{"id":4567,"date":"2025-05-12T21:07:40","date_gmt":"2025-05-12T21:07:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?p=4567"},"modified":"2025-05-15T02:44:10","modified_gmt":"2025-05-15T02:44:10","slug":"sun-ownership-group-explores-sale-of-franchise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?p=4567","title":{"rendered":"Sun ownership group explores sale of franchise"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/p>\n

\n
\n
Sep 22, 2024; Uncasville, Connecticut, USA; General view of the court before game one of the first round of the 2024 WNBA Playoffs at Mohegan Sun Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark Smith-Imagn Images <\/span><\/div>\n<\/section>\n
\n

The Connecticut Sun soon could be under new ownership for the first time since 2003.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n

\n

As reported by Sportico on Monday, Mohegan Sun — a subsidiary of Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority — hired investment bank Allen & Company to explore a sale of the WNBA franchise.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n

\n

If a control sale is made, as is the expectation, the Sun would likely be relocated. The franchise has played in Uncasville, Conn., since the Mohegan Tribe purchased the Orlando Miracle prior to the 2003 season.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n

\n

Franchise values have skyrocketed in recent years. Expansion franchise fees went for $50 million in 2023 and 2024 with another round of expansion expected to fetch over $200 million per franchise.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n

<\/p>\n

\n

The last WNBA control sale took place in 2021 when a group led by real estate investor Larry Gottesdiener purchased the Atlanta Dream for between $7-10 million.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n

\n

Similarly, operation costs have spiked. However, should the current Sun ownership group go the route of a limited partnership stake sale, which would keep the group in control and simultaneously raise capital, it could help finance construction for upgrading the facilities, which Sun players have criticized in recent years.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n

\n

The Sun have reached the WNBA semifinals in each of the last six years, advancing to the championship round in 2019 and 2022 — both losses. Connecticut has never won a WNBA title.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n

\n

What’s more, the team is entering a rebuild: The Sun’s entire starting lineup left during the offseason either via trade or free agency as the 2025 season tips off on Friday.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n

\n

–Field Level Media<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sep 22, 2024; Uncasville, Connecticut, USA; General view of the court before game one of the first round of the 2024 WNBA Playoffs at Mohegan Sun Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":129,"featured_media":4568,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[987,5846,1996,1995,487,433],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\nSun ownership group explores sale of franchise - Frisco Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Deadspin | Sun ownership group explores sale of franchise\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?p=4567\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Sun ownership group explores sale of franchise - Frisco Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Deadspin | Sun ownership group explores sale of franchise\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?p=4567\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Frisco Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-05-12T21:07:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-05-15T02:44:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/24300839.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1099\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"733\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"--Field Level Media\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@FriscoTimes\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@FriscoTimes\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"--Field Level Media\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?p=4567#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?p=4567\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"--Field Level Media\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/#\/schema\/person\/2e104bfce6f30aa47f6ae317f33829e0\"},\"headline\":\"Sun ownership group explores sale of franchise\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-05-12T21:07:40+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-05-15T02:44:10+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?p=4567\"},\"wordCount\":286,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?p=4567#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/24300839.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"explores\",\"franchise\",\"group\",\"ownership\",\"Sale\",\"Sun\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Sports\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?p=4567#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?p=4567\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?p=4567\",\"name\":\"Sun ownership group explores sale of franchise - Frisco Times\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?p=4567#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?p=4567#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/24300839.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-05-12T21:07:40+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-05-15T02:44:10+00:00\",\"description\":\"Deadspin | Sun ownership group explores sale of franchise\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?p=4567#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?p=4567\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?p=4567#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/24300839.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/24300839.jpg\",\"width\":1099,\"height\":733},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?p=4567#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Sun ownership group explores sale of franchise\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/\",\"name\":\"Frisco Times\",\"description\":\"Your Gateway to San Francisco's Stories\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Frisco Times\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/cropped-\u5fae\u4fe1\u622a\u56fe_20240625172131.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/cropped-\u5fae\u4fe1\u622a\u56fe_20240625172131.png\",\"width\":512,\"height\":512,\"caption\":\"Frisco Times\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/x.com\/FriscoTimes\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/friscotimes\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/#\/schema\/person\/2e104bfce6f30aa47f6ae317f33829e0\",\"name\":\"--Field Level Media\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&r=g\",\"caption\":\"--Field Level Media\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?author=129\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Sun ownership group explores sale of franchise - Frisco Times","description":"Deadspin | Sun ownership group explores sale of franchise","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?p=4567","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Sun ownership group explores sale of franchise - Frisco Times","og_description":"Deadspin | Sun ownership group explores sale of franchise","og_url":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?p=4567","og_site_name":"Frisco Times","article_published_time":"2025-05-12T21:07:40+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-05-15T02:44:10+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1099,"height":733,"url":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/24300839.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"--Field Level Media","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@FriscoTimes","twitter_site":"@FriscoTimes","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"--Field Level Media","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?p=4567#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?p=4567"},"author":{"name":"--Field Level Media","@id":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/#\/schema\/person\/2e104bfce6f30aa47f6ae317f33829e0"},"headline":"Sun ownership group explores sale of franchise","datePublished":"2025-05-12T21:07:40+00:00","dateModified":"2025-05-15T02:44:10+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?p=4567"},"wordCount":286,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?p=4567#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/24300839.jpg","keywords":["explores","franchise","group","ownership","Sale","Sun"],"articleSection":["Sports"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?p=4567#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?p=4567","url":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?p=4567","name":"Sun ownership group explores sale of franchise - Frisco Times","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?p=4567#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?p=4567#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/24300839.jpg","datePublished":"2025-05-12T21:07:40+00:00","dateModified":"2025-05-15T02:44:10+00:00","description":"Deadspin | Sun ownership group explores sale of franchise","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?p=4567#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?p=4567"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?p=4567#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/24300839.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/24300839.jpg","width":1099,"height":733},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?p=4567#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Sun ownership group explores sale of franchise"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/","name":"Frisco Times","description":"Your Gateway to San Francisco's Stories","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/#organization","name":"Frisco Times","url":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/cropped-\u5fae\u4fe1\u622a\u56fe_20240625172131.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/cropped-\u5fae\u4fe1\u622a\u56fe_20240625172131.png","width":512,"height":512,"caption":"Frisco Times"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/x.com\/FriscoTimes","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/friscotimes\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/#\/schema\/person\/2e104bfce6f30aa47f6ae317f33829e0","name":"--Field Level Media","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&r=g","caption":"--Field Level Media"},"url":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/?author=129"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4567"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/129"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4567"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4567\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4569,"href":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4567\/revisions\/4569"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4568"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4567"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4567"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/friscotimes.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4567"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}