Credit where credit is due, Cathy Engelbert has done a good enough job of leveraging the sudden rise in popularity for the WNBA. A $2.2B media rights deal for the next ten years, the All-Star Weekend in Indianapolis, and the newest team in the Bay–all tick the boxes. However, not everything is sunshine and rainbows. There is one area where Engelbert is missing the mark… the Connecticut Sun sale.

The Mohegan Tribe has been keeping an ear to the ground about potential buyers for the last year or so. Even though they’ve had a long run with the Sun, the group realised that it’s gonna be hard to keep up in this rapidly evolving phase of the W. Fair enough. So now, regardless of their poor regular-season record, they’ve gotten offers from a couple of suitors around the $325M mark. Steve Pagliuca, a former Boston Celtics minority owner, and Marc Lasry, a former Milwaukee Bucks owner, want the Sun to stay in New England.

Here’s the kicker: Cathy Engelbert seems to be stopping both sales from going through. After Paglicua’s initial offer, it was reported that the commissioner hadn’t presented the case to the board of directors. That meant the exclusivity period between the two parties had expired before they could proceed. It hasn’t been much different for Lasry. So, there’s one speculation behind the ignorance: NBA ownership.

Reports suggest that the league would rather move the team to Houston. However, from what we know, Tilman Fertitta has not matched the $325M offers on the table. But that’s not the only option that Engelbert provided to the Mohegan Tribe. Cleveland offered to buy the Connecticut Sun for $250M, but the Tribe refused to explore. According to ESPN sources, that’s where the trouble began. Now, as bid continues, Quita, from Quita Loves Sports on YouTube and X, criticized the budding league for its handling of this sale.

In the latest episode of her show, the WNBA analyst pointed out that the Mohegan Tribe was the league’s first independent owner. Not to mention, they came in at a time when the NBA’s support was dying down, virtually indebting the W to them. “Your thanks to the Connecticut Sun is to say ‘my way or the highway’? ‘Connecticut, you wanna sell? Whoop-dee-doo! I don’t care. I want you to sell to the team I want you to sell it to, for the price I want you to sell it to,'” she said.

Quita points out that the NBA backing is seemingly more important than being a suitable candidate for a team’s relocation.“If you are not NBA-backed, you don’t matter,” she said. “The WNBA only wants NBA billionaires. That’s it. As if being worth a few billion dollars is not enough unless you have an NBA logo stamped to your resume.” It is important to note that both Pagliuca and Lasry are no longer part of NBA ownership groups, and that is a major knock on their offers.

Neither the WNBA nor the Mohegan Tribe can reach a point of agreement. The Tribe wants what the team is actually worth, and the board of governors wants a sale that benefits the league. So what happens next? Let’s find out!

What comes next in the Connecticut Sun sale?

“Relocation decisions are made by the WNBA Board of Governors and not by individual teams.” This statement by the WNBA basically axed Steve Pagliuca’s $325M offer. The offer came with an inevitable shift to Boston, and a commitment to build a $100M practice facility. While the team does have a bustling fanbase in the TD Garden, the WNBA wanted the team to go elsewhere.

The problem? No other party, aside from Lasry and Pagliuca, is willing to match the $325M on the table. Both Cleveland and the WNBA offered $250M for the franchise, but the Mohegan Tribe declined. And fairly so. Pagliuca’s offer would lead to the biggest sale of a women’s sports team, while $250M would mean that the group would lose out on a lot.

Neither party is willing to budge. The WNBA has halted any progress in the sale of this franchise, but the Mohegan Tribe does want to pass the torch along as soon as possible. According to ESPN’s sources, the Connecticut Sun ownership group will be presenting the WNBA with a list of proposals and sale options for their franchise.

The first, and most obvious, option is a full franchise sale to Steve Pagliuca’s group, and a potential relocation to Boston. Second is Marc Lasry’s ownership group, and a shift to Hartford, Connecticut. Third is to sell a minority stake in the organisation. And lastly, allowing the WNBA to buy the team at full price ($325M) and relocate it as per their choice.

It will be interesting to see whether the league and the ownership group can agree in the coming weeks. Because of the WNBA’s increasing popularity, every move that the league makes is crucial. Can Cathy Engelbert implement her vision of expansion? Or will this Connecticut Sun fiasco show weaknesses in her armor?