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hermes wrote:why would the league be so set on having a team in houston?
DOT wrote:hermes wrote:why would the league be so set on having a team in houston?
Officially, because the Houston Comets are kind of the original team
Yeah the Sparks, Mercury, and Liberty have been there since the beginning as well, but Houston won the first 4 finals and only had 2 losing seasons in their 12 years around
They're kind of iconic
Unofficially, it feels like a backroom deal made between Cathy Engelbert and Tilman Fertitta after he lost out on his expansion bid.
hermes wrote:if they feel so strongly about houston, why didn't they give them a spot over like philadelphia or toronto?
MrDollarBills wrote:Cathy is shady as hell.
A Connecticut group, including the state and billionaire Marc Lasry, has exactly matched the reported $325 million bid from Boston to buy the team from its owner of 22 years, the Mohegan tribe, one of the sources said. In that scenario, games would be played at the PeoplesBank Arena in Hartford, previously known as the XL Center.
The state would take on the cost of building a much needed practice facility at a pricetag of about $100 million in or near Hartford, sources said.
The main problem: The league — and by that I mean not just the WNBA but also the NBA, which effectively controls the smaller women's league — is enforcing its right to say where a team that's up for sale can move. And it wants a team in a larger market someplace else.
Multiple people familiar with the talks said all things being equal, and apparently they are, the tribe would prefer to sell to an ownership group that keeps the team in Connecticut. That makes sense because the Mohegan tribe, like the Mashantucket Pequot tribe that owns and operates Foxwoods Resort Casino, takes great pride in its millennia of local roots and in its cooperative relationship with the state.
Green Chile wrote:MrDollarBills wrote:Cathy is shady as hell.
Sure, but she's working for the NBA.
Between the Sun sell fiasco, and expansion teams only going to NBA owners, none of it is a good look.
For a variety of reasons, it would be awesome to have a women's professional basketball league that's not owned by the NBA.
I know that won't happen, and don't even know if it should, but what's best for the W may not always be what's best for the NBA owners.
DOT wrote:https://www.ctinsider.com/news/article/mohegan-connecticut-sun-sale-20813267.phpA Connecticut group, including the state and billionaire Marc Lasry, has exactly matched the reported $325 million bid from Boston to buy the team from its owner of 22 years, the Mohegan tribe, one of the sources said. In that scenario, games would be played at the PeoplesBank Arena in Hartford, previously known as the XL Center.The state would take on the cost of building a much needed practice facility at a pricetag of about $100 million in or near Hartford, sources said.The main problem: The league — and by that I mean not just the WNBA but also the NBA, which effectively controls the smaller women's league — is enforcing its right to say where a team that's up for sale can move. And it wants a team in a larger market someplace else.Multiple people familiar with the talks said all things being equal, and apparently they are, the tribe would prefer to sell to an ownership group that keeps the team in Connecticut. That makes sense because the Mohegan tribe, like the Mashantucket Pequot tribe that owns and operates Foxwoods Resort Casino, takes great pride in its millennia of local roots and in its cooperative relationship with the state.
Literally the only difference would be that the Boston group would be fully financing their practice facility, while CT's would at least partially be owned by the state. But in terms of selling, that should be a non-issue, as it's something new ownership would have to contend with
The only way for the W to avoid litigation at this point is to let the tribe sell to who they want, which at this point would probably be Hartford. They're just shooting themselves in the foot at this point.
MrDollarBills wrote:I agree, this is the NBA trying to pull some BS with the Rockets ownership group. It's not on Cathy, she's basically the middle man for the NBA.
The Tribe needs to sue the parent company.
DOT wrote:MrDollarBills wrote:I agree, this is the NBA trying to pull some BS with the Rockets ownership group. It's not on Cathy, she's basically the middle man for the NBA.
The Tribe needs to sue the parent company.
It's just like, okay if Houston legitimately had the money and Fertitta came over the top with an insane offer, I would get it
I would be pissed, but I would get it
He couldn't even afford the $250 million expansion fee, yet I'm to believe he has the $325 million to match the offer plus whatever the WNBA wants for a relocation fee?
