Connecticut Sun dreamin’ – John Cardullo

by John Cardullo, sportswriter

The popularity of the WNBA has set ablaze a lot of speculation in New England. Is it fact? Is it fiction? Only time will tell if the rumors are true, or is someone being played!

If you were not aware that the WNBA (Women’s National Basketball Association) was a big thing, let’s investigate the events that followed my article last week of attending my first WNBA game between the Connecticut Sun and Las Vegas Aces.

It was reported by many news media sources, (much to the dismay of my publisher, we were not one of them), that a meeting was held between several members from Rhode Island, led by Rhode Island Governor Dan McKee and some “big money” movers and shakers out of Boston and representatives of the Mohegan Sun Resort and Casino, who currently own the basketball team. The apparent subject of the meeting was to explore the possibilities of having the team relocate to Rhode Island, and to play at The AMP, specifically, in Providence. Governor McKee went so far as to have The AMP set up the arena as if a basketball game was going to be played.

That hush-hush, off the record event made the news within a few hours, and was then on Rhode Island MSM, each outlet with a different spin on it, until one named the supposed investor who is interested in making the bid – Joe Pagliuca, former Celtics owner. The Connecticut Sun acknowledges hiring an investment bank, Allen & Company, to explore selling the team.

A day  later, a similar report came out of Boston. Governor Maura Healey attended the game the Sun played in Boston and in a TV interview she acknowledged hoping to lure the team there. “We invented basketball!”, she enthusiastically said. Trying to woo the team to Boston, yes, but instead of setting up the Boston Garden for show, an actual basketball game was being played between the Sun and virtually the hottest WNBA team there is currently on this planet, the Indiana Fever, featuring the biggest name in the WNBA, Caitilin Clark.

The capacity of the Boston Garden for basketball is 19,156 and on that evening 19,156 plus crammed into the Boston Garden to watch the game. The Fever beat the Suns in a tight paced, well played basketball event. The rumor mill was a buzz! It sounded like a Dr. Seuess book title “Will the Suns stay? or Will the Suns go? At this moment, no one knows!” The next day to nobody’s surprise, Connecticut Governor spoke up and made public the state’s intent to keep the basketball team playing in the Nutmeg State as they have been for the last 22 years.

This story has already the earmarks of a great Hallmark movie, where several suitors come to court to sweep a woman off her feet! But if you have seen a Hallmark movie, you pretty much have seen them all!

So, let’s go back in time to when Robert Kraft, the new owner of the New England Patriots, got Rhode Island all excited about a potential move to the Ocean State. Being the seasoned salesman that he was, old Robert sold the perception to everyone that he was serious, while he was angling for Foxboro and Massachusetts to commit to building a shiny new stadium that was very favorable to both the Krafts and the New England Patriots. Rhode Island and Providence were played and left at the altar.

Pros and Cons – Providence?

Let’s start this debate with the pros and cons for each move. Let’s look at what the Sun already has. They have their roots in the WNBA pretty much from the beginning, when they were purchased by the Mohegan Tribe from Orlando and relocated into Connecticut. They became the Connecticut Sun and were housed in a 10,000-seat arena that was built for them. The arena is smack dab in the middle of the resort and casino. The arena itself is surrounded by restaurants and eateries as well an in-house shopping mall. Out of the 44-game season each WNBA plays, 22 of them are at home, not counting playoff games. So, for over 22 plus game days, the Suns average crowd is around 9,400. This means that 9,400 descend on Mohegan Resort & Casino 22 plus times a season. These spectators eat, shop and gamble at this venue for these game nights, not to mention the concerts and shows that take place in the arena. Frontliners, in-demand tickets worth as much as anyone will pay for them, propel the Mohegan Sun arena into a destination location. Oh, by the way they also offer FREE PARKING for everyone! First rule of business is learning what the value of what you have is how much is someone willing to pay for it!

Now, let’s bring Providence into the picture. The Providence Civic Center was opened in 1972, home to the Providence College men’s basketball team and the Rhode Island Reds. The Providence Civic Center which this venue will always be known as to Rhode Islanders until the end of time, no matter how many times they sell the naming rights, at one time was a hot bed of sports – the Celtics and Boston Bruins would pay annual visits to play “home games” there. Top of the line entertainment would make the Civic Center a must play venue. Elton John, Garth Brooks, Billy Joel, Aerosmith, Boston, Heart, Kiss all made appearances at the Civic Center and it’s 13,000 seat arena. The circus, monster jams, Disney would all make stops.

Providence College basketball being the crown jewel brought in national power teams like North Carolina, Louisville and Marquette pre–Big East. Then teams like St. John’s, Georgetown, Syracuse, Seton Hall, UConn and Notre Dame all common college basketball powers that joined one of the most powerful men’s basketball conferences ever to be created, the Big East. The creator was none other than Providence College’s head basketball coach, Dave Gavitt.

