Attorney General Tong Seeks Documents from WNBA Regarding Potential Sale of Connecticut Sun

Press Releases

09/11/2025

Attorney General Tong Seeks Documents from WNBA Regarding Potential Sale of Connecticut Sun

“Connecticut will fight hard for our players, coaches and fans, and we will take all steps necessary to keep the Team in Connecticut where it belongs.”

(Hartford, CT) – Attorney General William Tong today sent a letter to WNBA Commissioner Cathy Englebert seeking a series of documents related to League’s role in the potential sale of the Connecticut Sun to a buyer who would move the team out of Connecticut and away from its dedicated fanbase.

“Our state is the epicenter and heart of women’s basketball and a dominant force in the sport,” Attorney General Tong states in the letter. “There would be no WNBA—and no worldwide growth in the popularity of women’s basketball—without the players, coaches, and dedicated fanbase in and from Connecticut.”

“I am troubled by recent reports in the press that the WNBA may be wrongfully blocking a sale of the Connecticut Sun that would keep the Team in Connecticut in a manner that may be anticompetitive and may violate state and federal law,” Attorney General Tong states. “I am also concerned about press reports that, in lieu of a sale of the Team to a Connecticut-based buyer, the WNBA is demanding that the Team be sold to the League itself at a price tens of millions of dollars below market value, which could then be sold later to an owner approved to move the Team to a city that is part of the League’s plan of expansion.”

To better understand the position of the WNBA, the relative rights and responsibilities of the WNBA and the Connecticut Sun, Attorney General Tong is requesting that the league provide the following information:

A copy of the WNBA operating agreement;
WNBA’s membership agreement between the Connecticut Sun and the WNBA;
WNBA’s operating manual;
WNBA’s league rules and regulations; and
Copies of all valuations of the Connecticut Sun, including any appraisal, offer, and/or expression of interest.

Following receipt and review of the requested documents, Attorney General Tong has requested a meeting with WNBA leadership.

“Our dedicated and enthusiastic fanbase in Connecticut has strongly supported the Connecticut Sun and the WNBA for over twenty-years; to lose this franchise would be devastating to our state’s economy, our community and our state. Please understand Connecticut will fight hard for our players, coaches and fans, and we will take all steps necessary to keep the Team in Connecticut where it belongs,” Attorney General Tong concludes in the letter.

Twitter: @AGWilliamTong

Facebook: CT Attorney General

Media Contact:

Elizabeth Benton
elizabeth.benton@ct.gov

Consumer Inquiries:

860-808-5318
attorney.general@ct.gov