Billionaires Battle For Connecticut Sun As WNBA Blocks Relocation Plans

The Connecticut Sun’s record-breaking $325 million price tag has triggered a billionaire bidding war and a high-stakes fight over where the WNBA team will play next.

Multiple offers have now been made to purchase the WNBA franchise. In July, Celtics minority owner Steve Pagliuca reportedly reached a deal to buy the Sun for a whopping $325 million. Now, according to CT Insider, former Milwaukee Bucks co-owner Marc Lasry has matched the offer.

So what’s the holdup?

As OutKick reported earlier this month, Pagliuca and his investor group reached a tentative agreement with the Mohegan Tribe to buy the Sun and relocate them to Boston — even pledging $100 million toward a new, state-of-the-art practice facility there.

But the WNBA never signed off.

Both Steve Pagliuca and Marc Lasry have reportedly submitted $325-million offers to purchase the WNBA's Connecticut Sun.

(Getty Images)

Shortly after news of the agreement broke, the league issued a pointed statement making clear that "relocation decisions are made by the WNBA Board of Governors and not by individual teams."

The league also took a thinly veiled jab at Boston, saying that while nine other cities were under consideration during the league’s most recent expansion process, "no groups from Boston applied for a team at that time" — and those other cities "currently have priority."

Meanwhile, Lasry wants to move the Sun just down the road from Uncasville to Hartford, Conn., but the WNBA reportedly is not on board with that plan, either. In fact, if it's up to the league, the team would head to Houston — a market WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said is "up next" for expansion.

According to a report from Front Office Sports, it could all come down to a relocation fee. Because the league wouldn’t receive any money from the sale price itself (that all goes to the Mohegan Tribe), sources say a separate relocation fee paid directly to the WNBA might be the key to getting the deal across the finish line.

Houston’s previous bid for an expansion team, led by Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta, reportedly fell short of the $250 million expansion fee that was paid by Cleveland, Detroit and Philadelphia earlier this year. But if Fertitta is willing to match the Sun’s new $325 million price tag — and throw in a relocation fee — sources say the league would favor that offer.

The team was purchased for $10 million by the Mohegan Tribe in 2003, relocating the franchise from Orlando to Uncassville, Conn.

(Photo by Erica Denhoff/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

With the current Collective Bargaining Agreement set to expire at the end of October and tensions rising between players and the league, control over franchise growth and market positioning is more important than ever. The WNBA is set to add five new expansion teams by 2030, and the pressure is on from players to increase salaries and revenue share.

Pagliuca and Lasry are both prepared to fork over serious cash. And other potential buyers could be circling as well. But right now, it seems the league is sending a message that it has the final say.