The Connecticut Sun changed hands for approximately $125 million, setting a WNBA franchise record and confirming the league's 3x valuation surge since January 2023. The buyer group, led by former Madison Square Garden Sports president David Levy, acquired the team from Mohegan Gaming & Entertainment, which had operated the franchise since its 2003 relocation from Orlando.
The transaction closed at roughly triple the $43 million that Joe Tsai paid for the New York Liberty expansion fee in 2019. It lands weeks after the league approved three expansion franchises—Golden State, Toronto, Portland—at $50 million entry fees, a baseline that immediately looked mispriced. The Sun's sale confirms what family offices sizing WNBA stakes suspected: established franchises with arena control and playoff track records command 2.5x expansion premium, minimum. Connecticut has made the playoffs 15 consecutive seasons and owns a 295-197 regular-season record since 2010, second-best in the league.
The timing reflects structural changes, not Caitlin Clark momentum. National media rights negotiations conclude in Q2 2025, with the league targeting a 10-year, $300 million annual package, up from the current $60 million spread across ESPN and CBS. Sponsorship inventory tightened after Wilson Sporting Goods, Deloitte, and Google each signed multi-year deals in 2024, paying rates 60% higher than 2022 equivalents. Average attendance rose 17% in 2024 to 9,900 per game, and eight of twelve teams now control their own venue operations, eliminating the NBA tenant discount that suppressed margins through 2020.
Levy's group includes Cascade Investment—Bill Gates' family office—and the family office of Cleveland Guardians owner Paul Dolan. That mix matters. Cascade holds NBA stakes in Phoenix and Atlanta; its entry signals institutional capital now views WNBA franchises as uncorrelated plays within sports portfolio diversification, not cause marketing. The Dolan connection suggests regional sports network owners see women's basketball as a hedge against cord-cutting: younger female demos that abandoned RSNs for streaming return for live WNBA games, especially in markets without NBA overlap.
Mohegan paid effectively $10 million when it relocated the franchise in 2003. The 12.5x gain over 22 years annualizes at 12.3%, roughly matching S&P returns, but the inflection arrived entirely post-2022. The casino operator exits with a 400% gain since 2020 alone, reinvesting proceeds into sports betting infrastructure. The sale also removes the Sun from the short list of league-owned or venue-subsidized franchises, a dynamic that complicated previous valuation comps. All twelve current teams now operate under private ownership with at least partial arena control.
The Liberty, valued by Forbes this month at $170 million, remain the WNBA's highest-priced asset, but the Sun's sale narrows the gap. Connecticut lacks Brooklyn's media market but carries better margins: Mohegan Sun Arena seats 9,300, sells out 18-20 games per season, and runs minimal operational overlap with the casino's WNBA branding across its sportsbook and rewards programs. Levy's group inherits a 2025 payroll under the $1.46 million salary cap and a head coach, Stephanie White, who just signed a four-year extension in October.
Watch whether the new ownership group moves quickly to secure a jersey patch sponsor—Connecticut remains one of three teams without one—and whether they renegotiate local broadcast rights ahead of the 2026 season. The Sun's current deal with NBC Sports Regional runs through 2025 at rates signed in 2020, well below current market. Also watch whether Levy's NBA network pushes for an All-Star Game hosting bid; Connecticut hasn't hosted since 2005, and the league informally rotates hosting among ownership groups that invest in arena upgrades.
The transaction's $125 million headline price does not include assumed liabilities or revenue-sharing payouts tied to the new CBA, but those riders rarely move the number more than 5% in franchise sales. What matters: institutional buyers now assume WNBA franchises reach $200 million median valuations by 2028, tracking the NBA's growth curve from 2008-2013 when small-market teams doubled in value as national TV money arrived. The Sun just proved the curve holds.
The takeaway
Connecticut's **$125M** sale confirms WNBA franchises now trade at **2.5x** expansion fees, with buyers pricing in **$300M** annual media rights by 2026.
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