Mohegan CEO Ray Pineault’s phone wasn’t ringing in early May.
Executives, colleagues and friends were clamoring for tickets to watch the Indiana Fever star. Caitlin Clark professional debut against the Connecticut Sun, who are owned by the Mohegan Tribe, a Native American group that manages and owns entertainment centers throughout the United States and Canada. It was the bearer of bad news, as the season opener on May 14 sold out faster than any home game in the 25-year history of the Sun franchise. It was one of 11 sellouts the WNBA franchise has seen this season, including Wednesday’s 87-81 victory over Clark and the Fever in the first round of the playoffs.
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“Congratulations to her, she’s a fantastic player,” Pineault said. “You can see the statistics. But we also have fantastic players in our team who have shown their courage, strength and competitiveness on the pitch.
The Sun, which has seen year-over-year increases in nearly every business category from group sales to television viewership, is looking to win its first WNBA championship as it capitalizes on the momentum of the league. record year. The first professional sports team owned by a Native American tribe has reached the WNBA Finals four times, but it is still chasing that elusive title. The Sun, in the semifinals, looks to finally get over the hump this year, while playing a central role in Mohegan’s overall business strategy.
The growth of women’s sports has been good for Mohegan, as has the explosion of sports betting and online gambling. The Sun’s current playoff run comes amid strong times for the team’s parent company, which operates the Mohegan Sun Arena located inside its casino complex in Uncasville, Connecticut. Last month, Mohegan reported its highest quarterly net revenue in company history, up 21% year over year. -year to $504 million (with significant help from Inspire, a new $5 billion resort located at South Korea’s Incheon International Airport).
The Sun enjoys a symbiotic relationship with the company’s flagship casino, which features 3,495 slots, 245 table games and a FanDuel Sportsbook. The franchise is led by WNBA All-Star Alyssa Thomas and Most Improved Player DiJonai Carrington, and has a strong fan base who travel to the isolated resort town and often want to extend their good time beyond the experience of the game.
“It certainly creates excitement and visitation while adding to the overall feel of the property,” Pineault said. “He fills restaurant seats before and after games. It also helps for other parts, like some people will stay after (night) games. If you don’t want to drive home, you can stay at home. This is a great improvement for the property.
The Sun, the WNBA’s first profitable team, have come a long way since the Mohegan Tribe purchased the struggling Orlando Miracle for about $10 million and moved the team to its home turf in 2003. That doesn’t s It is not done without opposition, as its detractors thought. bringing a team to a casino could be problematic for a family league. The list of critics included the NBA, which was reluctant to greenlight the move before approving it.
“There was a lot of pushback,” said Chris Sienko, Sun’s former managing director and chief operating officer. “It’s so different from what people perceived (compared to) what it actually was. … It creates so many other opportunities besides the game.”
He added that such mixing was “taboo at one time, but today it’s fun entertainment and if you go to Mohegan Sun you can see a variety of things.”
The Sun were the first individual non-NBA team and managed to build on a fan base that grew around the history women’s basketball program at the University of Connecticut. Mohegan continues to look for aggressive ways to attract non-core fans and cross-promote its other assets while expanding its reach into other markets such as Boston, where the Sun hosted the first WNBA game performed at TD Garden last month. The Sun played in front of more than 19,000 fans in a 69-61 victory over the Los Angeles Sparks.
Unlike the Sparks, who benefit from a Hollywood setting, the Sun must be more creative to attract players, due to their competition in the league’s smallest market. Free hotel rooms and tickets to concerts at the resort may not be enough to ensure top players advance as WNBA free agency becomes more competitive, coinciding with league expansion.
“It depends on what the players are looking for,” said ESPN analyst Andraya Carter. “Sometimes new organizations and the unknown can cause more anxiety than a place where you know exactly what you’re going to get, and in Connecticut, we know that for the most part. But what will really make free agency more competitive than anything else is the facilities that teams build. »
Thomas and other Sun players complained again last week about having to share the practice field before their home opener against the Fever because Tribe members have priority access to the community center gymnasium where The team is training. That meant navigating training with the loud music of a birthday party or Pilates class on the other side of a courtyard divider. Meanwhile, other teams like Phoenix and Las Vegas have created their own stand-alone practice facilities. Pineault said he heard the complaints and had internal discussions about a potential facility.
“As the league continues to grow and expand, we need to stay on top of what’s going on,” he said. “We want to keep an eye on developments, especially with the new media rights agreement, which will have an impact in many areas. We are a small market team in southeastern Connecticut, but we have a strong and loyal fan base and want to continue to offer a competitive product. If we keep this up, we’ll win a championship one of these days.
The fight to attract talent will also be impacted by the league’s upcoming collective bargaining agreement (CBA). THE Current ABC expires after the 2027 season, but the league and players’ union can choose to opt out before this year’s Nov. 1 deadline, which would move the expiration date to next October.
The Sun surpassed Fever and the AP Rookie of the Year award, but now face a bigger challenge against the Minnesota Lynx in the semifinals starting Sunday. Regardless of the outcome, Sienko, who spent 14 seasons with the Sun, has fond memories and believes the Mohegan-owned franchise still sets an example for the entire league.
“(We) have proven that the business model works,” he added. “As they pay more money (to buy) teams these days, ownership groups are creating viable business interests for themselves and for communities. If nothing else, it has long proven that teams can be successful and profitable, with opportunities for continued growth in the future.
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