In those days the civic center was the place to go to see college basketball at its best. And, after losing the Rhode Island Reds, the Providence Bruins relocated from Maine to Providence. The reality of the attendance numbers doesn’t lie. The average attendance to Providence College is just above 6,000, not even half of the arena, 8,400 for Providence Bruins. Disney on Ice and Monster Jams still make their annual appearances. Front line musical entertainers opt to go to Mohegan, Foxwoods, the Xfinity Center in Mansfield. Some are making stops at Lincoln’s Bally’s Twin River, or the Providence Performing Arts Center and even the Vets in Providence.

So, the question is why would the Sun want to relocate to an arena with only 3,000 more seats? A place where they would pay rent to play there, where restaurants and eateries are not convenient to walk to and from in bad weather. Oh yes, did we mention parking? Parking runs about $30 to $50 per each event. There is not many pros for the move to Providenc. Plus, given the fact that the core group of season ticket holders are from Connecticut that the Mohegan Sun has cultivated since 2003, would they make the trek to Providence? Some, maybe, the die heart Sun fans, perhaps, but most, who see the game as one major part of their day or evening out, probably won’t. There doesn’t seem to be an upside to the move to Providence.

Boston?

There seems to be even less of an upside to move into Boston or the Boston Garden. As the saying goes, “it takes and hour to get to Boston from Boston!” Boston is a professional sports town with the Bruins, Celtics, Patriots, Revolution and Red Sox all play in “Boston”. Having a WNBA team in Boston would like having parsley on the plate, but parsley is a garnish to enhance the look, but not taken seriously. Say the Sun decide to make the move into Boston. Take those 22 plus home games and put them in the Boston Garden, which has a 19,000-seating capacity. Say the Sun can retain in numbers the same 9,000 plus average per game. Playing at the Boston Garden would be like playing in a deserted town without the tumble weeds. The fans would get lost in the Boston Garden and any television optics might have them playing in an empty arena. The argument can be said that when they played against the Indiana Fever at the Boston Garden, the place was sold out. That is because the Fever currently has the biggest WNBA star in the universe playing for them, and Caitlin Clark will make only two appearances to the Boston Garden, so what will happen those other 22 games? When the teams without named players on bad teams come to town? The Clark affect is a proven positive force in the WNBA, unfortunately teams cannot play against Clark every game.

Now, let’s look at it from a different perspective. What happens to the Suns’ game attendance when they play on the same nights as the Boston Red Sox? Whose attendance will be the most effected? As it stands now, the Red Sox, even in the worse of times, still sell out Fenway Park every home game! Oh, parking in Boston is much worse that Providence, and one can expect to pay between $75 to $100 for parking. Imagine a family of 4 attending a Suns game in Boston? They would have to take out a mortgage! The good news that they will only have to take out a loan if the team ends up in Providence.

Big Fish, Little Pond – Little Fish, Big(ger) Pond?

I suspect at the end of the day the Suns would elect to stay right where they are, the big fish in the state that has only them as their professional team. Nothing tells you more about how much you’re valued when you are being approached to relocate. For the current owners, be aware that it is easier to keep what you have rather than to let it go, only to wish that you had it back! My advice to the Suns is to take advantage of your ‘sudden” popularity and make deals with every New England state and commit to having one of your home games played in each state. This will take the Indiana Fever effect out of the mix and give you a real idea how well you would do relocating.

As for the other cities? They may find that having is not the same as wanting. The bottom line is that somebody is being played and like a Hallmark movie, I cannot wait to see who it is!

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John goes to a Connecticut Sun game:

https://2×8.ea2.myftpupload.com/connecticut-sun-vs-las-vegas-aces-wnba-game-at-mohegan-john-cardullo/

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John Cardullo, sportswriter. John is a lifelong Rhode Islander. His sports experience is extensive, as a player, coach and sponsor of youth and high school sports. He has been the Public Address Announcer for the CCRI Men’s and Women’s Soccer teams. Both the Cranston East and Cranston West football, Cranston East Boys and Girls basketball for 12 years before moving onto the Central, Juanita Sanchez and Mt. Pleasant football teams. Also, Central HS Boys and Girls Basketball, Scituate High School Boys and Girls Basketball, Johnston High School Girls Basketball, Boys Volleyball, Girls Softball, Boys and Girls Soccer teams, and CLCF football.

John has been involved in Men’s softball for 61 years, starting as a batboy for his father’s team in 1964. He moved to the teams scorekeeper then became a player in 1975, and created the men’s team, Players Corner Pub, that went on to win 20 State Championships in their 35 year history. In the 1990’s he published the statewide softball magazine “The Fielders Choice” which was dedicated to all topics related to adult softball. As a feature writer, John and the publication won several media awards. In 2019 he was elected and inducted into the Rhode Island Slow Pitch Softball Hall of Fame which he also helped create. John is a softball umpire in Warwick, Rhode Island.

In his spare time John golfs with his life long friends in season. After retiring from the printing Industry after a 45-year career, he now writes specialty sports columns for RINewsToday.com, is still actively engaged in the high school sports scene, and will soon launch a radio show/podcast on high school sports.

More Sports in RI stories – HERE