Southeastern Connecticut Legislative Delegation On The Future Of The Connecticut Sun

September 5, 2025



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Dear Neighbor,

The Southeastern Connecticut Legislative Delegation is in full support of the WNBA's Connecticut Sun staying right here. Please see our statement below.

As always, if I can be of assistance, please reach out to me at 860-240-8585 or email me at Derell.Wilson@cga.ct.gov.

Sincerely,

Derell Wilson
State Representative 

 
STATEMENT OF THE SOUTHEASTERN CONNECTICUT LEGISLATIVE DELEGATION ON THE FUTURE OF THE CONNECTICUT SUN WNBA BASKETBALL TEAM


We, the members of the southeastern Connecticut legislative delegation, are committed to keeping the Connecticut Sun in Connecticut and at their 22-year home at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Montville. 

For 22 years, this team has been rooted at Mohegan Sun and located among one of the strongest fan bases in the WNBA. The notion that Boston or anywhere else might try and “steal” the Sun ignores both reality and the will of the fans who have supported this franchise from the beginning.

The WNBA has clearly said: relocation is not on the table. Expansion by 2030 is on the table. Cleveland, Detroit, Philadelphia, Portland, and Toronto are the league’s next growth cities -- not Hartford, and not Boston.

Pretending otherwise only distracts from what matters: ensuring the Sun’s future here in southeastern Connecticut. 
Photo credit: Wikipedia, June 20, 2025

Our region deserves the pride and the economic benefits of hosting a professional sports team. Hartford has its successes -- the Yard Goats, UConn Basketball, Hartford Athletic. But southeastern Connecticut has the Sun, and that matters deeply to our communities.

If the State of Connecticut is prepared to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on becoming a minority owner of The Sun, we don’t object to that.

But on the issue of building a practice basketball facility for them, we encourage Connecticut to invest its money where the Sun already shine: right here in southeastern Connecticut.

That investment would create local jobs, strengthen our economy, and build on the Sun's 22 years of loyalty and growth in Montville. The specter of building a $100 million practice facility in or around Hartford for a couple of games a year to be played at the PeoplesBank Arena makes zero financial sense. In fact, it would be a waste of taxpayer money.

The Connecticut Sun belongs here in southeastern Connecticut. We, along with our constituents, will fight to ensure that they stay and play here.

Sincerely,

State Senators Cathy Osten, Martha Marx, and Heather Somers
State Representatives Derell Wilson, Anthony Nolan, Nick Gauthier, Nick Menapace, and Dan Gaiewski.

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