​A 10-mile radius of the arena. (Patrick McCaslin / CT Insider)
In 2024, the Connecticut Sun broke its single-game attendance record.But not in Connecticut.It happened instead at an out-of-state home game in Boston’s TD Garden, home to the Boston Celtics and nestled in the city’s dense West End neighborhood. The game was in part an attempt to attract more New England fans to the Sun and in part a test of Bostonians’ appetite for a WNBA team.By most counts, the experiment was a success. The team more than doubled its typical attendance that season, with over 19,000 fans flocking to the stadium to watch what would be a dramatic win over the Los Angeles Sparks.”It was crazy,” Sun guard Marina Mabrey told CT Insider at the time. “There were so many fans there. They were so loud. I think just like the energy that they brought, they were really aggressive for us to win. … It’s still a surreal feeling to see a city like that come out for us on the first time.”One unmistakable factor of the Sun’s success in Boston? The arena’s location. In TD Garden, the Sun had more than 1.8 million potential fans within a 10-mile radius. Getting to the game could be as simple as a 15-minute ride on the T or a 20-minute drive.That’s the case for most professional sports teams in the U.S. Hundreds of thousands of people – at times, millions – live within 10 miles of the team’s home stadium or arena. The Connecticut Sun is one of the few exceptions.The Sun’s current arena is located in one of the most remote areas of any NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, MLS or WNBA team playing in the United States. About 390,000 people live within 20 miles of the stadium, a circle that encompasses New London and Norwich. Roughly 146,000 people live within 10 miles. And only 3,500 people live within a mile of the stadium.The WNBA team that has the second-smallest surrounding population is the Atlanta Dream – with almost five times as many residents as the Sun within a 10-mile radius.To put the Sun’s nearby population of about 150,000 in context: Over 230,000 people live within a mile of Yankee Stadium.Only small-city teams, such as the Green Bay Packers and Buffalo Bills, rival the Sun’s remoteness. But they are relatively close to metropolitan areas and have an advantage the Sun don’t: decades-old, established fan bases.
Kaila Charles #6 of the Golden State Valkyries is defended by Gianna Kneepkens #5 of the Connecticut Sun during the first half of a WNBA basketball game at Mohegan Sun Arena on August 26, 2026 in Uncasville, Connecticut. (Joe Buglewicz/Getty Images)
The nearest major metropolitan areas to the Sun are New Haven, Hartford and Providence, each around 50 miles away.The Sun’s remote location and the lack of a practice facility were the target of complaints by players on the team. That is a problem no longer, however; the team was purchased by Houston Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta for $300 million earlier this year. In Houston, they’ll play in the Toyota Center arena (home to