UNCASVILLE — Kevin Gates stood in line with 13-year-old daughter Nat for more than half an hour on Sunday afternoon waiting for the chance to add Brittney Griner‘s autograph to the ever-growing collection on the back of their custom Connecticut Sun jerseys.
Kevin has worked at Mohegan Sun as a table games supervisor for nearly two decades, but he never closely followed the WNBA until Nat became a die-hard women’s basketball fan — first of UConn, then the pros. The pair invested in season tickets for the first time last season, and Sun games quickly became their father-daughter bonding time. Their matching Connecticut jerseys, customized with their last name, are decorated on the back by nearly two dozen signatures from players, coaches and even Sun mascot Blaze.
“Seeing her get excited — for every parent, it’s exciting to be able to share in the passions that your children enjoy,” Kevin said. “We like going to the UConn Huskies games, but it’s usually during the school season, so we’re very limited on how many games that we can go to. During the summer, it’s a wonderful opportunity for kids being out of school to be able to go to all these games.”
Kevin and Nat were among nearly 1,500 season-ticket holders who showed up to the arena Sunday to watch Connecticut host its annual open practice and meet-and-greet to kick off the 2026 season. Lines to see the fan favorites — Griner, second-year guard Saniya Rivers, former UConn star Aaliyah Edwards — wrapped around the length of the court for nearly an hour. Several fans brought vintage jerseys from players’ college days for autographs, and many in Griner’s line held copies of her memoir “Coming Home,” about the 10 months she spent wrongfully detained in Russian prison in 2021. Edwards said several fans brought her gifts, from signed posters to a collectible keychain in her likeness, and a young girl came to her table with purple extensions braided into her hair to mimic the famous purple and yellow braids Edwards wears on the court.
Many of the Sun fans are faces Edwards used to see frequently in Storrs while playing Huskies from 2020-24, and there’s a unique connection in watching the same people cheer her on through every stage of her basketball career.
“It gives me a purpose to play,” Edwards said. “It’s not just for me, it’s not just for our team or the girls on the court playing. It’s bigger than that and bigger than yourself. Just to heart that and get those affirmations, it means the world to me, because people really care.”
While the excitement from the season-ticket holders was palpable Sunday, there was also an atmosphere of bittersweet nostalgia in the knowledge that this upcoming season is their last chance to have these kinds of experiences. On March 30, Mohegan Tribe ownership announced that it had reached an agreement to sell the Sun to Houston Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta for a reported $300 million — the largest sale in WNBA history. Fertitta will relocate the franchise to Houston ahead of the 2027 season.
Amid the WNBA’s exponential growth over the last three years, it became clear the team could not remain at Mohegan Sun long-term. Drawing elite free agents to Uncasville has always been challenging, but it’s now nearly impossible as franchises in major media markets continue to invest more heavily and consistently in player amenities and resources. Almost every other team in the league either shares a practice facility with its NBA counterpart or has its own multimillion-dollar dedicated facility, while the Sun still train at the Mohegan Tribe’s community center gym when the arena court is unavailable.
Most fans understand that the need for more professional-caliber resources wasn’t going to be met under Mohegan Tribe ownership, but there is deep frustration over the Sun’s relocation out of New England. The tribe originally agreed to sell for $325 million to former Celtics minority owner Steve Pagliuca, who would have moved the team to Boston. A prospective ownership group led by former Milwaukee Bucks owner Marc Lasry matched the $325 million offer with hopes of relocating the team less than 50 miles north to Hartford.
But the WNBA ultimately refused to approve a relocation to either city, offering only the flimsy explanation that neither group made a bid to own a new franchise during the league’s latest round of expansion last year. The Sun were still in the New England market at the time expansion bids were submitted, so neither Hartford or Boston had any reason to seek a franchise.
“This is the basketball capital of the world, and we need a professional team,” said Angel Earle, who has been a Sun season-ticket holder since 2020. “Hartford tried to get it. Boston tried to get it, but we went back to Texas where there already was a team. Come on, now … I really believe the league should have kept them in Connecticut and let Texas do whatever they needed to do. There’s going to be a lot of people that are very upset and frustrated about it.”
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Earle is also a longtime UConn fan and season-ticket holder, and she’s become iconic in the women’s basketball community for the handmade crochet outfits she sports in her courtside seats on game days. Former Connecticut players often know her by name when they return to compete at Mohegan Sun. At Sunday’s event, Earle wore a bright orange t-shirt that read, “I’m an extra loud, extremely proud Connecticut Sun fan 24/7.”
“I’m very, very sad,” Earle said. “But you know what, I’m going to enjoy this season to the fullest, because I know it is the last. Just give all the energy I can give to the girls. I’m a fan whether we win, lose or draw. I’m never, ever going to veer from it, but I’m going to be sad to see the girls so so far away … It’s just like, no, why are you taking our girls away?”
Having UConn helps alleviate some of the sting of the the Sun’s departure, but losing access to a professional team is still devastating. Earle, 61, said she’ll always keep up with the UConn alumni and former Sun players she’s connected with over the years, but it will likely only be through the TV. She said she probably won’t attend another WNBA game until she retires, because the trip to see the next-closest team, the New York Liberty, is too inconvenient for her to make from Connecticut. Kevin and Nat said they don’t know where their team allegiance will fall without the Sun — though Nat was adamant that it won’t be with the Liberty.
“We both really love this team, and it’s gonna be really hard to see what we love go, especially so far,” Nat said. “If it was in Boston, it wouldn’t have been as heartbreaking for us.”
“We know that this is the last time we’re going to have the opportunity to come here, and we’re just going to enjoy it and take advantage of as many opportunities as we can to make sure that we’re here for every game,” Kevin added. “We’re not going to have any regrets when it’s over.”