Mohegan Selling WNBA Connecticut Sun to Executive Linked to Inspire Casino Disaster

Posted on: August 3, 2025, 08:56h. 

Last updated on: August 3, 2025, 08:56h.

Devin O'Connor @CasinoorgDevinO Read More
Expertise: Asia Pacific Gaming, Commercial Gaming, Legislation, Politics.
  • Mohegan is selling the WNBA Connecticut Sun for $325 million
  • The buyer is a top executive at Bain Capital
  • Bain Capital helped Mohegan build Inspire in South Korea

The Mohegan Tribe has found a buyer for its Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) team that it has owned for more than two decades.

Mohegan Connecticut Sun WNBA Steve Pagliuca
The WNBA Connecticut Sun are pictured in 2022. The team owned by the Mohegan Tribe since 2003 is reportedly being sold and relocated to Boston. (Image: Shutterstock)

Steve Pagliuca, of Bain Capital fame and riches, who is a minority owner of the NBA’s Boston Celtics, has reportedly reached a deal with the Mohegan Tribe to acquire the Connecticut Sun for $325 million. If approved by WNBA owners and the WNBA Board of Governors, the transaction would be the highest ever for a professional women’s sports team.

Pagliuca plans to relocate the Sun from the Connecticut tribe’s casino resort destination in Uncasville to Boston. While team owners will need to approve Pagliuca becoming an owner, the league’s Board of Governors must vote in favor of the franchise’s relocation.

Boston makes sense for the WNBA, as the Massachusetts capital is sports-obsessed with the Celtics, NFL New England Patriots, MLB Boston Red Sox, NHL Boston Bruins, and MLS New England Revolution.

If the deal goes through, Pagliuca would invest $100 million in a WNBA practice facility. The WNBA Boston team would play its home games at TD Garden.

The Sun played two sold-out games at the Celtics’ court over the past two years. The Sun’s TD Garden sellout last month was against the Indiana Fever and Caitlin Clark, the sport’s most popular player. 

Sun Fire Sale

In May, Casino.org reported that the Mohegan Tribe was shopping its WNBA team to raise capital. While the federally recognized tribe has experienced decades of success in the tribal and commercial gaming industries throughout North America, its recent multibillion-dollar bet on South Korea was a major bust.

Mohegan defaulted on a $275 million loan tied to its Inspire Entertainment Resort development at Incheon International Airport. The lender — Pagliuca’s Bain — took possession of the casino resort in February.

Bain Capital is reportedly not tied to the Connecticut Sun transaction. Pagliuca is said to be purchasing the WNBA franchise on his own.

It was no secret that Mohegan was looking to quickly offload the Sun. The tribe still managed to field an unprecedented offer for a WNBA organization.

According to Sportico, the Las Vegas Aces is the highest-valued WNBA team at $140 million. But because of the so-called “Caitlin Clark effect,” and interest in the women’s hoops league at an all-time high, savvy investors like Pagliuca are speculating that there’s further growth ahead.

WNBA Expansion

In the coming years, the WNBA will expand with new teams in Cleveland (2028), Detroit (2029), and Philadelphia (2030). Owners behind those three expansion teams paid the WNBA a one-time $250 million fee.

The WNBA’s recent growth has been astronomical.

In 2021, an investment group led by Larry Gottesdiener bought the Atlanta Dream for less than $10 million. Las Vegas Raiders owner Mark Davis reportedly paid $2 million for the WNBA Las Vegas Aces that same year from MGM Resorts. Tom Brady has since bought a minority stake in the Aces.

Mohegan paid $10 million for the Sun in 2003 after the owners of the NBA Orlando Magic opted to cease running the WNBA Orlando Miracle.