The WNBA panorama is changing rapidly in the midst of an evolving female sports culture and a greater investment in the league. One of the ways in which we are seeing this is the way in which the teams are investing in the treatment of players.
From advanced recovery technology, such as patches with peak to track the exhaustion of electrolytes, to the fries in shoes that track the operating metrics and, of course, the avant -garde practice facilities, the equipment is running to function better than their peers. Or most teams are, anyway. Some are still in a state of not wanting to invest in things like facilities with saunas and treatment rooms.
The result? A massive exodus of thesis equipment to franchises that have the facilities (and money) to give the best athletes what they want.
The Connecticut sun has been in the resource of this conversation for a year. Duration The WNBA playoffs of 2024, it was revealed that the sun left its practice gym before usual because the space had been interested in a small child’s birthday party. A team that contains the championship was practicing in a community gym, while other WNBA teams have private facilities with chefs and comforts such as Spa.
As this race to be a free agency destination has forced other property groups to quickly elaborate plans for elegant facilities, the Sun Mohegan (the tribe that owns the Sun) did not seem interested. The least glamorous house of the team in Uncasville, Connecticut and Home Arena inside the Mohegan Sun Casino complex was a standard rate, but now it began to prevent them from attracting or retaining talent.
Then, when the reports that the Sun of Connecticut is already on sale, it was not shocking. According to Sportico, SUN has brought Allen & Company investment bank to facilitate potential sale. The same company will facilitate the possible sale of the Portland Trail Blazers in the NBA.
This is not surprising, given the ongoing criticisms of the players, more prominently Thomas, but others also, about teams that lack dedicated facilities. Imagine seeing your friends in the practices of Vegas or Seattle in their beautiful practice gyms and training rooms, meanwhile, is it finishing it early for the frozen theme birthday party, waiting outside to prepare their tables and chairs? For a while, the idea of winning a championship can have a bone reason to avoid it, but after the sun passed half a decade, he could not overcome the playoff hump despite doing the semifinals and the finals every year … I was aging.
While it was not 100% confirmed, it seemed that unmatched may have been the final impulse for some of the Connecticut stars to decide that they did with this treatment (or lack). The start league founded by the stars of the WNBA Breeanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier boasted of a competitive salary and a aestheticist on the site, along with a complete installation of latest generation equipment and recovery technology. In addition to that, the players had the opportunity to speak and compare notes about how this treatment compared to what they were getting with their WNBA teams.
The result? Connecticut lost all its initial alignment as a result of the signings and offices of the free agency, also lost its dear chief coach Steph White in his hometown, Indiana Fever. Alyssa Thomas went to Phoenix Mercury. Marina Mabrey stayed in Uncasville, requested an exchange and was denied.
If WNBA owners cannot or simply not do so because to invest in the growth of their team to keep up with the growth of the league, the thesis are the options they have: keep the team and have a lot of miserable players, not be able to select agents, never agents free of free agents
According to these reports, the Mohegan Sun seems likely to sell the team, and then the team will be transferred from Connecticut. Disappointing for a state with a ton or culture of rich female basketball, much due to the success for a long time of the UConn Women’s Program. However, it seems a bit inevitable when competing with equipment in markets such as New York City, Los Angeles, the Bay and Anyge Toronto and Portland area, among others. If I am I choose which WNBA team at the lottery level I will play, am I looking for the team in Uncasville or the team in Toronto animated, fun and beautiful? You don’t have to be a partial Torontonian like me to answer that easy.
This could also be the answer to a potential that expansion teams want to bring a team to their city. The League has fewer potential expansion equipment than interested parties, and buying a team to relocate it is a solution. The first obvious response is to transfer the team to Boston, since the franchise already has a connection with the city and has heroes games there in the past. There is also a sports culture for women in Boston in Boston, with the Boston fleet of PWHL and the entree of Boston FC in the NWSL.
Other options are Candace Parker’s offer and others to bring a WNBA team to Nashville. The proposing team would be appointed Tennessee Summit after the legendary coach of Tennessee, Pat Summit, who died in 2016 of Early-Opzon Alzheimer’s disease. There is also interest in bringing a W team to Philadelphia and Denver, as well as reviving folded WNBA teams such as Houston’s comets, Detroit Shock, Cleveland Rockers or Charlotte Sting.
For now, things are commercial as usual in Connecticut. This sale comes at a time when the investment in the WNBA is at its highest point. It was widely publicized in 2024 that the current price of an offer from the WNBA team was $ 50 million when Larry Tannenbaum said the bet to take Toronto’s tempo to the League. According to Sportico, Los Aces de Las Vegas were classified in number 1 in the valuations of the League franchise at $ 140 million. Atlanta’s dream occupied the last place at $ 55 million, while the Connecticut Sun feels tied in the ninth place, valued at $ 80 million. In 2003, when the Mohegan tribe moved to the Orlando team to Uncasville, they paid $ 10 million.
