Sun, NESN Announce Partnership

UNCASVILLE—The WNBA recently announced a 20-game live feed with Twitter, which will lead off on Saturday with the Connecticut Sun playing the Washington Mystics. Then, on Friday, the team announced a deal with regional cable giant, the New England Sports Network (NESN). And that only makes sense. With the Sun being New England’s WNBA team and NESN being New England’s sports network, it seems like a natural fit for the two parties to join forces in a partnership to televise 23 Sun games on NESN and NESNplus during the 2019 season. NESN will begin televising Sun games on Tues., May 28 at 7 p.m. ET, when the Sun host the Indiana Fever at the Mohegan Sun Arena. That game can be viewed on NESNPlus.

Bob Heussler begins his 17th season with the Sun delivering play-by-play for all home games televised on NESN. An anchor for the country’s first all-sports radio station—WFAN in New York City—Heussler has over 30 years of experience as a basketball play-by-play announcer. He is the radio and television voice of Fairfield University basketball and has been the backup radio play-by-play announcer for the Brooklyn Nets since 2008.

Joining Heussler on the Sun broadcasts will be color analysts Rebecca Lobo (@RebeccaLobo), Sarah Kustok (@SarahKustok), Kim Adams (@Kim_Adams1) and LaChina Robinson (@LaChinaRobinson).

Lobo

Lobo, an ESPN basketball analyst and 2017 Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame inductee, wrapped up her playing career with the Sun in 2003 and has frequently served as an analyst for Connecticut since her retirement. Her Connecticut roots run deep of course, as she is one of the Huskies’ all-time greats, having played on the 35-0 national championship team in 1995.

Kustok returns for her third season with the Sun. She is the primary analyst for Brooklyn Nets broadcasts on YES Network, where she began in 2012 as a courtside reporter after spending three years as an anchor and reporter with NBC Sports Chicago.

Adams is a national college basketball analyst and sideline reporter for Fox Sports, SNY and Westwood One Radio. She played collegiately at the University of Pennsylvania where she was an All-Ivy League honoree.

Robinson has broadcasted games and served as an in-studio analyst on ESPN since 2009 and has also served as an analyst on Fox Sports 1 and NBA TV for NCAA and WNBA games.

“This new partnership is tremendous for the Connecticut Sun and its loyal fan base,” said Sun vice president Amber Cox. “With 23 games locally on NESN combined with our national coverage, we can now showcase our exciting brand of basketball in households across New England. Ratings for the WNBA continue to rise—fans want to watch, attend and follow—and this helps us deliver on that. Not to mention, the promotional muscle NESN provides us through their other live programming allows us to expose new fans to our game, experience and players.”

The Sun will open their 2019 season on Saturday when they entertain the Washington Mystics at 7:30 at the Mohegan Sun Arena. Tickets are on sale now for all 17 regular season home games and can be purchased at the Mohegan Sun Arena box office, by visiting ConnecticutSun.com or calling 1-877-SUN-TIXX.

Connecticut Sun on NESN Schedule (All Times ET)

• Tue., May 28, vs. Indiana Fever, 7 p.m., NESNplus
• Fri., May 31, at Los Angeles Sparks, 10:30 p.m., NESNplus
• Sun., June 2, at Las Vegas Aces, 6 p.m., NESN
• Thurs., June 6, vs. Los Angeles Sparks, 7 p.m. NESNplus
• Tue., June 11, vs. Washington Mystics, 7 p.m., NESNplus
• Fri., June 14, at Minnesota Lynx, 8 p.m., NESNplus
• Sat., June 21, vs. Atlanta Dream, 7:30 p.m., NESNplus
• Sun., June 23, at Chicago Sky, 6 p.m., NESN
• Wed., June 26, at Dallas Wings, 8 p.m., NESN
• Wed., July 10, at Atlanta Dream, 11 a.m., NESN
• Sun., July 14, at Indiana Fever, 4 p.m., NESN
• Fri., July 19, vs. Atlanta Dream, 7:30 p.m., NESNplus
• Wed., July 24, vs. New York Liberty, 11:30 a.m., NESNplus
• Tue., July 30, vs. Chicago Sky, 7 p.m., NESNplus
• Fri., August 9, at Minnesota Lynx, 8 p.m., NESNplus
• Sun., August 11, at Las Vegas Aces, 6 p.m., NESN
• Wed., August 14, at Phoenix Mercury, 10 p.m., NESN
• Fri., August 16, vs. Seattle Storm, 7:30 p.m., NESNplus
• Sun., August 18, vs. Dallas Wings, 3 p.m., NESNplus
• Fri., August 23, vs. Las Vegas Aces, 7:30 p.m., NESNplus
• Sun., August 25, at Los Angeles Sparks, 5 p.m., NESNplus
• Fri., August 30, at New York Liberty, 7:30 p.m., NESNplus
• Wed., September 4, vs. Dallas Wings, 7 p.m., NESNplus

—Staff Reports

@ConnecticutSun @WNBA @NESN @NESNPlus