Bullsh*t
And you know they don't have it cause there's no rumors of other legit offers, just the two we know about, and it's been weeks at this point. I'm not mad it isn't official yet, the tribe can work on their own time, apparently they haven't even met to properly discuss things, but the longer this goes on without any numbers coming from the Houston side, the more convinced I am they don't have the money.
MrDollarBills wrote:The Rockets owner was having liquidity problems going back to before the pandemic if I recall. It's a big reason as to why Harden got traded.
The league looks crazy trying to force the Sun into a situation where the owner is broke. If you can't afford a $250m price tag you have no business being anywhere near a WNBA team.
The league, in recent weeks, offered to purchase the Sun for $250 million and not charge the buyer an additional relocation fee -- which would allow the league to facilitate a sale to one of its preferred expansion cities, according to sources.
The biggest issue the league has raised with the tribe regarding a relocation of the Sun to Boston, sources said, was Boston's failure to submit an expansion proposal. But after operating the franchise at a loss over the past two decades, the tribe believes it should be able to sell the franchise for the highest possible price. It also sees the value of keeping the team in New England and in the hands of an experienced former NBA minority partner.
In April, sources said the league sent a letter to the Sun stating that any sale would be subject to approval by the WNBA's Board of Governors and that the tribe "does not have the right ... to change the playing site of the Team's home games from Mohegan Sun Arena or to conduct any Team operations outside of the Team Member's Territory (which is defined as the 75-mile area surrounding Montville, Connecticut and does not include Boston)."
After informing the WNBA of its plans, the league requested the tribe allow the Cleveland Cavaliers ownership to submit a bid before launching its sale exploration process, sources said, because Cleveland was considered one of the strongest expansion candidates and could facilitate a relocation on a short timetable.
Selling the Sun to Cleveland would also have presumably opened up another expansion slot to a city such as Houston, which Engelbert highlighted as "the one we have our eye on" at the league's expansion announcement in June.
However, Sun ownership declined Cleveland's bid, which sources said came in slightly lower than the subsequent expansion fee, after it was advised it could get more money from other offers.
A source close to the ownership group says the tribe feels the league became antagonistic toward the sale after they declined Cleveland's bid and chose to explore other interested parties.
DOT wrote:https://www.espn.com/wnba/story/_/id/46015969/sources-connecticut-sun-eye-options-wnba-salvage-saleThe league, in recent weeks, offered to purchase the Sun for $250 million and not charge the buyer an additional relocation fee -- which would allow the league to facilitate a sale to one of its preferred expansion cities, according to sources.
Oh **** all the way offThe biggest issue the league has raised with the tribe regarding a relocation of the Sun to Boston, sources said, was Boston's failure to submit an expansion proposal. But after operating the franchise at a loss over the past two decades, the tribe believes it should be able to sell the franchise for the highest possible price. It also sees the value of keeping the team in New England and in the hands of an experienced former NBA minority partner.
Hey, look at this:In April, sources said the league sent a letter to the Sun stating that any sale would be subject to approval by the WNBA's Board of Governors and that the tribe "does not have the right ... to change the playing site of the Team's home games from Mohegan Sun Arena or to conduct any Team operations outside of the Team Member's Territory (which is defined as the 75-mile area surrounding Montville, Connecticut and does not include Boston)."
You know what city is within 75 miles of Montville? **** Hartford
Absolutely absurdAfter informing the WNBA of its plans, the league requested the tribe allow the Cleveland Cavaliers ownership to submit a bid before launching its sale exploration process, sources said, because Cleveland was considered one of the strongest expansion candidates and could facilitate a relocation on a short timetable.
Selling the Sun to Cleveland would also have presumably opened up another expansion slot to a city such as Houston, which Engelbert highlighted as "the one we have our eye on" at the league's expansion announcement in June.
However, Sun ownership declined Cleveland's bid, which sources said came in slightly lower than the subsequent expansion fee, after it was advised it could get more money from other offers.
A source close to the ownership group says the tribe feels the league became antagonistic toward the sale after they declined Cleveland's bid and chose to explore other interested parties.
