be a lot of that around the Mohegan Sun Arena this summer. The rapid, recent growth of the WNBA is a decades-long dream come alive, and anyone around the Connecticut Sun can be justifiably proud of the franchise’s part in it, but maybe this is the last semester.

The latest shoe in what seems like an inevitable process fell Monday, when Sportico, a website with a finger on the pulse of sports business, reported the Mohegan Tribe had retained Allen & Company, an investment bank, to explore its value for a potential sale.

“It wasn’t about exploring options to sell the team, want to be very clear of that,” Sun president Jennifer Rizzotti said Tuesday after practice. “The Tribe has always evaluated strategic options for all their properties when it comes to investments, capital expenditures, etc. So in regards to the team itself they are exploring options for strategic investments around the team and its future.”

Now, what does that mean? It could mean the tribe is looking to sell a stake in the team to raise money to invest, notably, in a practice facility. It could mean they need to know what the franchise is currently worth before spending $70-80 million on such things.

Or it could mean Boston could start imagining nicknames for its new WNBA franchise.

Speaking from experience, I have worked for several companies that have brought in an investment firm to “appraise” or “evaluate,” and it was in every case a prelude to a sale. We know the Sun played a game at TD Garden Arena in Boston and sold it out last season, and will play another there this year. We know there are people in Boston, including an ownership group led by actor Donnie Wahlberg and former NBA player Michael Carter-Williams who are determined to bring a WNBA franchise there, but no one in Boston has yet put in a bid for an expansion team.

And we know the Sun, after making the WNBA semifinals for the second year in a row, were dismantled this offseason, all five starters gone, and the projections for the new season, which begins Sunday, are for a steep fall in the standings.

All of these things suggest gathering momentum for a move to Boston. Rizzotti and GM Morgan Tuck, UConn alums, whose job it is to rebuild the on-court product, were left to address issues that, to be fair, are above their pay grade. They did brief the team Tuesday morning. Rizzotti said the Sun have nearly sold out season ticket memberships for its 8,000-seat arena. The building figures to be full when UConn’s Aaliyah Edwards comes in with Washington on Sunday, and will certainly be packed when Paige Bueckers returns to Connecticut with the Dallas Wings on May 27 and June 20.

“The WNBA appreciates what the Mohegan Tribe has done for this franchise and the league,” Rizzotti said. “Even with all our turnover, people are excited and that’s just a testament to what this franchise has meant to this state and this community.”

So here is where the bitter sweetness comes in. The WNBA and the sport owes a debt of gratitude to the tribe for buying and rescuing the Orlando franchise in 2003, bringing it to a place that truly loved the women’s game and building a stable, competitive franchise that has made the playoffs in 15 of 21 seasons in Connecticut. The Sun turned a profit in 2010, a first for The W. All those years when pro women’s basketball struggled to gain a beachhead in the national sports landscape, Connecticut and Mohegan Sun were safe harbor.

The arena has been just the right size, not an 20,000-seat NBA building, but not an old armory, either. Even modest crowds bring foot traffic through the casinos and restaurants. This has been a win-win deal for a long time.

“That sometimes gets lost in the messaging,” Rizzotti said, “that (the Mohegan Tribe) were willing to take a chance and not just buy a franchise and move it here, but see it flourish and invest and I thought set an example for how to treat players as an ownership group.”

But in the last couple of years, interest in the women’s game has exploded, due to Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese, Bueckers and other star players. Sun players have been grumbling about having to practice in the tribe’s community center, often having to share the space with other events. Players around the league have grumbled about being cooped up in the casino, nowhere to go.

Most importantly, the players, now haggling over the next collective bargaining agreement, want more money. The league wants more revenue if it’s going to pay higher salaries and the principle way to get it is with bigger arenas to capitalize on its new attractions and a more lucrative TV deal. Finally, the way to get there is to get franchises in bigger markets, like Boston or Philadelphia, rather than southeastern Connecticut.

“It’s hard to even imagine that,” Tuck said. “I’m a realist. I like to see what’s really going to happen before getting my mind set on something. I’m just interested to see how it plays out.”

Sportico has estimated the Sun’s value at $80 million, which would be groundbreaking for a WNBA franchise and enticing for its owners. The Tribe paid $10 million to acquire the Orlando franchise in 2003. Maybe a high-roller in the state could try to buy the team and play in a renovated XL Center, it’s worth a shot, but that does not feel like where this is going.

No one has done or is doing anything wrong here. The fan base would deserve better; jilted fan bases always do, but this is business. It is sad and it’s bittersweet, but maybe it’s time and we’ll have to face it, graduation day. Maybe it’s fair to ask if the NBA and WNBA believe they have simply outgrown the Connecticut Sun.

“I grew up here, I played in Gampel Pavilion when there were two or three thousand people and graduated when you couldn’t get a ticket,” Rizzotti said. “I’ve seen not just the explosion of women’s basketball in the last year and a half, but in the last 30 years here. This is a state that was made for women’s basketball, it has knowledgeable fans, committed supporters, this ownership bought this team 20 years ago because of that. Arenas are getting bigger, investments are being made, yeah, it’s an exciting time to be a part of women’s basketball, but I don’t know that you could ever outgrow women’s basketball in the state of Connecticut, right?”

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