Is the WNBA’s Connecticut Sun moving to Rhode Island?

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Conversations are underway that could potentially bring the WNBA’s Connecticut Sun to Rhode Island. On Friday morning, Governor Dan McKee toured the Amica Mutual Pavilion (AMP) as part of an effort to showcase the arena as a future home for the franchise.

This development follows what we first reported on May 17, that Providence was being floated as a possible relocation site as the team’s ownership group, the Mohegan Tribe, explores selling the team and moving it out of Connecticut.

McKee’s official schedule confirmed the meeting and tour took place from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at the AMP.

The Connecticut Sun, widely seen as one of the WNBA’s most competitive teams, currently plays home games at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville. Back in May, team ownership confirmed it had hired a banker to explore both a sale and “likely franchise relocation,” fueling speculation about the team’s future.

A relocation to Providence would mark a major win for Rhode Island  considering past failures to attract major league teams. In the late 1990s, Providence made an unsuccessful bid to lure the New England Patriots.

The WNBA’s growing popularity has sparked interest from cities across the country. Brooklyn’s New York Liberty recently announced an $80 million facility, while Massachusetts, backed by names like Donnie Wahlberg and Michael Carter-Williams, is also pushing hard to land a team. The competition is fierce.

The franchise was originally established in 1999 as the Orlando Miracle, one of the early WNBA teams. The Miracle were owned by the NBA’s Orlando Magic and played in Florida until 2002. In 2003, the franchise made WNBA history by becoming the first team to be owned by a Native American tribe, the Mohegan Tribe of Connecticut, when it was purchased and relocated to the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville. With the move, the team was renamed the Connecticut Sun.