CT attorney general seeking info from WNBA on its role in potential Connecticut Sun sale
Connecticut Attorney General William Tong announced Thursday that he sent a letter to WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert seeking documents related to the league’s role in the potential sale of the Connecticut Sun.
“I am troubled by recent reports in the press that the WNBA may be wrongfully blocking a sale of the Connecticut Sun that would keep the Team in Connecticut in a manner that may be anticompetitive and may violate state and federal law,” Attorney General Tong wrote in the letter. “I am also concerned about press reports that, in lieu of a sale of the Team to a Connecticut-based buyer, the WNBA is demanding that the Team be sold to the League itself at a price tens of millions of dollars below market value, which could then be sold later to an owner approved to move the Team to a city that is part of the League’s plan of expansion.”
The WNBA reportedly told the Mohegan Tribe that its Board of Governors would likely not approve a sale to a Hartford or Boston-based buyer and instead offered to buy the team for $250 million. The league would then sell to a new buyer while waiving its relocation fee, allowing it to relocate the franchise to a market it prefers.
Tong is requesting the league provide the state with a copy of its operating agreement, membership agreement between the Connecticut Sun and the WNBA, the WNBA’s operating manual, league rules and regulations and copies of all valuations of the Connecticut Sun, including any appraisal, offer or expression of interest.
He also requested a meeting with WNBA leadership.
“Our dedicated and enthusiastic fanbase in Connecticut has strongly supported the Connecticut Sun and the WNBA for over twenty-years; to lose this franchise would be devastating to our state’s economy, our community and our state. Please understand Connecticut will fight hard for our players, coaches and fans, and we will take all steps necessary to keep the Team in Connecticut where it belongs,” Tong wrote in the letter.
“Our state is the epicenter and heart of women’s basketball and a dominant force in the sport,” Tong wrote. “There would be no WNBA—and no worldwide growth in the popularity of women’s basketball—without the players, coaches, and dedicated fanbase in and from Connecticut.”
