Celtics minority owner reaches deal to buy Connecticut Sun for record $325 million, AP source says

UNCASVILLE Conn AP A group led by Celtics minority owner Steve Pagliuca has reached a deal to buy the Connecticut Sun for a record million and move the company to Boston according to a person familiar with the sale The franchise wouldn t play in Boston until the season Pagliuca also would contribute million for a new practice facility in Boston for the gang the person disclosed The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity on Saturday because the deal hasn t been publicly informed The sale is pending approval of the league and its Board of Governors Relocation decisions are made by the WNBA Board of Governors and not by individual teams the league announced in a message The Sun have played one regular season contest at TD Garden eac of the last two years including one against Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever in July The league has stated five expansion teams that will begin play over the next five seasons with Portland Toronto Cleveland Detroit and Philadelphia joining the WNBA Each paid a then-record million expansion fee Nine other cities bid for expansion teams including Houston which the league singled out as getting a crew in the future when it communicated Cleveland Detroit and Philadelphia in June Boston did not No groups from Boston applied for a organization at that time and those other cities remain under consideration based on the extensive work they did as part of the expansion process and at this time have priority over Boston Celtics prospective ownership company has also reached out to the league office and demanded that Boston receive strong consideration for a WNBA franchise at the appropriate time The Boston Globe first stated the sale The Sun are owned by the Mohegan Tribe which runs the casino where the band has played since The Tribe bought the franchise for million and relocated it from Orlando that year The Connecticut franchise was the first in the league to be run by a non-NBA owner and also became the first to turn a profit The unit publicized in May that it was searching for a prospective buyer for the franchise and had hired expenditure bank Allen Company to conduct the probe The WNBA has experienced rapid advancement the last limited seasons and ownership groups have been investing more into their teams including performer experiences That has come in the way of practice facilities The Sun are one of the limited teams in the league that haven t informed any plans for a new training facility Connecticut practices either at the arena in the casino or a local area center Despite the lack of facilities the Sun have been one of the most of fruitful teams in the league making the postseason in seasons including a run of six straight semifinal appearances But the crew was hit hard this offseason with the entire starting five from last season leaving either via free agency or business Connecticut is in the present in last place in the WNBA at - The association sent out a letter to season ticket holders last week saying they d still be playing at the casino next year The last unit to be sold in the WNBA was in when real estate investor Larry Gottesdiener led a group that bought the Atlanta Dream for under million A year earlier Mark Davis paid roughly million for the Las Vegas Aces AP WNBA https apnews com hub wnba-basketball