Or maybe we\u2019re not trying hard enough.<\/p>\n
When news broke earlier this month that the potential buyers of the Sun were interested in relocating elsewhere in New England \u2013 including the Amica Mutual Pavilion in Providence \u2013 I couldn\u2019t help but think about Alan Hassenfeld, the former Hasbro CEO who died on July 8<\/a>.<\/p>\n Years ago, Hassenfeld was the kind of guy a governor or top executive might call to kick the tires on an audacious idea like bringing a professional sports team to the smallest state in the country. <\/p>\n Get Rhode Map<\/p>\n A weekday briefing from veteran Rhode Island reporters, focused on the things that matter most in the Ocean State.<\/p>\n Or, more likely, it would be Hassenfeld who might be making the calls, as he did in late 1994 when he set up a meeting between Kraft and incoming governor Lincoln Almond.<\/p>\n In the case of the Sun, it\u2019s not a meeting Governor Dan McKee is seeking. He has already toured The AMP with a potential buyer <\/b>of the franchise. He told WPRO\u2019s Tom Quinlan over the weekend that he wants to build an AAU sports facility that could double as a training center for a professional team. <\/p>\n What McKee \u2013 and Rhode Island as a whole \u2013 desperately needs right now is someone like Hassenfeld to organize the business and political class to launch a full-court press to do whatever it takes to recruit the Sun to Providence.<\/p>\n The benefits to Rhode Island are obvious.<\/p>\n The WNBA is exploding in popularity right now on the back of Caitlin Clark<\/a>, the all-world guard from the Indiana Fever who has redefined women\u2019s basketball in a few short years. The best part is she\u2019s only 23, which means she is likely to remain one of the most famous athletes on the planet for the next decade.<\/p>\n Logistically speaking, The AMP could use a summer tenant. The WNBA season ends before the Providence College men\u2019s basketball season begins, and having 8,000 fans at 20-plus home games would provide a much-needed boost for downtown. And perhaps convince at least some of Southern New England\u2019s women\u2019s basketball fans they could enjoy the game they love – and spend their money – in Providence, vs. making the trek to Uncasville, or Storrs. <\/p>\n But we have a lot to prove to the franchise and anyone who might want to buy it.<\/p>\n The Sun is believed to be for sale because its current owners \u2013 the Mohegan Tribe \u2013 hired investment bank Allen & Company<\/a> earlier this year to explore its options. The tribe bought the team for $10 million in 2003, but a sale could fetch more than $200 million.<\/p>\n It\u2019s easy to be enamored with Boston and its much larger television market, and Governor Maura Healey is publicly courting a WNBA franchise<\/a>. In Connecticut, Governor Ned Lamont has said he wants to see the team play a lot more games in Hartford.<\/a><\/p>\n It would take someone like Hassenfeld to bring in what\u2019s left of Rhode Island\u2019s major corporations to make a serious investment in arena sponsorships and luxury boxes, because that would cost a whole lot more money than what they pay for the Providence Bruins or Rhode Island FC at the new USL soccer stadium in Pawtucket.<\/p>\n Has anyone even bothered to call Laurie White at the Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce or anyone from the Partnership for Rhode Island yet? Where is the effort to convince former Providence College women\u2019s basketball star and current ESPN NBA analyst Doris Burke<\/a> to publicly support a WNBA bid?<\/p>\n We also need someone to unite our political leaders.<\/p>\n This would be a major win for McKee heading into an election year, but that shouldn\u2019t stop former CVS executive Helena Foulkes or House Speaker Joe Shekarchi from supporting the effort. And it shouldn\u2019t stop McKee from asking for their support.<\/p>\n Rhode Island has long needed its own version of Jack Connors<\/a>, the iconic Boston advertising guru and philanthropist who died last year. Hassenfeld was one of the few people who carried the same skills.<\/p>\n Is anyone else willing to step up?<\/p>\n Dan McGowan can be reached at dan.mcgowan@globe.com<\/a>. Follow him @danmcgowan<\/a>.<\/p>\n