What a **** joke.
ellobo wrote:DOT wrote:https://www.espn.com/wnba/story/_/id/46015969/sources-connecticut-sun-eye-options-wnba-salvage-saleThe league, in recent weeks, offered to purchase the Sun for $250 million and not charge the buyer an additional relocation fee -- which would allow the league to facilitate a sale to one of its preferred expansion cities, according to sources.
Oh **** all the way offThe biggest issue the league has raised with the tribe regarding a relocation of the Sun to Boston, sources said, was Boston's failure to submit an expansion proposal. But after operating the franchise at a loss over the past two decades, the tribe believes it should be able to sell the franchise for the highest possible price. It also sees the value of keeping the team in New England and in the hands of an experienced former NBA minority partner.
Hey, look at this:In April, sources said the league sent a letter to the Sun stating that any sale would be subject to approval by the WNBA's Board of Governors and that the tribe "does not have the right ... to change the playing site of the Team's home games from Mohegan Sun Arena or to conduct any Team operations outside of the Team Member's Territory (which is defined as the 75-mile area surrounding Montville, Connecticut and does not include Boston)."
You know what city is within 75 miles of Montville? **** Hartford
Absolutely absurdAfter informing the WNBA of its plans, the league requested the tribe allow the Cleveland Cavaliers ownership to submit a bid before launching its sale exploration process, sources said, because Cleveland was considered one of the strongest expansion candidates and could facilitate a relocation on a short timetable.
Selling the Sun to Cleveland would also have presumably opened up another expansion slot to a city such as Houston, which Engelbert highlighted as "the one we have our eye on" at the league's expansion announcement in June.
However, Sun ownership declined Cleveland's bid, which sources said came in slightly lower than the subsequent expansion fee, after it was advised it could get more money from other offers.
A source close to the ownership group says the tribe feels the league became antagonistic toward the sale after they declined Cleveland's bid and chose to explore other interested parties.
What a **** joke.
The league's treatment of the tribe is ridiculous. If the money was equivalent that's one thing, but to make the ownership team take a lower bid is outrageous.
It also seems like it sets a precedent that would reduce franchise values. If you know that down the road you can't sell your team to the highest bidder, that's going to affect the value of the team. Or maybe they figure they have enough prospective buyers from within NBA ownership and would actually prefer to discourage independent ownership in the future.
By the way, to me there's nothing cooler than the Sun wearing jerseys that say "Keesusk." If the team stays in New England, I can imagine that staying as an occasional throwback nod to team history, depending on tribe approval, although I'm not sure it wouldn't cross over from cool to cringe under those circumstances. But if the tribe is forced to sell to an approved expansion city, forget about it.
DOT wrote:ellobo wrote:DOT wrote:https://www.espn.com/wnba/story/_/id/46015969/sources-connecticut-sun-eye-options-wnba-salvage-sale
Oh **** all the way off
Hey, look at this:
You know what city is within 75 miles of Montville? **** Hartford
Absolutely absurd
What a **** joke.
The league's treatment of the tribe is ridiculous. If the money was equivalent that's one thing, but to make the ownership team take a lower bid is outrageous.
It also seems like it sets a precedent that would reduce franchise values. If you know that down the road you can't sell your team to the highest bidder, that's going to affect the value of the team. Or maybe they figure they have enough prospective buyers from within NBA ownership and would actually prefer to discourage independent ownership in the future.
By the way, to me there's nothing cooler than the Sun wearing jerseys that say "Keesusk." If the team stays in New England, I can imagine that staying as an occasional throwback nod to team history, depending on tribe approval, although I'm not sure it wouldn't cross over from cool to cringe under those circumstances. But if the tribe is forced to sell to an approved expansion city, forget about it.
There is no way this happens to a team owned by a billionaire NBA owner
That's what this is all about, they want to make the WNBA a subsidiary of the MNBA, which is also why they don't want to sell to Boston, cause Pagulica isn't gonna be part of Celtics ownership after the sale
It's just such a slimeball move by the league, if the Sun leave CT I might not be a WNBA fan anymore, it's just ridiculous.
a league statement emphasized that "relocation decisions are made by the WNBA Board of Governors and not by individual teams