August 28, 2024 2:09 pm
• Last Updated: August 28, 2024 5:35 pm
Ideally, the question is posed to the dramatis personae: Is this the beginning of the Connecticut Sun’s long, slow fade to Boston?
But then given how such topics often reveal how Billy Joel endures (honesty is such a lonely word), the answers would likely drip with Fleetwood Mac (tell me lies, tell me sweet little lies.)
And so what follows is conjecture — with a mix of C.I. (Columnist Intuition) — from someone who has been around the franchise all 21 years since its relocation from Orlando: Unless some major changes happen here, the long, slow fade is upon us.
This all began even before the recent foray at the TD Garden produced a sellout crowd of 19,156 (10,000 more than can fit in Neon Uncasville), a night in which coach Stephanie White said she “got chills” from the atmosphere, the Sun social media accounts proclaiming “history was made” and even a vintage “Beat LA” chant that used to echo around Larry Legend.
No, this was a week before the Garden game when the team’s best player, Alyssa Thomas, was unusually candid about the franchise’s shortcomings. During a Zoom call, Thomas answered a completely benign question about how much she might be looking forward to playing in Boston with an off-the-top-rope Superfly Snuka, smothering her current digs.
“One thing with playing on Team USA,” Thomas said, “and being around other players that are in markets that are the (model) of what you want your organization to be in … honestly, Connecticut is super behind when it comes to that. I’ve been here 11 years and yes we’ve made changes, but a lot of things still have so much room for improvement. Women’s basketball is hot right now. So many people want to support what we’re doing. And I think going to Boston is a huge step to a market that’s bigger.”
Thomas later addressed the franchise’s lack of a practice and training facility.
“Basketball is shaping up with less players going overseas (to make money in the offseason),” Thomas said. “We need our own practice facility and things like that, because the time is now. People want to come and stay in the cities and train. Not a lot of people want to stay in Connecticut, and we don’t have the facilities that you can train all year round. So I’m excited for Boston. Yes, Connecticut has been our home, but we just want to continue to grow our fan base. And Boston is the next step.”
The Seattle Storm recently opened a new such facility, a $64 million palace spanning 50,000 square feet, dedicated practice facility and team headquarters, two indoor courts, two outdoor 3×3 courts, locker room, nutrition center, player lounge, strength and conditioning and an aquatics center.
Even if the Mohegan Tribe, which owns the franchise, builds something less extravagant, is the money there? Could the building be monetized in any way? Is any of this even a conversation at this point?
“We have a great fan base,” Thomas said. “UConn is a big reason for that. They love their basketball and they’ve supported us over the years. (But) a lot hasn’t changed in Connecticut. It’s time for change. We want to continue to have a different fan base. When you look at things on social media, where other franchises are and where we are, I mean, clearly we are still behind in many areas. And it’s crazy to say that when we’ve made the playoffs so many different times and have won a lot. You just want to continue to see this grow to what it can be. And I still think we have a long way to go.”
Again: Nobody in the media pressed or prodded Thomas to say any of this. And she’s not wrong.
The Sun are valued as an $80 million franchise per Sportico, a digital platform specializing in sports business. Perhaps the timing isn’t right yet for Boston, given that the Celtics are for sale (Sportico values the franchise at $5.12 billion). Or if the many published reports are true and Amazon executive chairman Jeff Bezos buys the Celtics, do the Sun come along as a package deal?
Nobody is suggesting any of this is imminent. But if fire follows smoke, here are the first wisps. The shortcomings to which Thomas alluded aren’t going anywhere until they’re addressed. Meanwhile, the Boston media will keep wondering why little old Connecticut in its little old arena has this team when the TD Garden has twice the capacity in the middle of the country’s ninth biggest media market.
My guess is that for now, the one Sun game played in Boston this summer becomes three or four next year. And then who knows?
It’s worth noting the Sun franchise really hasn’t done anything wrong. It is partly a victim of location, location, location. It may be a difficult concept for us locals, who love living here. Beautiful scenery, a mix of shoreline and rustic, not much traffic (comparatively, anyway), casinos, beaches … a nice slice of the pie. That does not, however, necessarily appeal to 20-something professional women who may seek more hustle, bustle and modern basketball facilities.
Any accurate memoir of the WNBA would speak fondly of the Sun’s contribution to the league’s growth. Mohegan Sun has been home to draft nights, all-star games and scores and scores of nationally televised games with enough butts in the seats to sell the product nicely. Most games at Mohegan Sun Arena have been infomercials for the passions that run throughout the league.
But like parents watching their kids move away, the work here may be ending. Connecticut did the dirty work and now others get the benefits. Not particularly fair. But the truth nonetheless. The WNBA just might have outgrown our corner of the world.
This is the opinion of Day sports columnist Mike DiMauro
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Publish date : 2024-08-28 03:09:00
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