Connecticut Sun to play in first WNBA game at TD Garden in August 2024

BOSTON – The Connecticut Sun will play in TD Garden in Aug. 2024 as one of the WNBA’s most successful franchises heads to one of the NBA’s most hallowed arenas.

It’s the first time the Sun will ever play in an NBA arena, according to team president Jen Rizzotti.

“To play in a place that has such a great tradition of success,” forward Brionna Jones said. “Showing the WNBA to young girls from this area, creating a fanbase, not just from Connecticut, but WNBA fans.”

The tip time is set for 7 p.m., but the date and opponent will be announced when the WNBA schedule is released next week. Fans can buy exclusive presale tickets starting at 10 a.m. on Dec. 18. The window for the general public begins at 10 a.m. on Dec. 19 on the team’s website.

Connecticut racked up a franchise record of 27 wins last season and has reached the WNBA semifinals in the past five seasons. Stephanie White was named 2023 Coach of the Year; Alyssa Thomas finished second in the MVP voting, and 2022 Sixth Player of the Year Jones is set to return after Achilles surgery in June.

As Boston’s closest WNBA team, the Connecticut Sun has always had a strong relationship with the Celtics, but that relationship became even closer after NBC Sports Boston began broadcasting the Sun’s games last season. Paul Rector, the Sun’s VP of Growth, approached Rizzotti about the idea, and she brought it to the TD Garden brass.

“TD Garden executives were so excited about it,” Rizzotti said. “It just felt like at that point – once we had support from them and the Celtics – it was like, let’s move forward and find a way to make this happen.”

“We felt like this is a great market for us; people care about basketball here; we feel like we’re New England’s WNBA team, so why not expand?”

As the WNBA season expanded from 36 to 40 games last season, Rizzotti felt it was the right time to experiment and grow the team’s exposure. UConn’s decades of success have already made the region passionate about women’s basketball, and the Sun knew they had fans in Boston from ticketing data. Now, it was time to meet them where they were.

“Getting the chance to meet players, go courtside, sign autographs, that’s something you don’t get on TV,” Jones said. “I saw a girl today; she was so excited to meet Jayson Tatum; she had drawn a picture and everything, so just to bring that experience to WNBA fans and create that would be so special.”

The Sun also sees the game as an opportunity to hook fans on their product and convince them to come to Connecticut.

“Once they see us, they’re going to want to see us again,” Rizzotti said. “They’re going to have to come to Connecticut.”

The WNBA is trying to expand its reach – it played in Toronto for the first time this spring – and was excited when the Sun brought the idea and has been helping them promote it. The Sun views the game at TD Garden as an opportunity to promote their own brand of basketball…