Connecticut Sun sale: U.S. Senator warns WNBA blocking sale 'would violate federal antitrust laws'
The stalemate between the Sun and WNBA added a new layer of drama
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1 min read
The sale process for the Connecticut Sun has been anything but smooth for the Mohegan Tribe, and matters got even more complicated on Monday when U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) sent the WNBA a letter informing it any attempts to block the team's sale could be seen as a violation of antitrust law.
"Any further attempts by the WNBA to use its considerable governance and market power over the Connecticut Sun to limit or dictate negotiations with the state of Connecticut would be an unreasonable restraint of trade and interference with the market that would violate federal antitrust laws," Blumenthal wrote.
Blumenthal's involvement is because the state of Connecticut is in discussions to take a minority stake with the group attempting to purchase the Sun and have them remain in the state, playing games in Hartford and their current home in Uncasville, with a new practice facility in Hartford.
Efforts to sell the team to two different ownership groups for $325 million -- one led by Steve Pagulica looking to move the team to Boston and another led by Marc Lasry to keep the Sun in Connecticut but move to Hartford -- have been shot down by the WNBA, as the league's Board of Governors must approve any sale and relocation decisions are made by the league. The WNBA insists any sale that involves relocation needs to send the team to a pre-approved city that applied for an expansion franchise, with Houston at the top of that list.
The problem is, the WNBA's $250 million offer to purchase the team -- with reported plans to sell it to a Houston ownership group led by Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta -- is $75 million less than other offers on the table. That is a considerable difference, and Blumenthal argues it would be such an "unreasonable" demand that it could be deemed an antitrust violation.
Whether that is the case or not is to be determined, but it adds another layer of drama to an a sale process that has already become a contentious and frustrating ordeal for both the Mohegan Tribe and the WNBA.
