Maura Healey seeking to expedite process for Boston to land WNBA team

Sports News

“Why people would stand in the way of that, I don’t understand.”

By Conor Roche

August 23, 2025 | 4:33 PM

3 minutes to read

The WNBA wants Boston to wait in line before getting a team of its own, but Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey doesn’t want to play that game.

Healey has been working with outgoing Celtics minority owner Steve Pagliuca, new Celtics owner Bill Chisholm, the WNBA, the NBA, and the owners of the Connecticut Sun (who agreed to a deal that would see their franchise move to Boston) to ensure that Boston lands a team sooner rather than later, she told The Boston Globe‘s Michael Silverman.

“The league has been saying this is a timing issue and Boston needs to wait, and I don’t believe that Boston should wait,” Healey told Silverman. “Nor should the Tribe have to wait. We’ve got women players right now, management, staff, and a women’s professional league that would benefit from this. Why people would stand in the way of that, I don’t understand. Again, it does nothing to take away from expansion opportunities or future expansion opportunities.”

It appeared that Boston was set to land the Connecticut Sun earlier this summer when Pagliuca agreed to a deal with the Mohegan Tribe for $325 million to purchase the team and relocate it by the start of the 2027 season. As part of the deal, Pagliuca also committed to building a $100 million facility for the franchise.

However, Boston’s hopes of landing the franchise have taken a hit since that news emerged. It was revealed that WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert never presented the deal to the league’s board of governors for approval, allowing the Mohegan Tribe to negotiate with other interested ownership groups, according to Front Office Sports.

The WNBA has also made it clear that it would have to approve any possible relocation of the Sun, further indicating that teams that have applied for an expansion franchise would get priority. Boston didn’t apply for an expansion team in the recent rounds of expansion that will take place through the end of the decade.

With ownership groups from cities that have applied for expansion showing interest in the Sun, the WNBA has offered to buy the team for $250 million, according to ESPN. However, the Sun are reconsidering selling the franchise after the recent developments, Silverman reported.

If Boston isn’t able to land the Sun, it would likely have to wait until the next round of WNBA expansion, which isn’t slated to take place until 2033. It would also likely hurt Pagliuca’s chances of owning a Boston-based WNBA franchise, as owners of NBA teams have been awarded five of the last six expansion teams.

Healey was perplexed by the route the WNBA has taken with the Pagliuca-led group’s agreement to buy the Sun, asking why being a sitting NBA owner is a “predicate” to land a WNBA team. But she said she’s had positive conversations with Chisholm about Boston landing a WNBA team.

“I think that there is interest among new Celtics ownership in the game, I think they appreciate women’s sports and value women’s sports, and there’s an easy way to resolve this right here and now that doesn’t preclude owners in Houston or elsewhere in the existing WNBA to take advantage of expansion opportunities,” Healey told Silverman.

Healey has been a major proponent of bringing a WNBA team to Boston as of late. When the Sun played their second game at TD Garden in July, she issued a proclamation that celebrated the league and called for Boston to land a team.

“Massachusetts is the birthplace of basketball. Boston is the most exciting sports town and sports market in the country, and we have phenomenal enthusiasm for women’s sports. Just look at how the WNBA has sold out TD Garden two years in a row,” Healey said. “We are so proud to host our neighboring Connecticut Sun, along with the Indiana Fever, and wish them the very best in their game tonight. We’re ready for a WNBA team in Boston.”