For the first time since 2003, the WNBA will be playing in Hartford when Connecticut hosts Los Angeles on Saturday night. A free fan festival will be open to the public from 2-5 p.m. on Pratt Street near the arena.
The WNBA returns to Hartford for the first time in 23 years on Saturday when the Connecticut Sun host the Los Angeles Sparks at 6 p.m. at the PeoplesBank Arena.
It is a bittersweet return with the Sun leaving the state at the end of September to play in Houston.
But it is the first of two opportunities to see the Sun and WNBA action in Hartford before the team leaves for Texas. The Sun will host Dallas and former UConn stars Paige Bueckers and Azzi Fudd on July 2.
Saturday’s game promises to be an event. The Sun will be hosting a full day celebration of basketball, culture and community by hosting a free all-ages fan festival from 2-5 p.m. on Pratt Street, directly across the street from PeoplesBank Arena.
It will be a different atmosphere than in July 2003 when the Sun hosted the Charlotte Sting at the Hartford Civic Center on a Saturday afternoon in late July.
The Sun were in the midst of their first season in Connecticut, having made the announcement in January that the team was coming to the state with the Mohegan tribe purchasing the Orlando Miracle. The team at the Mohegan Sun had a matter of weeks to put together a team and staff to support the franchise.
Twenty-three years ago, there were plenty of questions about a casino hosting a professional basketball team. There were also lots of vocal support for playing games in Hartford – not Uncasville.
In 2003, the loss of the NHL’s Hartford Whalers to North Carolina was still fresh. Six years earlier, the Whalers played their final NHL game in the Civic Center.
Some of that sting was soothed by the New England Blizzard of the American Basketball League, who played in Hartford and Springfield for 2½ seasons from 1996 through 1999.
The Blizzard, who had an energetic point guard named Jennifer Rizzotti, had eight of the top 10 crowds in ABL history in Hartford, including three games with more than 15,000 fans in the 1997-98 season. The Blizzard averaged 10,400 fans in 16 games in Hartford in 1997-98.
But the ABL folded just before Christman in December 1998 in large part because they had no revenue from television networks to keep it afloat.
In 2003, the Sun featured All-Star Nykesha Sales, the former UConn All-American from Bloomfield, and Rebecca Lobo, who led the Huskies to their first NCAA championship in 1995.
Connecticut was still getting to know the Sun. The Charlotte Sting brought Dawn Staley, now well known as the coach of the University of South Carolina and leading scorer Allison Feaster, whose daughter, Sarah Strong, currently plays at UConn.
The game had some strong competition for the attention of Connecticut sports fans. The third round of the PGA’s Greater Hartford Open was being held in Cromwell with more than 70,000 fans flocking to TPC-River Highlands as they did every year.
That was the year that Suzy Whaley became the first woman in 58 years to qualify for a PGA Tour event after winning the 2002 Connecticut PGA championship.
In Avon, tennis star Andre Agassi, who was ranked No. 1 in the world for 101 weeks and won eight Grand Slam championships in his career, was playing against the Hartford Foxforce of World Team Tennis in front of a sellout crowd of 2,500 fans, as reported in the Hartford Courant, on the banks of the Farmington River at Blue Fox Run.
At the Civic Center, there were 5,731 fans in the house to see Sales score a game-high 23 points in a 74-70 victory over Charlotte. There were eight ties and eight lead changes before the Sun pulled away. Sales scored eight points in the final 4½ minutes and Sun legend Taj McWilliams-Franklin hit a pair of free throws with 3.6 seconds left to secure the win.
The Sun didn’t look at the game as a referendum on Hartford. They looked at it as an opportunity to establish themselves as a contender for an Eastern Conference playoff spot.
And it was a preview of an Eastern Conference playoff series with Charlotte that the Sun swept, 2-0 before losing in the Eastern Conference finals to the eventual WNBA champion Detroit Shock – now the Dallas Wings. A year later, the Sun were in the WNBA finals.
Saturday’s game in Hartford with Los Angeles isn’t likely to be a preview of any postseason games to come. With its young core and injuries to veterans Brittney Griner, Olivia Nelson-Ododa and Aaliyah Edwards, the Sun have struggled this season with just one win in their first eight games.
The Sparks (3-3) have won their last two games including a 101-95 win over defending champion Las Vegas on Saturday when the WNBA’s leading scorer Kelsey Plum scored 38 points.
Plum isn’t expected to play in Hartford. She sprained her ankle during practice on Tuesday and will be re-evaluated in one week, the Sparks announced. She is averaging 26.8 points per game, shooting 58.9 percent from the field.
The Sparks still have plenty of offensive firepower in forward Dearica Hamby, who is averaging 18.5 points and a team-leading 8.2 rebounds a game, veteran forward Nneka Ogwumike (15.6 ppg, 6.6 rpg) and outstanding youngster Cameron Brink (9.3 ppg, 4.3 rpg).
Los Angeles will be in Washington on Friday night for a game with the Mystics before coming to Hartford on Saturday.
The fan festival in Hartford promises plenty of pre-game activities for Sun fans.
- Limited-edition Connecticut Sun x Hartford shirts will be available
- DJ Why Not will be performing from the Bloom Bake Shop balcony.
- Free Coke and Fanta ice cream floats will be available from the Coca-Coca Fan Zone truck.
- In partnership with Hartford Parks and Recreation, there will be pop-up hoop games for fans of all ages.
- Custom window art will be available from local artist Gillian Goeler.
- A roaming photo booth will be on site along with Connecticut Sun-themed ice cream, fresh kettle corn and a professional pop-up barber shop for Sun-themed hair styles.
In a news release, the Sun said, “This event represents more than a game. It is bringing the WNBA closer to fans across the state while spotlighting local artists, businesses and youth basketball communities.”
No doubt, there will be some energy in Hartford on Saturday.
For more information on the festivities and game itself, click here.
